Five Grandview Heights firefighters receive letters of commendation

Grandview Heights Fire Chief Hank Kauffman Jr. presented five Grandview firefighters with letters of commendation for their effort in assisting the evacuation of the 22-story Summit Chase condominiums after last September's wind storm.

Kauffman presented the awards to fire captain Daniel Fancey and fire medics Martin Hafey, Mike Smith, Josh Harris and Jason Kay at the May 4 city council meeting. The men comprise the Grandview Division of Fire's No. 1 unit.

The commendations were approved by the division of fire's awards committee, Kauffman said.

Grandview firefighters are usually honored for extraordinary performance of duty during the observance of Fire Prevention Month in October, he said.

"I wanted to be able to recognize these guys before I leave, so we moved things up," said Kauffman, who is retiring as chief this week.

Fancey had nominated the four fire medics for recognition, Kauffman said, "but I nominated the captain myself because I thought he also deserved to be honored."

Although their actions at Summit Chase fell within the scope of their duties, the men "performed a Herculean effort" to evacuate residents from the condominium, he said.

"What they did was really above the norm," Kauffman said.

The high-rise condominium had been without power for 24 hours when the No. 1 unit arrived on Sept. 15, he said. The building had no fire detection or suppression services, no emergency lighting and no working elevator.

The men went throughout the building to deliver an evacuation notice to all residents and returned to the upper floors several times to assist both ambulatory and non-ambulatory residents in evacuating, Kauffman said.

On at least three occasions, the firefighters carried non-ambulatory residents who lived on the 15th floor or higher down to safety, he said.

"Basically there were going up and down the stairwells in a black hole because there was no power," Kauffman said. "It was hot and humid and it took a lot of strength and endurance to perform their duties."

The letters of commendation state that "they continued to do their duty, without assistance, and under adverse conditions to assist citizens in need. Their actions were in the highest tradition of the fire service, and reflect with honor upon all (who) share the uniform."

afroman@thisweeknews.com