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Mostly Cloudy Firefighters honored for life-saving efforts
Pair rescue man trapped in smoke-filled garage
Last Nov. 19 at around 4 p.m., former Rockville Centre Fire Department Captain Thomas Montemarano was dropping off Junior Firefighter Evan Lynch at his home from his after-school job when Montemarano’s pager buzzed. There was a house on fire on nearby Lakeview Avenue, and the two immediately answered the call.
Smoke was billowing from the garage of the two-story home when Montemarano and Lynch arrived. They quickly leapt into action, without their protective gear or a charged hose line. Montemarano said he felt heat emanating from the closed garage door while Lynch, 16, went around to the back and found an open door.
Montemarano, of Reliance Hose Co. No. 3, also made his way to the rear of the house, and spotted a garden hose leading into the garage. He decided to crawl into the burning structure even without his protective equipment. He found a man trapped under shelving and other debris, clutching the barely running hose.
Lynch crawled into the garage, also without equipment, and helped Montemarano free the man from the debris and evacuate him to the backyard. On the way out, Montemarano noticed propane tanks in the burning garage.
With the man safe and being attended to by a Rockville Centre police officer, Montemarano headed back into the garage to remove the propane tanks. Then First Assistant Chief Scott Mohr and other firefighters arrived on the scene. Before Montemarano could make a third trip back into the garage to get the remaining tanks, he realized that the fire had grown too intense and gave the order to retreat from the house.
“It was a lot of adrenaline,” Lynch said of the split-second decision-making. He has been with the department for three years.
“We were just doing the job we signed up to do,” Montemarano said. “It’s all training. You don’t even think about yourself — it’s just saving a life.”
On May 19, village officials honored Montemarano and Lynch for their life-saving efforts last November in a ceremony in front of Village Hall. Mayor Francis Murray presented them with proclamations, praising their rescue of the man trapped in his garage as it filled with smoke.
“Through their actions and deeds,” Murray said, “the ex-captain and the junior firefighter have proven themselves to be selfless individuals who have brought pride and honor to their family, friends and the entire Rockville Centre Fire Department.”
Murray lauded the efforts of the two men and the department as a whole for its dedication in situations such as this one. “They’re second to none,” he said. “They do a fantastic job every day in rescue, in firefighting, in car accidents, you name it.”
The rescued man sustained several injuries, including smoke inhalation, respiratory burns and second-degree burns to his hands. He was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and placed in a medically induced coma for eight days before he had recovered enough to be released.
