39 first responders honored for heroic acts in Morris County

More than three dozen heroes will be honored next month for their courageous and life-saving actions in fires, accidents, and other emergencies over the past year.

The public safety professionals and volunteers include police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians, and all will be honored April 28 by the 200 Club of Morris County. The ceremony serves as an informal “year in review” for heroic acts throughout the county.

The first responders will receive either the Valor Award, granted to a person who put their lives at risk, or the Meritorious Award, for a person whose work went beyond the call of duty.

“We’re very lucky to have individuals like these keeping us safe here in Morris County,” 200 Club President James Gannon said. “It’s an honor to recognize their good work.”

The honorees include a Hanover police officer who used his patrol car to stop a drunk driver and two Kinnelon Borough patrolmen who pulled a woman from a burning car.

“All of these first responders acted quickly, professionally and without regard for their own safety,” Gannon said. “Our police officers, firefighters and EMS professionals rarely get the recognition they deserve, so we’re thrilled to honor their selfless and brave work.”

Last April, Kinnelon Patrolmen Mark Ehrenburg and Rickey Ferriola rescued a woman that was trapped in her car, which rolled over onto its roof and started burning after a crash. As the fire continued to grow in intensity, Ehrenburg and Ferriola cut the victim’s seat belt and pulled her from the burning car, which burst into flames just as she was pulled through the window.

The driver, Dawn Milkosky, 45, was charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, driving with an open container of alcohol, failure to maintain a lane of travel and failure to keep right.

Also last April, two off-duty state troopers and a Mount Olive police officer rescued a woman trapped inside a burning Flanders home.

New Jersey State Troopers Adam Gonzalez and Justin Storie spotted the house fire on their way home after their shift at the Netcong barracks. After calling in the fire, they went to the house and heard a woman calling for help. Mount Olive Patrolman George Jadue arrived moments later and together they entered the home and rescued the woman, Josephine Maulback, 51.

All three rescuers were treated for smoke inhalation and cuts and bruises. Maulback was also treated for smoke inhalation.

In June 2015, Hanover Patrolman Robert Carpenter may have saved the lives of two state troopers when he responded to a motor vehicle accident on Route 287 South.

Carpenter, who had positioned his SUV across the roadway to protect the crash victims and the troopers, saw a vehicle approach at a high rate of speed and not slowing down. Carpenter could have moved the SUV but pressed the brake pedal to keep it from moving and braced for impact.

The speeding vehicle slammed into Carpenter’s SUV, causing him back, shoulder, and elbow injuries. Had he been in his normal sedan patrol vehicle, he would likely have fared worse.

The driver Claudia Echeverri-Salazar, 29, of Morristown, was charged with assault by auto and driving while intoxicated.

In November in Rockaway Township, Sgts Michael Dachisen Jr. and Jason Tozzi worked using a borrowed canoe to rescue canoeists who fell into the chilly White Meadow Lake waters. The pair were able to rescue one man, but the second canoeist could not be saved.

Other honorees include:

• Rockaway Borough Police Officers Peter Krowiak and James Lommatzsch, and Rockaway Borough Fire Department second assistant chief Jeffrey Heintzelman and firefighter Robert Smith saved a 75-year-old woman from a house fire. Krowiak and Lommatzch also went back into the home to rescue the woman’s son, attempting to carry him down the stairs as burning ceiling tiles fell around them. The mother survived the fire, but the son did not. Both police officers were treated for smoke inhalation and Krowiak suffered permanent damage to his nasal passages and lost his sense of smell.
• Pequannock Township officers Kenneth Hunt, Jack Lyon, Christopher Nelson and Kevin Ricciardi saved a disoriented driver after he fled an accident, crossed onto the wrong side of the roadway and crashed into an oncoming car. The man’s car then caught fire and though he was eventually free, he died from his injuries.
• Parsippany Fire Department District 5 firefighters Pat Calabrese, past chief David Cavaliere, Anthony Condurso, Carl Fales, and Lt. Michael Lambert rendered aid to an unconscious woman after a man pulled into the firehouse driveway and told them his wife was not breathing. The firefighters performed CPR and used an automatic external defibrillator, until EMTs and paramedics arrived. The woman made a full recovery.
• East Hanover officers Jesse Novalis and Joseph Zeppetelli, and East Hanover Fire Capt. Joseph Sperli entered a home filled with natural gas and rescued a 39-year-old woman who was using the gas in a suicide attempt. Sperli then went back in the house to ensure that the gas was off and opened windows and doors to ventilate the home.
• Flanders Fire & Rescue Chief Tyler Wargo and Mount Olive patrolmen John Bevacqua and David Hering rescued an 86-year-old blind man trapped in a burning apartment.  Upon arrival, the officers called to the man, but he refused to come out because he was concerned that his wife was still inside. The three men then moved into the smoke-filled apartment to lead the man out without any protective clothing or breathing apparatus. Although no engine company had arrived on scene with water, Wargo tried to go back into the apartment to search for the woman before heavy smoke and heat pushed him back. It was later confirmed that there was nobody else inside the apartment.
• Northern New Jersey EMS Communications Dispatcher Jo-Ann Mellor, St. Clare’s Hospital paramedics James Correale and Sarah Crellin, and Denville Fire Department Assistant Chief Kevin Andreano, firefighter and EMT Kyle Colin, First Aid Lt. Travis Dean, First Aid Capt. Bill Keating, past deputy fire chief Edward Saniewski, and Assistant Fire Chief Chris Seugling responded to a possible drowning of a 13-year-old boy in a pool. The team worked together to resuscitate the boy, who survived with almost no ill effects.
• New Jersey State Troopers Richard Dowling and Andrew Koehler, along with State Police Detective Anthony Sardanopoli, responded to a single-vehicle accident on Route 80 in Rockaway. Although the car was smoking, the troopers worked together to rescue the badly injured man trapped in the vehicle. Using fire extinguishers to keep flames at bay, the trio provided care for the man for almost 20 minutes before additional help arrived. They then created a zone of safety for other first responders to work. It took 30 minutes for firefighters to remove the man, who was then airlifted to the hospital. The man survived his injuries.

The 200 Club of Morris County's mission is to honor local police, fire, and EMS who have died in the line of duty. The club awards annual benefits to each eligible child of the public safety official in an effort to help ease the financial concerns created by the loss of their loved one. The annual benefit is $6,000 per child per year until age 18. Should the child continue onto college, the benefit is increased to $9,000 per year until age 23 or graduation.

Since its inception in 1971, the 200 Club of Morris County has distributed more than $4.3 million in benefits to police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services workers and their families.

Got to http://200clubofmorriscounty.com to learn more.

Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com