ENGINE 315/LADDER 125 FIREHOUSE 159-06 UNION TURNPIKE, JAMAICA QUEENS DIVISION 13, BATTALION 50 "THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH"
LADDER 125 MEDAL
LOUIS J. NICOLOSI FF. LAD. 125 APR. 1, 2013 2014 HOLY NAME SOCIETY MEDAL
Holy Name Society Medal
(Brooklyn/Queens)
FIREFIGHTER LOUIS J. NICOLOSI
LADDER COMPANY 125
April 1, 2013, 0149 hours, Box 75-9722, Queens
The outside vent Firefighter (OVFF) position usually is assigned to the most experienced Firefighter who has knowledge of the many complexities of the position. The OVFF is expected to make a quick decision, based on his or hersituational awareness, on whether to be patient and wait for the engine company to advance on the fire before ventilating or to be aggressive due to a life hazard and vent, enter and search immediately. When the fire is in a private dwelling, the challenge can be intensified if all actions have to be performed from a portable ladder.
FF Louis Nicolosi was assigned as the OVFF in Ladder 125 for the 6 by 9 tour, starting on March 31, 2013. With 20 years of experience at Ladder 125, FF Nicolosi was fully aware of the demands of the OV position and the importance of his actions. At approximately 0200 hours on the morning of April 1, 2013, FF Nicolosi and the members of Ladders 125 and 152 faced significant challenges.
Ladder 125 was assigned second-due for a report of a structural fire in a private dwelling in the borough of Queens. While en route, the Queens fire alarm dispatcher reported that several civilians were Reported trapped by fire at the location. FF Nicolosi and the outside team prepared to execute the complex tactics of search and rescue via portable ladder in the rear of this private dwelling.
On arrival, the units were met with visible fire on the second floor with numerous panicked civilians. FFs Nicolosi and Noel Curry, Ladder 125 roof Firefighter, focused on the known life hazard and removed a
24-foot extension ladder. Their first hazard was a locked, six foot-high fence that had to be forced. Upon completion, they rushed to the rear and determined that the most severely exposed civilian was in a second-story corner bedroom on the left rear part of the house. While positioning the ladder, FF Nicolosi communicated to his Officer and the initial Incident Commander, Battalion Chief Eugene Marmann, Battalion 52, that numerous civilians required rescue in the rear and additional assistance was required.
FF Nicolosi ascended the portable ladder and performed the arduous task of entering a hostile fire room from the ladder. Without hesitation, knowing he was placing himself in a perilous situation, he entered the room and rescued a young boy. He removed the youngster to the ladder tip and transferred him to FF Curry.
FF Nicolosi returned to the room--which now had fully deteriorated to high heat and zero visibility--and discovered three additional victims on the floor. After transferring the young boy to EMS personnel, FF Curry joined FF Nicolosi and removed another young victim, a female, and transferred her to Ladder 125 chauffeur, FF Patrick Lavin, on the portable ladder.
FF Nicolosi now faced the task of removing an unconscious adult male via the portable ladder, a very dangerous tactic for both victim and rescuer. At this point, Engine 299 started to make progress attacking the fire. Thus, FF Nicolosi determined that with the slightly improved conditions, he could remove this third victim via the interior. The fourth victim was removed by Captain Robert Reinhardt and FF Richard Kuntzler, Ladder 152. FF Curry assisted FF Nicolosi in the removal of the final victim to EMS personnel outside the fire building. With the conclusion of the rescue operation at this fire, 10 civilians--four of them in critical condition—were removed or rescued by FDNY members.
FF Nicolosi directly participated in the successful rescue of four civilians from a second floor bedroom of a significant framed private dwelling fire. He rescued two of the civilians himself; one using a portable ladder. If not for the actions of FF Nicolosi and the Ladder 125 outside team, all four victims probably would have lost their lives. Due to his brave actions in the finest traditions of the FDNY, FF Louis J. Nicolosi is awarded the Holy Name Society Medal (Brooklyn/Queens).