Above: SFD’s William Kipp was awarded a Firefighter Cross, and was among both groups of firefighters to receive citations for recent rescue efforts. (images cropped from Select Board meeting video)
Last night, the Southborough Fire Chief publicly honored members of his department for their rescue efforts during emergencies that made recent headlines.
In a ceremony at the start of the Select Board meeting, Chief Andrew Puntini recognized firefighters and EMTs for their swift actions in June at the scene of a tragedy and a near-tragedy. One firefighter, William Kipp, was spotlighted for an extra honor for “risk of self”.
The chief began the ceremony by sharing sentiments he credited to an historically important FDNY Chief, Edward F. Croker:
When a man becomes a fireman, his greatest act of bravery has already been accomplished. What he does after that is all in the line of work. . .
Our proudest moment is to save lives. Under the impulse of such thoughts, nobility of the occupation thrill us to deeds daring, even of supreme sacrifice.
But Puntini indicated that while most/all of his department understands that philosophy, but followed that, “on occasion public recognition is warranted, even when not desired by those to be spotlighted”.
During the ceremony, he described the successful rescue of an injured tree worker on Pine Hill Road in June.
Captain Jason Roach, Firefighter Matthew Rice, Firefighter Christina Stapleton, Kipp, and EMT Robert Braccio were awarded Unit Citations by the SFD for “the successful execution” of a “complex incident”. And Kipp was also awarded the Firefighter Cross for his “heroism” that day.
Puntini recapped that when the initial report came in that an injured worker was trapped in a tall tree, Kipp:
immediately understood the complex nature of this call. Being a member of the Vermont Urban search and rescue team, FF Kipp fortunately had his gear in his car.
Kipp quickly loaded the gear into the engine. On the scene, he spoke with the crane operator and Captain Roach. The team activated the District 14 technical rescue team, but didn’t wait for their arrival to begin the rescue. Kipp:
harnessed himself to the crane and ascended to the patient side, 50-100 ft in the air. The patient’s injuries were unknown and the possiblity of life-threatening injuries if not immediately treated was real. Firefighter Kipp made patient contact, disentangled the patient from the tree, harnessed himself to the patient, and safely lowered both himself to the patient to the ground.
Below are images from the photos SFD previously posted to Facebook:
After lowering the patient, Puntinis said that he immediately removed the harness gear “and jumped into back of ambulance to assist with patient care.”
Puntini described why he believed the entire team was worthy of the citation:
On arrival they confirmed report and activated the District 14 technical rescue team, when realizing worker out of the ladder reach. Members on the scene were able to work with the tree crew and ascend a firefighter to the injured worker to remove him from the tree to a waiting ambulance. . .
This complex, unplanned, but rapidly executed incident allowed for a successful patient outcome for a patient that was later transferred by medical hospital to a level one trauma center with serious injuries.
Prior to recognizing SFD members for that operation, the chief called up Captain Brittaney Doane, Captain Dana Amendola, Firefighter Travis Pacific, and Kipp. (One of them, I believe Pacific, was absent from the ceremony.)
The chief described the drowning incident at Crystal Pond last month. Although, the victim’s life couldn’t be saved, he lauded the first responders for “swift action” in their response on the scene that “gave the victim the best possible chance of survival with the resources we had at hand that night.”
They were awarded Unit Citations by the SFD for teamwork under pressure.
For the unit citations, Puntini explained that in addition to the certificates handed out, each honored member would receive a badge they can “proudly” wear on their uniforms.
