PEORIA, Ill. – Two Peoria firefighters who risked their lives to rescue an unconscious person during a house fire last year are being recognized by the state for their heroic act.
Captain Nick Hansen and firefighter Tobi Roderick will receive the Medal of Valor from the Illinois State Fire Marshal for their rescue efforts during the fire.
The fire occurred in the early morning hours of April 17th, where the victim was removed from a fully engulfed home and stabilized before being treated at a hospital.
At Peoria Fire Central on Tuesday, the pair were recognized by their peers before the May ceremony. Hansen described what happened during the rescue.
“We were in extreme heat, zero visibility, and once we go inside the front door, it’s all instincts and training,” Hansen said. “We were on our hands and knees and crawling on our stomachs, looking for a victim, and luckily we were able to find her extremely quick.”
Roderick says it was a team effort to help rescue the victim that morning.
Battalion Chief Steve Rada was in command the morning of the fire, and nominated Hansen and Roderick for the award. He says while everyone would do what the pair did, it’s important to recognize those efforts that go “above and beyond.”
“Words cannot express the amount of risk that they put themselves in. I’ll be honest, they’re lucky that they got out of there, that fire was very, very large, had a lot of heat to it. To go in there, to risk their own lives, they did not even hesitate to go into the door,” Rada said.
Peoria Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger concurred about the importance of recognizing the efforts of Hansen and Roderick, saying it helps to show people the risk that firefighters deal with.
“When we have the ability to be in front of the camera, be in front of the community to explain these very significant events that happen more often than you may think. I mean, obviously, this is a very extreme example, but I think it’s important the community understands what their Peoria Fire Department does and what they’re capable of,” Sollberger said.
The department says it has been more than 20 years since a Peoria firefighter has received the Medal of Valor. Hansen and Roderick will receive the honor at a ceremony in Springfield in May.
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