Men honored for alerting family to fire
On an October night in 2003, 19-year-olds Brett Safford and Joshua Arden could have kept driving after Safford thought he saw fire coming from a rooftop in Elgin's Valley Creek subdivision.
"I think that house is on fire," Safford told his friend Joshua as they drove home from the local video store around 11:30 p.m.
Sure enough, what Safford saw in his periphery was a fire.
The 2002 Larkin High School graduates sprang into action.
Arden called 911 and then pulled his car into the home's driveway, honking the horn.
Safford rang the bell and pounded on the door until a startled and sleepy homeowner answered the door.
The couple escaped, along with their two Great Danes just as firefighters arrived and the roof collapsed.
"I suppose we were in the right place at the right time," Arden said this week. "I don't feel that we did above and beyond what any decent human being would have done."
Safford agreed.
"I'm sure (the homeowners) would have done the same for us, too," he said. "We got everybody out OK. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal."
Tuesday night, the Elgin Fire Department made that October night a big deal as Safford and Arden were two of 35 people recognized during a ceremony at The Centre of Elgin.
Two other civilians, Ron Hodges and Diane Mason, were honored for performing the Heimlich maneuver on people who were choking on food.
It marked the department's first recognition ceremony since 2000.
"We're way behind," said Elgin Fire Capt. Tim Maroder. "This is our first one under the new format, and we will be doing it annually."
Overall, 25 firefighters received awards, including two posthumously.
Capt. Stanley Balsis and firefighter Michael Whalen died June 2, 1974.
They were trying to save a man trapped in the backwash of the Kimball Street dam when their boat got caught in the undertow.
The boater survived.
Also given the department's medal of honor were Lt. Robert F. Smith and firefighter John Fetzer, who rescued another firefighter from a burning building in 1989.
The department also has begun evaluating possible honorees for March 2009.
Among those so far are staff members at Larkin High School and members of the Visual Performing Arts Academy.
Elgin Fire Department Capt. Dave Schmidt was the acting battalion chief on Feb. 8 when a small fire broke out during a performance of "Peter Pan."
Schmidt said at least three people did a tremendous job of moving people out of the school's auditorium and providing a location for the firefighters.
"It was a group effort. They all did an outstanding job," Schmidt said, adding the situation could have easily become more serious if they had panicked.
"These guys were able to get 300 people out -- orderly. No one got hurt. There was no stampede. It's definitely worthy of recognition."
Elgin honors heroes
The Elgin Fire Department recognized 35 firefighters, residents and businesses for acts of heroism, volunteerism and dedicated service Tuesday night.
Fire Department Awards
• Medal of Honor, for personnel who displayed a conspicuous act of heroism to save the life of another: Stanley Balsis, Michael Whalen, R. F. Smith and John Fetzer III.
• Medal of Merit, for an outstanding accomplishment on an emergency scene above and beyond the requirements of their normal assignments: Mark Hendrickson.
• Purple Heart, for personnel who received a life threatening or career-threatening injury during an emergency response: Virgil Beard, Robert Bradbury, Leland Danhauer, Cherif Fortin, Richard Gross, Ken Henryson, Jeff Homuth, Eric Hopp, Frank Oliver, Jim Sanders, Charles Stuart, Michael Villareal and David Zierk.
• Distinguished Service Medal, for personnel who performed in an outstanding manner: Steve Berry, Charles Lamz, Steve Frazier and Richard Tripoli.
• Special Award Plaque, for an honorable 15 years of service on a department special-response team: John Miller, Joe Villella and David Olson.
Citizens Awards
• Life Saving Award, for people who saved or helped save another's life: Joshua Arden, Brett Safford, Diane Mason and Ron Hodges.
• Fire Chief's Award, for those who have donated training, equipment or other services to the fire department: Tim Buelow, Kathy Bialek, Andrew Hryniewicz, Sandy Pezzullo, Robert Brosnan and Christy Ulrich.
Source: Elgin Fire Department