Lake Zurich firefighters earn Save-A-Life award

Two Lake Zurich firefighters were recognized this week for saving a man’s life in December by using a thermal imaging camera to locate and rescue him from a burning apartment.

Lt. Rick Johnson and Firefighter-Paramedic Jason Henriksen were presented with the Save-A-Life Award from Bullard Company, the Kentucky-based supplier of the thermal imaging equipment, during a village board meeting Monday.

“This award isn’t just for us — it’s for our entire department,” Johnson said. “This is a team effort. It took years of training as a group.”

Firefighters were called the morning of Dec. 21 to the blaze at the Landings of Lake Zurich apartment complex on the 100 block of North Buesching Road. The fire in a third-floor apartment was contained by sprinklers, but Johnson and Henriksen encountered thick smoke after forcing their way into the unit.

“It was floor-to-ceiling smoke,” said Fire Chief David Wheelock.

With the help of the thermal camera, Johnson and Henriksen found a man unconscious in the bathroom. They brought him down three flights of stairs to a waiting ambulance, where he received oxygen and regained consciousness. The victim, whose name was not released, made a full recovery.

“Had he been in there much longer it probably would’ve been a different outcome,” Wheelock said.

Officials determined smoking materials on a bed likely caused the blaze.

Henriksen downplayed the heroics of their effort.

“I’m sure any of us in the department would’ve done the same thing,” he said.

Joe Landowski, a Bullard representative, presented the firefighters and the village with plaques.

“When a life is saved it means a lot to us,” he said.

This is the second Save-A-Life Award received by the Lake Zurich Fire Department. In 2008, a missing elderly man was located in a wetland area using thermal imaging equipment.