Mundelein firefighters honored for rescuing two people during flood

Eight Mundelein firefighters were publicly lauded Monday for rescuing two people trapped in a car during a flood this summer.

One honoree, Lt. Kurt Rodewald, received the department’s highest honor for bravery. Others received individual or unit citations.

“The actions of these individuals reflect the highest ideals of the fire service and embody the dedication that our community expects from its first responders,” Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Lockwood told the village board during its committee-of-the-whole meeting at village hall.

The rescue occurred Aug. 9 on the south side of Courtland Commons park, near Courtland Street and Midland Avenue. Heavy rainfall had caused flash flooding throughout the area, and a car had gone off the road.

Firefighters sent to the scene discovered a Nissan Altima pinned in a viaduct opening, beneath a park footbridge, as rushing floodwaters rose outside and inside the car. A 60-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman, both from Waukegan, were inside and were banging on windows and yelling for help, authorities said.

Already wearing swift-water rescue gear from an earlier emergency call, Rodewald got in the water and used a police officer’s collapsible baton to break a window. The water inside the vehicle already was up to the windows and dashboard by then, he told the Daily Herald on Monday.

Firefighters Jake Ellegood, Michael Lord, David Brimmer and Jake Kazimour brought ropes and life vests to the car, Lockwood told the board. Rodewald placed vests on each of the car’s occupants to keep them afloat.

After more firefighters arrived, Lt. Brett Clark used a hydraulic tool to cut through a fence above the water to improve access to the car.

While standing on the car’s roof, Firefighter Dan Mastandrea helped remove the man from the water. Mastandrea and Rodewald then worked together to free the woman as the water became more turbulent.

They eventually opened a door to get her out, but doing so increased water pressure on the car and moved it forward.

“We knew we were going to have to make our moves very quickly, once we got that door open,” Rodewald told the Daily Herald after the ceremony.

As Rodewald pulled the woman free, the rushing water pushed the car deeper into the culvert pipe, and eventually it submerged. Rodewald held onto the woman with one hand and to the metal fence above the culvert with the other until other firefighters and police officers used a safety line to pull them to safety.

Had the firefighters not been able to get them out, “I have no doubt in my mind that the two occupants would have drowned,” Rodewald said.

Neither the man nor the woman needed to go to the hospital. No tickets were issued, police said.

After a video of the rescue was played in the boardroom, the firefighters’ names were called, and they received citation bars for their uniforms.

Rodewald received the department’s Medal of Valor; Mastandrea received an individual citation; Clark, Ellegood, Kazimour and Battalion Chief James Ketcham received unit citations; Brimmer and Lord were absent but also will receive unit citations.

A video of the rescue is on the Facebook page for the firefighters’ labor union.

rlissau@dailyherald.com