Huntington Town Board Honors East Northport Fire Chiefs for Bravery

At the February 9, 2016 Town Board meeting, Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone and the Town Council recognized two East Northport Fire Department members who had received the Huntington Chiefs Council’s 2015 “Chiefs of the Year Award” for their for their bravery in attempting to rescue a 90-year-old woman from a house fire.

Chief Joseph Ervin and Second Assistant Chief Daniel Heffernan had responded to the fire on Grover Lane in East Northport and were told by a neighbor that the house’s resident, a 90-year-old woman who lived there alone, was trapped inside. They donned appropriate gear and entered the burning building, locating the woman lying face down in a second floor hallway outside the bedroom doorway. Amid heat and smoke, they were able to drag the woman to the top of the stairs, where other firefighters helped take her out of the house and onto the front lawn. Unfortunately, the woman did not survive.

For their bravery, the two received Medals of Valor from the Suffolk County Fire Academy the “Chiefs of the Year” award from the Chiefs Council.

In presenting a Town Board proclamation to Chief Ervin and Chief Dan McConnell, who was standing in for Chief Heffernan, Supervisor Petrone noted, “We want to thank you for your heroic efforts on behalf of the residents and on behalf of the uniform that you wear, to show that what you do in this community is worthy, what you do in this community is meaningful and is for people. It’s saving lives and making people’s lives easier.”

Photo by Nicholas Wieland: Chief Dan McConnell (l), standing in for Chief Daniel Heffernan, and Chief Joseph Ervin (r) receive proclamations from the Town Board.