Rockland County Firefighters Honored by New York State Legislature

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L to R: Mayor John Ramundo (Village of West Haverstraw), Training Officer Jerry Knapp (West Haverstraw Fire Department), Lee Stipek (Orange and Rockland Utilities), Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun, Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, Captain Kenny Patterson (West Haverstraw Fire Department), Ian Mackey (Orange and Rockland Utilities), and Assemblymember Ellen Jaffee.

L to R: Mackey, Stipek, Patterson, and Knapp stand with Mayor John Ramundo and their families as the resolution is read on the floor of the Assembly.

Two West Haverstraw Fire Department members, along with two workers from Orange and Rockland Utilities, were honored by the New York State Legislature on May 15, 2012, in Albany for their heroic response to a life threatening West Haverstraw, N.Y., gas line leak in January.

Training Officer Gerald (Jerry) Knapp and Captain Kenneth (Kenny) Patterson, along with utility workers Ian Mackey and Lee Stipek, were recognized in a legislative resolution that commended their "caring concern and heroic acts and for taking prompt and appropriate action in emergency situations in an effort to preserve the lives of others."

On January 16, 2012, a gas leak set off a massive explosion in a townhouse development, seriously injuring both Rockland County firefighters. Patterson and Knapp were at the door of a home on Zarriello Lane in the process of evacuating residents from the area when the house exploded, sending both men 30 to 40 feet into the air. Both were hospitalized with severe burns and other non-life threatening injuries. The building was leveled by the blast. The two utility workers, operating nearby at the time, were also injured. The family that resided in the townhouse was not at home at the time of the incident. Hundreds of residents were safely evacuated.

The resolution, which was sponsored by Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski along with co-sponsors Assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun, Assemblymember Ellen Jaffee, and Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt, "recognizes and pays tribute to those individuals within the State of New York who perform rescue operations with diligence and precision, resulting in heroic life-saving actions."

Knapp, a longtime member of NYSAFC, is a frequent contributor to SIZE UP magazine and lecturer for the association.

Please join all of us with NYSAFC in congratulating these men for this distinguished honor and for their heroic acts of bravery.

You can read more about the incident here and here.