VALOR AWARDS

In 1997, two members of the Springfield Fire Rescue Division received Ohio Fire Service Valor Award medals for risking their lives to save another.

Following is an account of their heroism:

``Responding to an apartment fire at 1136 North Fountain Avenue on March 3, 1996, Springfield Lieutenant Patrick J. Casey and Firefighter Paramedic Brian Wirth searched all four apartments for possible victims.

"With no hoseline for protection, they first checked the two downstairs apartments. Finding no occupants, they proceeded to the second floor, encountering heavy smoke in the hallway. Lt. Casey found a second floor apartment unoccupied as he heard Firefighter Wirth shout from the other apartment that he had found a victim.

"Upon entering the apartment, Lt. Casey met heavy smoke and heat, but he located Firefighter Wirth and the unconscious victim on the living room floor. As flames shot through the adjacent doorway, Lt. Casey positioned his body between the victim and the fire as they carried her to safety.''

In another act of valor, Firefighter Doug Boggs received a letter of commendation from the State of Ohio and the city's Distinguished Service Award for the rescue of a mother and child from a house fire on Lexington Avenue on Sept. 11, 2006.

According to the fire division's web site:

``Not only did FF/PM Boggs step up to perform a role of increased responsibility by serving as acting officer, he led FF/PM Greg Chadwell (a member of only 3 years experience) into adverse conditions without the full personal protective envelope and respiratory protection normally available to entry teams, he correctly controlled the actions of his fellow firefighter and limited his risk exposure, he correctly controlled the victims, he correctly controlled the interior environment, he rescued two individuals and returned to his unit, his peers and his family alive and well.''

'RAGS' THE FIRE DOG

This is a story about a forgotten firehouse and its mascot.

Old Fire Station No. 2 opened on Oct. 31, 1876 as the "Western Engine House" and "Rags" the firehouse dog is apparently buried ``at the rear of the engine house in the edge of the old Columbia Street cemetery,'' according to Capt. Calvin Roberds' book on the history of the Springfield Fire Division.

The poor dog was kicked or crushed by a fire horse when an alarm rang out on the firehouse bells. The firemen found him mortally wounded on their return, the story goes. (That would have been prior to April 1917, when the fire division became fully motorized.)

Originally, the building was a "small factory" and carried the address 50 North Factory St., which was later changed to 104 N. Wittenberg Ave. Old Station No. 2 closed Sept. 7, 1932 as the Great Depression squeezed the city's finances.