| Name: | Gregory Swanson |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Chicago Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | Career |
| Rank: | Firefighter |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Valor |
| Year of Award: | 2010 |
| Incident City: | Chicago |
| Year of Incident: | 2009 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Firefighter Gregory Swanson of the Chicago Fire Department’s Engine 68 was awarded the Medal of Valor for his efforts to rescue a ten-year-old girl from an apartment fire in Chicago, Illinois on May 3, 2009.
At 11:40 a.m., Engine 68 was dispatched to a fire at 1640 North Central Avenue. En route, they received word that there were victims trapped on the second floor of the three-story building. Once on the scene, crew members from Engine 68 began using hoses to fight the fire.
Engine 68’s Firefighter Swanson made his way up to the second floor. The heat was intense and smoke was billowing out of the bathroom into the hallway. After hosing down the fire, Swanson handed off his hose to Firefighter Matthew Zwolfer and went into the bedroom across from the fiery bathroom. On his hands and knees, he found a young female victim unconscious and slumping off her bed. He was able to remove her from harm’s way and provided her with oxygen to regulate her breathing. After she was removed, the Eighth Battalion extinguished the fire and found no other occupants in the building.
Citations:
“Firehouse Heroism & Community Service Awards,” Firehouse, April, 2010.
“Girl rescued from burning Chicago building,” ABC7News.com, May 3, 2009.
“Girl, 10, rescued from burning building,” Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2009.
Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago, Illinois, June 3, 2009.