| Name: | Brian Powell |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Carol Stream Fire Protection District |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Firefighter |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 1997 |
| Incident City: | Carol Stream |
| Year of Incident: | 1996 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Lieutenant Kevin Mulligan and Firefighter Brian Powell of Engine 211 of the Carol Stream Fire Protection District were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions to rescue four people while fighting a residential fire in Carol Stream, Illinois on December 2, 1996.
Mulligan and Powell responded in Carol Stream Engine 211 to a fire at the French Quarters Apartments, a building containing 60 apartment units. Prior to their arrival on the scene, dispatchers alerted them that a man was preparing to jump from a second story window as the fire escalated in intensity. Powell and Mulligan arrived and quickly raised a ladder to the second floor of the building to rescue the man, who was suffering from extensive burns and lacerations. They carried him down the ladder to safety.
Mulligan and Powell then climbed back up the ladder and entered the building through a bedroom window. The dense smoke eliminated all visibility, and they felt their way through the apartment looking for any other victims. In the hallway, they found an unconscious woman. While attempting to remove her from the burning building through the bedroom window, the victim became conscious and began to struggle with Mulligan and Powell. Further complicating the rescue, a flash over occurred while the firefighters were preparing to remove the victim. With a large volume of fire escaping from a broken sliding glass door approximately seven feet from their location, Mulligan and Powell were able to carry the victim down the ladder to safety.
Mulligan and Powell then re-entered the building and rescued two more tenants from balconies on the apartment’s second floor.
Citations:Firefighters ‘official’ heroes,
Chicago Tribune, May 17, 1997.
Heroes among us,
AFFI Tailboard Talk, August, 1997.