| Name: | Steve Watkins |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Recruit/Candidate/Probationary |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 1997 |
| Incident City: | Naperville |
| Year of Incident: | 1996 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Firefighter Steve Watkins of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts to save an infant from a residential fire in unincorporated DuPage County near Naperville, Illinois on May 4, 1996.
A fire broke out at approximately 1:40 P.M. at 6 South Lakewood in the Steeple Run subdivision near Naperville. The fire was reportedly started by a faulty electrical device in the home’s basement. At the time, a woman was sleeping in a bedroom on the first floor with her one- and three-year-old sons while her one-month-old infant boy rested in the crib in his bedroom on the second floor. They were awoken from their slumber by the fire. Nearby residents called 9-1-1 and tried to help the victims evacuate the burning split-level home. The mother was able to hand down two of her children to a neighbor, who used a civilian ladder to reach the two children. The neighbor also helped her out of the home and down the ladder. The flames were increasing in intensity and this thwarted their efforts attempt to rescue the infant, who was still trapped in the house.
When the first fire suppression companies from the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District arrived, smoke was billowing out of every window and the fire had flashed over on the second floor. Firefighters on the scene worked to ventilate the residence to facilitate rescue efforts. Probationary firefighter Steve Watkins, who had been on the job less than a year when the fire occurred, was initially warned to suspend his attempts to rescue the infant after he noticed the flames from the basement had burned through most of the second floor, leaving a large portion of the floor missing. Watkins felt he could attempt a rescue despite the deteriorating conditions, and, trusting his judgment, he was given permission to go in. He entered the residence through a second-floor window using a ladder. He then made his way across the burned out sections of the floor by placing a dresser on a floor joist as a bridge to get to the other side of the room where the baby’s crib was located. The crib was straddling a wall joist. Watkins pulled the infant out of the crib mere seconds before it fell through the floor into the burning basement. He handed the baby to the lieutenant who was near the window. The baby was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and burns on 18% of his body.
Citations:”Closed door saved baby’s life, firefighters say,” Daily Herald, March 6, 1996.
“Heroes Among Us,” Tailboard Talk, August, 1997.
”Lisle firefighter who saved baby among 25 honored for bravery,” Chicago Sun-Times, May 16, 1997.
”Lisle-Woodridge firefighter honored with Medal of Valor,” Daily Herald, October 11, 1996.
”Quick-thinking firefighter earns honor – swift actions rescue infant,” Daily Herald, October 24, 1996.
”Songs saved from Lisle house fire – crews rescue infant after mother drops sons to neighbor,” Daily Herald, March 5, 1996.
”State honors Auroran for heroism,” The Beacon News, May 14, 1997.
”3 firefighters ‘official’ heroes,” Chicago Tribune, May 17, 1997.