| Name: | Joseph Johnson |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Northlake Fire Protection District |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighter rescue, Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations, Vehicle rescue |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Valor |
| Year of Award: | 2005 |
| Incident City: | Leyden Township |
| Year of Incident: | 2004 |
| Incident Location Type: | Street/Road |
| Incident Attribute: | Traffic accidents |
Lieutenant Joseph Johnson, Firefighter Kevin Kalbach, and Firefighter Barry Lederer of the Northlake Fire Protection District’s Engine 807 received the Medal of Valor for their actions to rescue fellow firefighters from a fire truck collision in Leyden Township, Illinois on April 27, 2004.
At 5:37 p.m., Engine 807, along with Engine 911 of the Village of Stone Park Fire Department, were responding to a structure fire in Leyden Township. Engine 911 was traveling northbound on Mannheim Road and Engine 807 was heading eastbound on Armitage Avenue when the two trucks collided at the intersection.
Firefighters Kalbach and Lederer and Lieutenant Johnson, without regard for their own injuries and safety, exited their Engine and grabbed extrication equipment to remove the driver from Engine 911. This was difficult because their tools, because of the collision, were spread across a wide swath of the intersection. After they removed him, they began medical treatment on the victim.
Citation:
“Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal,” The Gong, July-September, 2005.