| Name: | Michael McCastland |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Oak Lawn Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | Career |
| Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighter rescue, Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 2010 |
| Incident City: | Hometown |
| Year of Incident: | 2009 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Lieutenant Michael McCastland and Firefighter Keith Giles of Engine 26 of the Oak Lawn Fire Department received the Medal of Honor and Medal of Valor, respectively, for their actions while fighting a residential fire in Hometown, Illinois on May 13, 2009.
Oak Lawn Engine 26, with McCastland in command, responded to the fire at 3:18AM, and the unit arrived to find a working fire in the two-story duplex home. Joining firefighters from the Hometown Fire Protection District, McCastland and Giles entered the structure with a hose line and climbed to the second floor. Firefighters faced dense smoke and intense heat as they vented windows and searched for the seat of the fire, but they were soon ordered to evacuate the home when flames broke through the roof .
After exiting the structure, firefighters discovered that a lieutenant from the Hometown Fire Protection District was unaccounted for, as he was still inside the residence searching for a firefighter who had already exited. McCastland and Giles re-entered the building and ascended to the second floor in an effort to locate the missing lieutenant. As Giles pushed back flames with a hose line in the upstairs hallway, McCastland searched the interior rooms until he found the missing lieutenant, who was lying in a fetal position in the corner of the fire room. McCastland pulled the firefighter out of the room, the firefighters tumbled down the stairs, and all of the firefighters safely exited the structure.