| Name: | Joseph Stubbs |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Pekin Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Captain |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 1994 |
| Incident City: | Pekin |
| Year of Incident: | 1993 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Captain Joseph Stubbs and Firefighter Roger Traver were awarded the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Valor, respectively, for their efforts to rescue three victims from a house fire in Pekin, Illinois on January 20, 1993.
Firefighters from the Pekin Fire Department arrived at 1511 Willow St. at 7 A.M. to find flames billowing out of a residence. Upon entering the house, firefighters made a gruesome discovery: three residents inside the home were victims of a murder-suicide, including a husband, wife, and their ten-year-old son. The house had also been booby-trapped with incendiary devices. The body of the son was discovered as the firefighters were trying to extinguish the flames. The bodies of the husband and wife were found afterward. Captain Stubbs and Firefighter Traver were among the firefighters who removed the bodies from the home. The fire had burned through the floor in several places. While Traver was trying to remove one of the bodies, he fell through the floor, sustaining a minor injury.
Citations:
“Everything relative at Pekin Fire Department,” Journal Star, February 4, 1993.
“Ex-city man, family die in murder-suicide,” The State Journal-Register, January 21, 1993.