| Name: | Jeff Vaughan |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Belvidere Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | Career |
| Rank: | Firefighter |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Valor |
| Year of Award: | 2018 |
| Incident City: | Belvidere |
| Year of Incident: | 2017 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Lieutenant Shawn Schadle and firefighters Aaron Pihl and Jeff Vaughan of the Belvidere Fire Department were presented with the Medal of Valor for their efforts to save eight people from an apartment fire.
On March 10, 2017, a fire broke out on the 800 block of W. Jackson Street in Belvidere. Twenty four people lived inside the building. Firefighters rescued eight people who were trapped inside, and fourteen people, including children, were transported to the hospital. One person died in the fire. It took almost three hours for the 18 different fire departments on the scene to put out the fire due to its severity. Lt. Schadle and firefighters Pihl and Vaughan were honored for their lifesaving actions.
Citations:
"UPDATE: Eight Belvidere firefighters honored for lifesaving actions,"23WIFR, May 8, 2018.
"Belvidere firefighters to be honored for rescuing 8 from burning building," MyStateLine.com, May 7, 2018.