Carnegie Hero medals awarded for fire, dog attack rescues in Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Three men who saved the lives of two Minnesotans are being honored with Carnegie Hero medals for their life-saving actions.
William Griep Jr., 54, of St. Francis, Minn. and Benjamin McAuliffe, 31, of Apex, North Carolina are being honored for saving an 80-year-old woman from a burning house in her Oak Grove, Minn. home in September 2015. The paramedics located the woman, who was unable to move on her own, and carried her out of the burning house. Anoka County Sheriff James Stuart said it is likely the woman would have died in the fire if it were not for the combined efforts of the first responders.
"After a career in public safety, I am never surprised to see public servants commit heroic acts,” Stuart said in a statement. “However, I am sometimes still surprised at how quickly they willingly put themselves into harm's way in order to protect another.”
Derrick M. Johnson, 51, of Circle Pines, Minn. is being honored for recusing a 78-year-old man being attacked by a pit bull in St. Louis Park, Minn. in July 2015. Johnson was alerted to the attack by 9-year-old Marshall Schmitz. His quick action helped prevent more serious injuries to the man, but small dog he was walking could not be saved.
The Carnegie Hero medals are named for Pittsburgh steel tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who was inspired by stories of heroism during a coal mine disaster that killed 181 people, including a miner and an engineer who died trying to rescue others. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission has given away $38.2 million to 9,868 awardees or their families since 1904.
Other Carnegie Hero medal recipients
Keith A. Wilt, 49, of Frederick, Maryland, and Matthew J. Geppi, 25, of Baltimore, Maryland, who saved two toddlers trapped in their family's burning Baltimore row house in January 2015.
Kenneth Arnold Hansen, 46, of Crystal, Michigan, who saved an 8-year-old boy who was being attacked by four Rottweilers in a yard in Riverdale, Michigan, in May 2015.
Raymond L. Robinson, 45, and Christopher Z. Smith, 59, both of Chicago, who saved two police officers after a shoplifter stole one officer's gun as they were trying to arrest him in February 2015.
Andrew Baugh, 28, of Mason City, Illinois, who saved a 14-year-old boy from a burning midget-chassis race car at a Lincoln, Illinois, speedway in June 2015.
Ronaldo R. Romo Jr., 32, of St. Louis, who saved a man and his son from burning in a crashed vehicle in Shrewsbury, Missouri, in April 2015.
Michael H. Peddicord, 45, and Donald E. Lee Sr., 60, both of Denton, Maryland, who saved an 87-year-old woman from a propane explosion and fire in her home in October 2014.
Calindo C. Fletcher Jr., 20, of Huntsville, Alabama, who drowned trying to save another man from drowning after his kayak overturned in Athens, Alabama, in July 2015.
Ashley Marie Aldridge, 19, of Auburn, Illinois, who saved a 75-year-old man from being hit by a train when his motorized wheelchair got stuck on a train rail in September 2015.
Turner Lagpacan, 23, of Wichita, Kansas, and Jason C. Newby, of Eaton, Colorado, who tried to rescue the driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed and burned in Mulhall, Oklahoma, in April 2015.
Kaiden J. Porter-Foy, 16, of Lake Stevens, Washington, who rescued a woman from her burning mobile home in August 2015.
Jacob Scott Jones, 35, of St. Helens, Oregon, who disarmed a gunman who wounded a neighbor and threatened others with a gun in March 2015.
Charles G. Gluckleder, 56, of Steger, Illinois, who rescued an 88-year-old man and his 64-year-old son from their burning home in Chicago Heights, Illinois, in October 2015.
Christopher Canale, 33, of Farmingville, New York, who rescued a bus driver and his 70-year-old passenger after the vehicle crashed and burned in Manorville, New York, in October 2015.
Christopher T. DePaoli, 53, of Irvington, New York, who rescued a woman after she was stabbed on a commuter train platform in April 2015.
Kelly Winters, 47, of Chapin, South Carolina, who rescued a man from a burning gasoline tanker that had crashed in Columbia, South Carolina, in May 2015.