Teutopolis and Montrose firefighters receive Medal of Honor

May 14—Firefighters from the Teutopolis and Montrose Fire Protection Districts Tuesday received the highest honor bestowed on firefighters by the state of Illinois.

Two Montrose firefighters and three Teutopolis firefighters were given the Medal of Honor during the 31st Annual Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial & Firefighting Medal of Honor Award Ceremony in Springfield.

Assistant Fire Chief David Browning and Captain Drew Pals of the Montrose Fire Protection District and Lieutenant Brett Repking, Dan Kocher and Ryan Lee of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District were honored for their response to the fatal accident that occurred just outside of Teutopolis on the night of Sept. 29, 2023 when a semi-truck carrying anhydrous ammonia crashed and released the harmful chemical into the air, killing five people.

The Medals of Honor were presented by the Medal of Honor Committee & Memorial Foundation.

"The Firefighting Medal of Honor is the highest award given by the state of Illinois to a firefighter for an act of outstanding bravery or heroism by which the firefighter has demonstrated in great degree the characteristics of selflessness and personal courage above and beyond the call of duty and under adverse conditions with the possibility of extreme personal risk." Retired Frankfort Fire Chief James Grady said during the ceremony.

Originally, the Illinois Fallen Firefighter Memorial portion of the ceremony was scheduled to take place at the Illinois Firefighter Fallen Firefighter Monument, which is located just outside of the Illinois State Capitol, but the entire event was moved to the Bank of Springfield Center due to weather conditions.

Prior to receiving their Medals of Honor, a video was played for attendees in which each of the firefighters being awarded reflected on the horrific anhydrous accident and explained what was going on in their minds as they responded to it.

"They could barely breathe. Their eyes were all crusted over." Repking said of the victims of the accident.

"You could tell they were severely irritated by it," Kocher said.

In the video, firefighters discussed what they experienced when they arrived on the scene of the accident. Several of them said that the anhydrous ammonia created a cloud over the area that Pals described as "a little eerie looking."

"It was a white fog, just basically rolling on the ground," Pals said. "It was weird."

Although the scene of the accident was chaotic and confusing for first responders searching for victims, the firefighters managed to find and save everyone they could. Several victims were found in nearby ditches.

"We never really knew where any of the victims were, how many and where we were going to find them at," Pals said. "As much as we don't like seeing those things. It's part of the job. Some days can be tougher than others."

As the firefighters continued to make their way towards the scene of the accident, they continued to find more victims. In fact, the Montrose and Teutopolis Fire Protection Districts ran out of stretchers by the time they were ready to transport the final victim.

"I held her in my arms, and Brett drove. And we got her out, and that's when I ran out of air and Brett went back in," Lee said.

While they are quick to say they were simply doing their jobs when they responded to the call, the firefighters that were honored Tuesday did not hesitate to enter the hot zone of the accident — which prevented the disaster from claiming any more lives than it already had.

"I wasn't really thinking of what we were doing here. It was happening so quick," Lee said. "And we were the ones that were there to do it, and we were fortunate enough we had Montrose on the other side. Everybody did a great job."

After the ceremony, Browning said he had never responded to a call quite like the anhydrous accident in the 15 years he's been with the Montrose Fire Protection District, and he admitted that he's not used to being honored as he was Tuesday. Additionally, he credits the communication between the departments responding to the scene that day and the hazmat training he went through about seven years ago for the outcome of the accident, which could have been much worse.

"It's breathtaking," he said of the award ceremony.

Teutopolis Fire Chief Tim McMahon attended the ceremony to support the firefighters from his department as they received their Medals of Honor. He praised them for their heroic actions and is confident that others from his department would have responded similarly had they been on call at the time.

"It's great, well deserved," McMahon said. "I'm proud of them."

Also following the ceremony, Lee, like other firefighters who responded to the scene of the accident, credited his fellow firefighters, particularly the leaders of his department, for handling the situation swiftly and effectively.

"It's a great honor, and I hope I can represent our department because it's the entire department that deserves this," Lee said. "It's just kind of overwhelming. Everybody stepped up."

Meanwhile, Repking, who's been with the department for nearly 11 years, said he feels "very fortunate and lucky" that, although it was horrific, the accident wasn't any worse than it was.

"It's huge," he said. "I don't think any of us expected this kind of recognition or gratitude from our community or the state. We worked very well together and got as many people out as we could."

Other recipients of the Medal of Honor at this year's ceremony were firefighters/EMTs Jakub Majka and James Pienta of the Chicago Fire Department as well as firefighter/paramedic William Perry of the Coal City Fire protection District.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.