Union County to honor first responders who go above and beyond the call of duty

On March 29, 2023, Union Township Fire Capt. Kenneth DeHart and Firefighter Cody Mendoza-Ryals were called to a blaze at a three-story building on Chestnut Street.

As they rushed up the stairs with a hose and other tools, forced their way into one second-story, smoke-filled apartment and navigated their way toward the fire, they spotted the feet of a man lying on the kitchen floor who was unconscious, but still breathing.

The two firefighters, one a veteran with nearly 24 years of experience, and the other with just three years on the job, worked together to arrange for backup firefighters to contain the fire while they rescued the man from the burning apartment and then arrange to put him on a long board to slide him down the stairs and out of the building.

Once outside the building, the man was taken to the burn unit Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, where he was treated and later released after making a full recovery.

On May 17 DeHart and Mendoza-Ryals will be among 14 first responders to be recognized with Medals of Valor by the 200 Club of Union County for their fearlessness and bravery in the dangerous situation. The awards will be presented at the organization's 55th annual Valor Awards Luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn, 304 Route 22, Springfield.

This is DeHart's second 200 Club of Union County award, and Mendoza-Ryals’ first.

"It's always a pleasure to meet them (200 Club members). They don't forget, they remember you and talk to you. They make you feel like you are part of them and it's an honor," said DeHart, who plans to bring two of his sons to the event.

"It feels like I did something good," Mendoza-Ryals said. "It makes me feel like I did something special, and I'm honored to be selected for it (the valor award)."

The valor award is presented to courageous police and firefighters from Union County who have gone above and beyond in the line of duty and the luncheon serves to celebrate these local heroes. The event also will include $20,000 to be awarded in student scholarship.

Other honorees

Also being honored are Cranford Police Officers Christopher Folinusz and Ryan McSharry, who on Dec. 28, 2023 spotted a stolen van possibly linked to armed robberies in Union and Middlesex counties and pursued it down the Garden State Parkway, where the van collided with a guardrail and the driver began firing at the officers. Folinusz was shot in the arm and both officers returned fire, fatally striking the suspect and then McSharry applied a tourniquet to Forinusz's injured arm.

More: Hunterdon County cops, state police to be honored for heroic acts

Elizabeth Police Officers Steven Lazo and Walter Franco are being honored for their response to a July 29, 2023 caller who reported an unwanted guest in the home and when they arrived, they found a man wielding a knife and threatening the life of a woman. Lazo drew his weapon and fired at the man, striking him in the chest and then began giving medical attention to the woman and the suspect.

Elizabeth Police Offices John Rodriguez, Luis Rodriguez, Christian Estremera, Jaime Ferreira and Kellan Moran are being honored for their work on May 27, 2023 in pursuing a convenience store robbery suspect who fled on foot and was chased by the officers on foot and by car, before cornering the suspect who grabbed a handgun and fired but only hurt himself, before the officers administered life-saving aid. The officers did not fire any shots.

Garwood Police Sgt. John Wright and Officers Jonathan Pridy and Gregory Sanchez are being honored for their work on Nov. 28, 2023 responding to a report of medical emergency after the caller, who sounded disoriented hung up. Pridy and Sanchez were dispatched to conduct a welfare check but when they arrived at the apartment and heard no response from inside. Wright was called for backup and as they breached the door they found a man standing on the edge of a third-story balcony with a cable tied around his neck, preparing to leap. The officers jumped over the railing and grabbed the man and pulled him back to safety, without themselves being pulled over the railing.

Union Township fire rescue

DeHart said the March 29, 2023 call came in as a confirmed working structure fire in his district with a battalion chief already on the scene of the mixed-use building which had retail stores on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors.

DeHart said they pulled their attack line and met at the bottom of the stairs to go up to the second-floor apartment. He was told he would have to force entry into the apartment because of the steel around the lock.

"Fortunately, I had my tool with me so we were able force entry into the door and we saw in the hallway above the door that sheetrock on the outside wall was already black, so we knew we were going into a very hot fire condition," DeHart said.

Mendoza-Ryals agrees.

"We forced the door open and pretty much you couldn't see anything once we opened the door. It was all smoke, very heavy conditions," Mendoza-Ryals said, adding he couldn't tell which room they were in.

In addition to the smoke, as they forced their way into the apartment both DeHart and Mendoza-Ryals were hit with heat and blacked out conditions and had to navigate their way around a hallway to get to the living area, and even though they had a camera and their lights, they couldn't see much.

DeHart said he knew the fire was in the back and as they started to turn a corner with the camera there was a room straight ahead that they later learned was the kitchen, but before fully turning they spotted the victim's feet at the entrance to the room.

"I called in for a backup because now we were going to abandon nozzle for a backup team to come. I said put the nozzle in the hallway because that's where they have to go and we have to attend to the victim," DeHart said, adding he notified command that they had the victim and they were going to start removal and to send in the second company to extinguish the fire.

DeHart said the man, believed to be in his late 60s or early 70s, was unconscious, but breathing. Mendoza-Ryals was near the man's feet while DeHart was in the back by his head to maintain his airway to pull him out of the apartment to the hallway, where other firefighters met them to get the man on a long backboard to help slide him down the flight of stairs and outside the building, while other crews proceeded to extinguish the fire.

DeHart said he never really saw the man's face until they got outside the apartment.

"Inside all I knew was I had a body and I know he was breathing so I didn't really get a good look at him until we were outside," DeHart said, adding the man was taken to the burn unit at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston because he wasn't sure if the man had any partial or internal burns or smoke inhalation. The man was later released from the hospital.

DeHart said the fire was confined to the one apartment, and all the other apartments were checked.

"It was a crazy experience," Mendoza-Ryals said, adding he was glad to be in the right place at the right time to use his training to help the victim.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Union County NJ to honor first responders for heroic acts