LIBERTY — A Liberty firefighter was honored for his actions in saving a young township resident during a fire at her home.
Scott Thomas was given the honor of the 2022 Valor Award and was inducted into the Ohio Fire Service Hall of Fame this week. The event and awards ceremony were sponsored by the state Fire Marshal and the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
According to Andy Ellinger of the fire marshal’s office, some 16 Ohio firefighters and two private citizens were honored “who have gone above and beyond the call of duty” and provided exceptional service.
Thomas, a part-time firefighter who also volunteers for the Hubbard Eagle District, was among three firefighters to receive the valor award during a ceremony Wednesday at the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus.
In a video depicting Thomas’ act of valor, Liberty fire Capt. Bill Optisnik said his crew was “horribly understaffed” that day in 2021 as four firefighters went into the house where fire burned in the basement and two children were trapped upstairs.
“This was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. We did what some fire departments would send 50 or 60 firefighters into that kind of situation,” Optisnik said.
Initially, Thomas and another firefighter went up to save the kids, but the other firefighter said he made the decision to fight the flames below.
“I said to myself, ‘If we don’t get control of that fire, there’s going be four people (including firefighters) lost,’” firefighter Joseph Santangelo said.
Thomas said as he got upstairs, he had to battle a wall of smoke to get to the 6-year-old girl. Once outside the home, Thomas then administered chest compressions to bring the victim around before ambulance attendants arrived. Optisnik pulled the second child to safety, Thomas said.
“This was one of the smokiest fires I have ever been to. It kind of erupted into a wall of smoke, and he (Scott Thomas) came out with the child in his hands,” Liberty Chief James Petruzzi said. “That morning, training prevailed.”
The honored firefighter gave credit to his colleagues for any act of heroism on that day.
“It is our job,” Thomas said. “There were a lot of moving parts that day, and it took a team effort to pull it off.”
Optisnik also praised the team effort.
“Everybody did what they had to do,” he said.
Hubbard City Council recently honored Thomas with a proclamation. Thomas joined the Eagle Fire District in 2012, according to the roster.