COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT TO HONOR BOY'S RESCUERS.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer Earning praise once again, firefighters and others who helped rescue a burned and suffering 17-year-old Newbury Park youth from an electrical tower last spring are being honored for heroism. But the Ventura County Fire Department's Meritorious Service Award will be a bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. honor, the firefighters said. Mike Halsell ultimately died from the injuries he sustained after receiving a severe electrical jolt while rappelling down the tower overlooking the Conejo Grade. ``It's gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. to get the award, but it would have been so much better if Mike was presenting it to us,'' said Fire Captain Scott Hall This article is about the professional wrestler. For the Leeds suburb, see Scott Hall, England. For Japanese comedian and wrestler Razor Ramon HG, see . Scott Oliver Hall , who with Engineer Dave Pumphrey will receive the honor today during a luncheon at Spanish Hills Country Club, in Camarillo. ``You feel you didn't quite get the whole job done,'' Hall explained. ``It's still a little bit of an empty feeling when you get the award.'' In October, Hall and Pumphrey received the California State Firefighter's Association's Medal of Valor For other medals of the same name, see . The Medal of Valor (O't Ha'gvora, Hebrew: עיטור הגבורה) is the highest Israeli Military decoration. for their efforts to rescue the injured youth. Also receiving the Medal of Valor were Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. Co. employees Tom Lapp and Bob Martinez, who participated in the dramatic March 11 rescue effort. Lapp and Martinez will receive the county Fire Department's Life Saving Award at today's event. The department also will present its Firefighter of the Year, Employee of the Year and Fire Company of the Year awards today. Halsell, a Newbury Park High School student, was rappelling with two friends down the 150-foot steel tower on a hillside next to the Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. when he was hit by 220,000 volts, suffering third-degree burns third-degree burns npl → brûlures fpl au troisième degré third-degree burns third npl → Verbrennungen pl dritten Grades over 85 percent of his body. The teen-ager was sitting in the middle of a cross-beam high up on the pole, his legs hanging over the side and arms outstretched out·stretch tr.v. out·stretched, out·stretch·ing, out·stretch·es To stretch out; extend. outstretched Adjective , when the four men arrived on the scene. They braved high winds and possible electrocution electrocution Method of execution in which the condemned person is subjected to a heavy charge of electric current. The prisoner is shackled into a wired chair, and electrodes are fastened to the head and one leg so that the current will flow through the body. to bring down the boy, who died two weeks later. Meritorious Service Award recipients are nominated by battalion chiefs and selected by a committee that includes Fire Department officials, members from outside the department and the news media, said Spokeswoman Sandi Wells. ``We just felt these people are wonderful on a day-to-day basis, but in this instance they went beyond that,'' she said. Though flattered by the recognition, Hall said the rescue was a team effort involving numerous firefighters, agency and other personnel. ``I just don't want people to forget that there are a lot of people behind the scenes who make this possible,'' said Hall, 38, who lives in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. . ``You're only as good as the people you work with.'' Pumphrey, 39, said he was proud to be getting the award and also credited others on the team who helped with the effort. Like Hall, the Camarillo resident said he was still saddened at Halsell's death and would never forget the day he helped bring the youth down from the pole. ``It's going to burn a pretty good place in your memory bank - I still remember the sights and sounds of that day and still have sympathy for the (Halsell) family and Mike,'' he said. THE HONOREES The Ventura County Fire Department Not to be confused with Ventura Fire Department. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. also will present Firefighter and Fire Company of the year awards at its annual recognition luncheon today. Firefighter of the Year - selected for involvement in the Fire Department, outstanding off-duty accomplishments and other achievements Fire Captain Steve Noblett, 54, of Simi Valley, Station 54 in Camarillo. Fire Captain Rod Megli, 41, of Camarillo, Station 53 in Port Hueneme. Fire Fighter Mike Milkovich, 36, of Northridge, Station 41 in Simi Valley. Fire Company of the Year - selected for best performance in a test, beating out 90 other truck companies. Truck Company 41 of Simi Valley. Captain Ed Spafford, 39, of Simi Valley; Engineer Ron Oatman, 32, of Moorpark; Firefighter Chad Cook, 27, of Thousand Oaks; Firefighter Chris Daumbauld, 34, of Moorpark. CAPTION(S): Box Box: (Ran in Conejo only) THE HONOREES (see text) |
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