Firefighters, Police Officer Honored for Heroism

Two young women were caught in a car consumed by flame. A wheelchair-bound man was trapped in a basement apartment rapidly filling with smoke from a nearby fire.

All three survived their ordeals, thanks to the efforts of Belleville first responders.

Officer Michael Griesi of the Belleville Police Department, along with Firefighter Dennis Ives and Lt. Scott Wentworth of the Belleville Fire Department, were honored Friday night at Stuart Edgar VFW Post in Nutley, which annually recognizes individuals, businesses and organizations for their service to the two communities.

Also recognized was Algieri’s Pizza on Union Avenue, which has donated hundreds of dollars’ worth of food for charitable events sponsored by the post, said Darrell Root, the VFW district commander for Essex County.

Speaking to the large audience Friday, Belleville Chief of Police Joseph Rotonda described Griesi’s actions in the early morning hours of June 20, 2010.

While patrolling near 612 Mill St. at 4:23 am, Griesi saw a car that had struck a utility pole head-on and was on fire. The driver, 19-year-old Elizabeth Prado-Ducke, was conscious but too panicked to free herself, and a passenger, 21-year-old Maria Ontaneda, was unconscious.

Griesi carried Prado-Ducke out of the car and to safety, then returned to the burning vehicle and rescued Ontaneda.

“[I]f not for the heroic action of Police Officer Michael Griesi, both women would have succumbed to the vehicle fire,” Rotonda said.

At around 3:30 pm on Nov. 10, 2010, the Belleville Fire Department responded to a fire at an apartment complex near Joralemon Street. The fire was located in a storage area near a basement apartment, where a man was yelling for help, said Battalion Chief Stanley Depczek, who was the incident commander at the scene.

“I had a birds-eye view of this,” Depczek said.

Passing through heavy smoke to the apartment’s door,  Wentworth and Ives entered and found the victim, who could not easily be removed from the apartment because the most direct route of escape was blocked by hoses and smoke. Wentworth and Ives remained with the victim as the apartment filled with smoke, calling for an additional air tank so the victim could breathe. Ives and Wentworth then lifted the victim up and through a basement window, which was difficult because of the victim’s size and handicap, Depczek said. Other emergency workers outside the building assisted Ives and Wentworth in getting the man to safety. As the firefighters were assisting the man, other firefighters were still trying to find the location of the fire, which was obscured by heavy smoke.

“Due to the extraordinary efforts of Lt. Wentworth and Firefighter Ives the victim was successfully rescued without injury or harm,” Depczek said.   

Ives and Wentworth are set to receive another honor later this month: they will both be awarded the Bronze Medal of Valor at the state FMBA awards banquet April 23.