HAVERSTRAW – Fighting fires is usually a team effort, but sometimes one person can be the deciding factor between life or death. On July 11, 2013, Haverstraw volunteer firefighter Joseph Chapman was the right man, in the right spot at the right time to make a difference.
For his actions that led to the rescue of a couple trapped in a burning home and extinguishing the fire, Chapman has been named the Rockland County Volunteer Firemen’s Association Firefighter of the Year. Chapman was honored for his efforts tonight at the association’s annual convention, which took place in Haverstraw.
The incident that earned Chapman the recognition took place on what started as a routine day. At 11:45 a.m. on July 11, 2013, Chapman was working on the grounds of the Haverstraw Middle School, where his is employed by the North Rockland school district. A man from nearby Conklin Avenue ran to Chapman, pleading for help – saying a home was on fire.
Chapman and the man ran to 60 Conklin Ave., where heavy smoke was pouring from the garage doors in the front of the house, where two elderly people were trapped by the heat and the smoke. Chapman, who did not have his protective firefighting gear, got into the house through the garage and rescued the couple – taking them to a neighbor’s home.
As two Haverstraw police officers arrived, Chapman took a fire extinguisher from one of the officers and tried to battle the blaze. With the fire still raging, Chapman ran back to his work vehicle and drove to his fire company, Cosgriff Hose, where he got into the company’s pumper truck and took it to the scene of the fire.
Chapman was then able to use the pumper truck’s equipment to put out the fire.
“Joseph Chapman’s quick thinking and unselfish actions, without personal regard, are in the finest traditions of the Haverstraw Fire Department and the fire service in general,” wrote Haverstraw First Assistant Chief Robert Drexler in a letter nominating Chapman for the 2014 Cordes Lucus/Emmett Sweeney Memorial Award – known as the Rockland County Firefighter of the Year Award.
Tonight’s convention saluted firefighting units for excellent work, as well as saluted volunteers who have given 25 and 50 years of service to their communities. The convention is the prelude to the big county fire parade, set to kick off at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Haverstraw.
The association’s unit citation tonight went to the West Nyack Fire Department, the Central Nyack Fire Department and the Rockland County Technical Rescue Team for its efforts that led to the successful rescue of a trucker trapped in the wreckage of a tractor trailer that crashed on the New York State Thruway between Exits 11 and 12 and landed on a steep hill in the woods just north of the Thruway. The 2:51 a.m. incident on July 11 took hours and the use of special rescue tools and training to free the trapped driver.
