CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Presentation of a Fire Chief’s Award to Kyle O’Malley and John Schneider
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DEPARTMENT: Fire Department
SUBMITTED BY: Ruthi Sommers for Fire Chief Puknaitis
On August 11, 2018 Geneva residents John Schneider, age 17, and Kyle O’Malley, age 18, were returning home from working a traffic detail at a Lincolnshire art fair where they are members of the Lincolnshire Police Cadet program. As they were driving westbound on I-88 near Route 59 they saw two huge fireballs in the eastbound lane.
They immediately pulled off onto the shoulder, ran to the median, hopped over and saw that two cars, and the pavement surrounding the cars, were on fire. As they approached the cars they saw an unconscious woman in one of them. Getting a fire extinguisher from the driver of a semitrailer stopped in traffic, John used it to put out the fire on the highway so they could get to the car. With the help of another good Samaritan, John and Kyle were able to pull the door open wide enough to free the woman from her car. As they sat her down on the shoulder, they looked back and the entire car was now engulfed in flames.
The patient was transported by ambulance to Edward Hospital where she was treated and subsequently released with only minor injuries.
John Schneider and Kyle O’Malley are being presented the Fire Chief’s Award for their quick thinking and the life-saving actions they performed.
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