By:Melissa O'Hara
Chief Croak awarded NYC fire medal for rescue
When his instinct and courage were called upon in the dark, early hours of a March morning last year, New York City Fire Lieutenant William R. Croak came through, saving the life of a woman trapped in a cellar fire.
Known here as the Valley Stream Fire Department's Chief, Lt. Croak of Brooklyn's Ladder Company 170 was honored on June 6 with the Thomas F. Dougherty medal, a prestigious award given for extraordinary service in fire rescue.
When Croak first arrived on the scene at 1241 East 92nd Street at 3:51 a.m. March 27, he acted quickly and prayed for "his feet not to fail him," he said. He was assisted by two other firefighters who broke down the door as Croak ran in to find the woman. In order to reach her, Croak was forced to crawl through flames that had overcome the living room.
Once past the wall of fire, Croak still had to locate the trapped woman. He felt his way around the room and found 24-year-old Frances Mattelus unconscious on the floor, covered with a blanket and pieces of furniture.
Croak knew he had to move quickly, but the only way out of the blaze was back through the flaming living room. As Croak was trying to get her out, firefighters of Engine 257 had arrived and were battling the flames. Once Croak got Mattelus out, he administered rescue breathing until the EMS Unit arrived.
Thinking back on that night, Croak said that "you just act and let your training kick in and I was just hoping that I could find her."
A Valley Stream resident, he has been a firefighter with the NYC Fire Department for 19 years and has worked at Ladder Company 170 since 1994. He is also going into his third year as a Chief of the Valley Stream Fire Department and is the Command Master Chief for Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 21.
Being a fireman is "something that I always wanted to do." Smiling, Croak added that it was because of "the big red trucks."
It is "nice to get something for your service, there are 50 medals given and over 1,200 [firefighters] on the job, so it is nice to be recognized," Croak added.
"I am really proud of the accomplishments that he has made in his lifetime," said his wife, Karen. "He has done so many things; he is a jack of all trades."
Captain William Kirkham of Valley Stream's Engine Company 2 said, "Chief Croak is a man of dedication, not only to the Valley Stream Fire Department but to the City of New York as well. He maintains the highest level of training to keep the Valley Stream community safe."
The Thomas F. Dougherty Medal is named for a New York City firefighter who was a member of the city's bravest from 1888 to 1933 awarded for especially courageous acts of fire rescue.
