By:Lisa Kovacik
Island Park firefighter rescues man from burning car
It's 7:15 on a Thursday morning. Maybe your alarm clock is beginning to buzz or you're pouring your first cup of coffee, but for Island Park firefighter, Captain Edward Langdon, one Thursday began with a harrowing rescue that saved a man's life. A rescue that called upon his firefighting instincts and sense of humanity. As a result he was awarded the Nassau County Police Commissioner's Award and the 1st Responder Nassau County Bronze of Valor.
On the morning of August 19, 1999 Donald Pazunas was driving home from work on Lido Boulevard in Long Beach and fell asleep at the wheel. His car, with Pazunas in it, hit a nearby telephone pole and burst into flames.
The car had already been scarred by front-end damage and emitting smoke from under the hood by the time Langdon, who was innocently traveling east on Lido Boulevard towards a carpentry job, made it to the scene. He decided not to attend a firefighter's convention out of town that day, instead he planned to carry out a carpentry job at Mitchell Field.
The situation, according to Langdon, inside the car looked grim. Upon approaching the the car, Langdon noticed that the passenger was not moving. When he opened the door he saw that Pazunas, the lone passenger, was only semi-conscious and had both legs pinned under the dashboard and brake pad. The partially inflated air bag also posed a problem.
With flames now reaching a fevered pitch, Langdon had to race against the clock. He rolled over the hood carefully dislodged Mr. Pazunas from the car and dragged him to the safety of a nearby curb, leaving behind a car engulfed in flames. Until the Long Beach fire department came with an ambulance, Langdon stabilized and comforted Pazunas.
Without protective equipment or the aid of a charged hose line, Edward Langdon the man, instinctively became firefighter, Captain Edward Langdon. I was doing what I was trained to do as a firefighter and glad I could help out.
It's the reliable strength of such a man that has enabled Langdon to live up to the nickname Duke, a name given to him at birth by an attending nurse related to John Wayne. She saw the potential in the healthy, strapping baby boy, the baby who did indeed grow into the man who personifies the ideal of a firefighter.
His father, Ernest, was the ex-captain of Baldwin's Hose Company #2 and honorary chief. As a child Edward remembers hanging around the firehouse with his dad and cleaning the trucks. I guess these memories stick with you. It's in the blood,he said.
He is very enthusiastic, very devoted. Definitely a go-getter. When the whistle rings, he is always there,said friend Chris Jordan.
Langdon exemplified the motto
