S.O. Cop Honored for Bravery Rescuing Fire Victim

Officer Randy Garrett, a 25-year veteran of the South Orange Police Department, was returning to his home in Colonia at about 5 p.m. on Jan. 30 of this year when he noticed a heavy smoke condition emanating from a local house. He alerted emergency responders, but he didn't stop there.

Though Garrett is a volunteer firefighter with the Colonia Fire Department, he was lacking his gear and still wearing his police uniform. Nonetheless, he responded to the house before anyone else arrived and heard the sound of breaking glass and a man calling out for help when he approached. He ultimately found the man—who had been sleeping when the fire started in the basement and then enflamed the first floor—at the back of the house, trying to break a first-floor bedroom window. Garrett managed to break the rest of the glass and pull him to safety. And later that night, he returned to South Orange to work another shift.

For his bravery, Garrett was a recipient of a 2009 Valor Award Honorable Mention by the Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation at a ceremony held on Oct. 29 at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.

"It was a good feeling that night to be among brother firemen and police officers, too," said Garrett, who works out of the Traffic Bureau in South Orange.

Garrett attributes his willingness to volunteer for a dangerous job to his background in emergency services. He joined the West Orange First Aid Squad in 1976 and later became a crew chief on the East Orange midnight shift through Mercy Medical Services. He then started a career in law enforcement but was also a member of the Newark Auxiliary Fire Department from 1978 to 1991 and a volunteer firefighter in Colonia since 1992.

His 14-year-old son Michael has followed in his footsteps, participating as an "Explorer" in a ride-along program the Colonia Fire Department has through the Boy Scouts of America.

Through his work as a police officer, Garrett has also responded to fires in South Orange. He recalls one a few years ago at 173 South Orange Ave., when he and two other officers entered the building and assisted in evacuating it.

"It comes with the territory," he said. "Any major incident that goes down, (police) are the first there."