Valor Awards For Three Brave Montclair Firefighters

On April 21, the New Jersey State Firefighters' Mutual Benevolent Association Valor Awards Banquet was held at the Pines Manor in Edison. Three members of the Montclair Fire Department, including one from Cedar Grove, received Valor Awards for their rescue efforts during the fatal fire on Carlton Drive in Montclair on January 14, 2011.

Firefighter John Benson of Cedar Grove, Lt. Carl Zimmermann of Caldwell and firefighter Steve Carney of Montclair all were honored.

On Jan. 14, 2011 at 2:34 p.m., the firefighters were dispatched to 8 Carlton Dr. for a reported working house fire with people trapped inside. Zimmermann and Carney arrived to find a one-story house fully engulfed in fire and heavy smoke.

They entered the house, battling heat, fire, and heavy smoke, and worked their way to a back bedroom. Benson entered the home through a rear window and met up with Zimmermann and Carney and a rescue effort began.

The trapped occupant was found in a back room and — through a team effort — rescued from the home. Once the three men got the person to the front lawn, paramedics took over and took her to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Paterson, where she was later pronounced dead.