The Trenton Times published the following article on April 18, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Ewing police officers receive Carnegie Hero medals for rescuing Trenton family from burning van
By Mike Davis/The Times
on April 18, 2013 at 2:29 PMEWING — Three township police officers who saved a Trenton family from a burning van last year were honored as heroes today by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission of Pittsburgh.
Officers Jeffrey Caldwell and Fred Dow and Detective Michael Pellegrino were honored with Carnegie medals for rescuing 81-year-old Frances Kaplan and her 54-year-old son, Harris Kaplan,after their van crashed into a wooden utility pole.
Frances Kaplan’s husband Marvin Kaplan, who was driving, was able to get out, but his wife had broken her hip and live high-voltage power lines had fallen across the van.
As flames broke out near the rear of the vehicle, Caldwell maneuvered his way past the lines to the driver’s side. The three officers pulled Frances Kaplan out of the van andescorted her to safety.
The officers returned and pulled Harris Kaplan out, and moments later flames engulfed the van.
“We did all the things we were not supposed to do,” Caldwell told The Times in January 2012, referring to their decision to work around the live wires. “We broke all the rules, but we had no choice. She would have burned to death. He would have burned to death, too.”
Both Kaplans were treated for numerous injuries, including Frances Kaplan’s broken hip. Caldwell suffered a finger laceration and Pellegrino had a minor eye injury.
The officers were among 22 people honored with the medals, including a Mount Pleasant, Pa., woman who was killed in June 2010 while trying to rescue a woman who had been shot by her husband. While trying to rescue Janet Piper, Stacey Lynn Feiling was fatally shot by the husband.
Since the commission was founded in 1904, more than $35 million has been awarded to 9,598 heroes, according to the organization. Steel baron Andrew Carnegie was inspired to start the Pittsburgh-based fund after hearing rescue stories from a deadly mine disaster.
The fund’s mission is to recognize people who perform heroic acts in civilian life and to provide financial assistance to the dependents of heroes killed in their heroic efforts, according to a news release from the commission.