Buffalo Grove Firefighters Commended for Bravery

Two Buffalo Grove firefighter/paramedics were honored this week for their efforts to extract a man who died after falling into a tank.

William Navarro and Daniel Pasquarella were given company citations by Fire Chief Terry Vavra, who recognized their work in removing a man from a 6,000-gallon tank filled with methylene chloride. They were called to the scene at Sunnyside Corp. in Wheeling on Nov. 29 to assist with a technical rescue, but they soon became the recovery team when it was determined that the victim had succumbed to the chemicals inside the tank.

“Imagine, if you will, you’re standing on top of a 25-foot tall tank, looking into a hole and seeing nothing, but you know that there is someone in there. And your job is going to be to go into that tank, and you know that the person in there died from the fumes in that tank. There’s not many of us that will say, ‘Yeah, I’ll go.' These guys did,” Vavra said.

Pasquarella was lowered into the tank while Navarro served as backup during the recovery.

“Throughout the event they exemplified the Commitment, Loyalty, Integrity  and Pride of the Buffalo Grove Fire Department under extremely hazardous and dangerous conditions,” the citations read.