The 200 Club of Essex County, founded to assist the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty and the oldest such organization of its kind, honored brave fire and police officers at the recent Valor Awards luncheon Established in 1966, The 200 Club of Essex County has raised nearly $2 million to support the spouses of fallen officers and to fund scholarships for their children through membership dues and the annual luncheon.
Two local fire fighters are being honored with the Valor Awards, offered by the Essex County 200 Club.
Capt. Douglas Yates of the Roseland Volunteer Fire Department,
West Caldwell Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Tom Webber and West Caldwell Firefighter Brian Drastal.
On July 27, 2014 at 02:46 the Essex Fells Fire Department was dispatched to a house fire at 68 Fells Road. Arriving units discovered a working house fire and immediately requested mutual aid for more help. Among the towns responding to render assistance was Roseland and West Caldwell.
With reports of a victim inside the house, firefighters from Roseland and West Caldwell were assigned to do an interior search of the house. Once inside the crews were met with severe heat and smoke, and the fire was spreading to the roof area. Roseland’s Captain Douglas Yates and West Caldwell’s Captain Tom Webber and Firefighter Brian Drastal, working as an interior search team, started forcing open doors in an effort to locate the victim. They were protected in their efforts by West Caldwell firefighters using a 1 ¾” hand line.
Finally in the last room they located an adult female lying unconscious on the bed. Under these stressful conditions, they were able to remove her from the bed and hand her off to other firefighters who carrier her out of the house. Even though CPR and other efforts were initiated to save her, she succumbed to her injuries.
Despite the negative results, Roseland Captain Douglas Yates, West Caldwell Captain Tom Webber and West Caldwell Firefighter Brian Drastal performed admirably and professionally as a team, despite the advanced fire conditions at the time of their rescue.
