Submitted by The 200 Club of Union County
The Two Hundred Club of Union County has announced that seventeen police officers and firefighters, including two members of the Cranford Police Department, have been selected for this year’s Annual Valor Awards Luncheon to be held on Friday, May 11, 2018.
Held at Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains the recipients will receive the prestigious Two Hundred Club Medal of Valor for actions above and beyond the call of duty. The 200 Club, a non-profit organization founded in 1968, is comprised of 400 business leaders from Union County, NJ, who’s core mission is to provide financially for the widows and dependents of Police Officers and Firefighters who are killed in the line of duty. We have grown in mission to now also provide continuing education grants for police officers and firefighters, and a competitive scholarship program for the deserving children of our uniformed protectors in Union County. More information on our organization can be found at www.uc200club.org.
The keynote speaker will be Patricia Ann Norris-McDonald, Mayor of Village of Malverne. Mrs. McDonald is the widow of Steven McDonald, a NYPD officer who was left quadriplegic in 1986 following a shooting in the line of duty. Steven McDonald died age 59 on January 10, 2017. She had been married to Steven for less than year when the shooting took place. At the time the newlywed was pregnant with the couple’s only child. Six months after the shooting she gave birth to a son, Conor McDonald. Mrs. McDonald co-authored the book, The Steven McDonald Story, with her husband NYPD Detective Steven McDonald and appeared often with him to speak about faith and forgiveness.
Cranford Police Department Detective Thomas Stiansen and Officer Gregory Federici will be honored for the following incident.
On May 3, 2017 at approximately 7:40 p.m., the Cranford Police Department responded to an active fire at the Birchwood Avenue Nursing Facility in Cranford. While en route to the scene, officers were advised that multiple bedridden patients were trapped in the room where the fire had originated. Upon arrival, by quick observation of the exterior of the building, Detective Stiansen and Officer Gregory Federici were able to clearly identify which room was actively engulfed with smoke and flames.
As they were approaching the outdoor windows of the room, they could hear the occupants inside screaming for help. Detective Stiansen and Officer Federici were able to break a window using a lawn chair, enter the room which was engulfed with flames and a heavy smoke condition, and ultimately evacuate two residents through the window. Once the residents were turned over to additional fire and EMS personnel, they returned to the building and continued with the evacuation efforts of additional residents.
Once the scene was under control and in command of the Cranford Fire Department, both Detective Stiansen and Officer Federici were transported to St. Barnabas Medical Center where they were treated for smoke inhalation.
If it was not for Detective Stiansen and Officer Federici’s exemplary and heroic efforts during the scene of a fire at a local nursing home, it seems certain that the two recued victims would not have survived. We recognize them for their heroic efforts and valor.
