On February 4, 2005, the Broome County
Firefighters' Association awarded its annual William Grace Firefighter of the
Year Award to Endwell Firefighter Matthew Grafton. Matt received the award for
his heroic efforts in rescuing a fellow firefighter.
On August 10, 2004, at about 5:30 pm the
Endwell Fire Department responded to a house on Hillside Terrace where the
resident advised that a work light had broken and fallen into attic insulation
causing a smoldering fire in the insulation.
Firefighters Tom Palazzo, a 4-year veteran of the
fire department, and Matt Grafton, a 14-year veteran, were sent to work in
the attic crawl space, checking for fire and extinguishing hot spots. During the
operation, FF Palazzo fell through the attic floor and ended up hanging onto a
truss over a 20 foot drop onto the basement stairwell. Firefighter Grafton
immediately radioed that there was a firefighter through the floor and then
using brute strength and determination, and disregarding his own personal
safety, was able to single-handedly rescue FF Palazzo, pulling him back up
through the hole and into the attic area.
"He said he was going to drop. I was more
afraid than he was because he couldn't see how far he would be dropping,"
said Grafton, 30, who used brute strength to pull his fellow firefighter back up
through the hole.
