| Name: | Mark Wagner |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Joliet Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Firefighter |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 1998 |
| Incident City: | Joliet |
| Year of Incident: | 1998 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Apparatus Operator Mark Wagner of the Joliet Fire Department was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at an apartment building fire in Joliet, Illinois on January 12, 1998.
A female tenant was awoken by flames as the fire commenced, at which point she grabbed her youngest child, a three year-old boy, leaving her two older children and another elderly female resident behind. After the boy was safely evacuated from the house, the female tenant realized that it was too dangerous for her rescue her two other children.
Joliet Firefighter Squadron One was returning from another call when dispatch told them about the fire on the 100 block of Mississippi Ave. Reports indicated that two children and an elderly female resident remained in the burning apartment. Wagner, joined by Firefighters Robert Duchene and Pat Strocchia, entered the building to locate the trapped residents. Flames in the living room prevented them from hearing where the cries of one of the children were emanating from. While Duchene and Strocchia went upstairs and rescued the elderly woman, Wagner exited the building. He was directed by nearby residents to a first floor bedroom in the back of the building. He used an axe to break the back bedroom window. After creating the opening, the congregation of onlookers elevated him through the window, which was five feet off the ground. Once inside, Wagner made his way through the thick smoke to the girl, who was in the hallway. He draped her over his shoulder and carried her to safety. Wagner subsequently went back and found the young boy, unconscious, on an overturned bunk bed and carried him to safety.
Citations:In nick of time life savers: cries of girl drive firefighters through blinding smoke, fire,
The Herald-News, January 13, 1998.
Space heater ignites blaze, hospitalizing 3,
Chicago Tribune, January 13, 1998.