| Name: | Harvey Moss |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Chicago Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | Career |
| Rank: | Firefighter |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Ladder operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Valor |
| Year of Award: | 2008 |
| Incident City: | Chicago |
| Year of Incident: | 2007 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Firefighter Harvey Moss of Chicago Fire Department’s Truck Company 7 was awarded the Medal of Valor for his efforts to rescue four children from an apartment fire in Chicago, Illinois on February 4, 2007.
On a frigid night in early February, Chicago firefighters were dispatched to a fire at 2325 West Jackson Boulevard. Firefighter Moss raised an aerial ladder to the sixth floor while his fellow firefighters searched the seven-story apartment building for possible victims. Moss climbed the ladder. As he neared the top, he heard a woman scream for help. She was obscured by the smoke billowing out of the building.
Because of a lack of visibility and audibility caused by the smoke and flames, it was hard for Moss to communicate with the victim. She said she had two children and that she was going to drop one of them to him. Moss told her to wait. The victim did not hear his instructions and dropped her one-year-old to him. Despite being six stories in the air and precariously perched on the ladder, he managed to catch the one-year-old, and then a four-year-old as well. He brought them into the building through the sixth floor window and told them to wait for him. The victim then dropped two more children down to him. Moss and another firefighter were able to safely escort all four children out of the building. Other firefighters were now able to access the seventh floor and were able to rescue the woman as well.
Citations:
”Firehouse Heroism & Community Service Awards,” Firehouse, April, 2008.
Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago, Illinois, April 11, 2007.
“Someone you should know,” Ole Tymers Newsletter, December, 2007.