| Name: | Joseph Casale |
| Gender: | Male |
| Agency: | Melrose Park Fire Department |
| Type of Firefighter: | |
| Rank: | Captain |
| Type of Duty: | Firefighting operations, Search and rescue operations |
| Type of Award: | Medal of Honor |
| Year of Award: | 2006 |
| Incident City: | Melrose Park |
| Year of Incident: | 2005 |
| Incident Location Type: | Residential |
| Incident Attribute: | Fires |
Captain Joseph Casale of the Melrose Park Fire Department was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions to rescue two people from an apartment fire in Melrose Park, Illinois on January 13, 2005.
Captain Casale was leading a Public Education class at Stevenson Public School when a student observed a fire across the street at a two-story residential building. Casale told the teacher to call 9-1-1.
Casale joined Lieutenant Ron Liano of the Melrose Park Police Department, who was also at Stevenson, to investigate the scene. They entered the house to find a couch on fire, the smoke and fire rapidly spreading. Without any equipment, both men searched for victims on the first floor. Casale made his way through the smoke up the stairs. In a smoke-filled apartment on the second floor, he found a scared woman and a young child sitting on the living room floor. He was able to get them past the fiery first floor to safety, where both victims were examined by paramedics.
Citation:
“Gov. Blagojevich honors fallen firefighters, recognizes 28 other firefighters for extraordinary acts of bravery,” The Gong, July-September, 2006.