Valleywide : Earthquake Rescuers Honored With Medals

As rescuers worked feverishly, firefighter Wayne Ibers feared the worst for the man buried under the tons of rubble that had been Northridge Fashion Center’s parking garage.

Maintenance worker Salvador Pena had become pinned in the street sweeper he was operating when the garage collapsed during the Northridge earthquake. He was seriously injured, and the firefighters knew that digging him out would take hours.

“I didn’t think we were going to be able to get him out alive,” said Ibers, a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain.

Ibers and the others, however, refused to give up.

“I thought about my family; my wife was seven months pregnant,” said Firefighter Rich Meline. “And I thought about [the victim’s] family, and what they would go through if he didn’t make it.”

Seven hours later, they pulled out the 43-year-old Pena, who credits the men with saving his life.

“I don’t feel like a hero,” said Ibers. He shrugged. “This is part of my job.”

Ibers and Meline were among several county firefighters honored Friday at a ceremony at the La Canada Flintridge fire station. Also receiving medals for heroism were two colleagues at the scene, Dave Norman and Ysidro Miranda.

Other firefighters were honored for heroic deeds, including John Haugh, who rescued an 11-year-old boy from the bottom of a shaft in Malibu, and Collin Cook, who brought a man up from a 68-foot shaft in Valencia. Larry Collins and Mike Layhee, who also took part in the Valencia effort, were credited with saving two people after a building collapsed in Kern County.

Dave Thies received an award for rescuing several people after a multi-car accident on the San Bernardino Freeway, and Frank McCarthy and John Finnerty were honored for saving an elderly Malibu couple whose home was flooded. Also honored was Eric Fetherston, who rescued a motorist during a flood in Placerita Canyon.

Ibers said he recently saw Pena--who feared he would never walk again--on television, walking.

“It felt great,” Ibers said.