2 Firefighters Honored for Aiding 3rd in Blaze

Two Los Angeles city firefighters were honored with the Medal of Valor on Tuesday for their roles in saving the life of a member of their crew during last year’s Calabasas fire.

Firefighters Richard J. Kirkwood and Surgey “Guy” H. Tomlinson, both of Fire Station 10 in downtown Los Angeles, were awarded valor pins and certificates at a ceremony during a fire commission meeting in downtown Los Angeles.

The men were part of a strike crew in Malibu’s Corral Canyon on Oct. 22, 1996, when their engine stalled, putting them in the line of a wave of fire. As flames engulfed the truck, the firefighters attempted to cover themselves with aluminum shields. One crew member, Firefighter Ross Torstenbo, found himself unprotected and burned.

Despite having lost his own fire shield to a gust of wind, Tomlinson used his body to cover Torstenbo. Kirkwood then brought both men under his shield to protect them.

Kirkwood said the incident happened so fast that he had little time to react, thinking only about “sticking together and protecting ourselves” at the time.

Tomlinson, who suffered second- and third-degree burns, said the training that the firefighters received kicked in and they merely reacted to the situation.

“I knew none of us were going to die,” he said. “We were just trying to minimize our injuries and get out of there.”

Kirkwood and Tomlinson said they had mixed reactions to the honor: pride, surely, but also concern that Torstenbo was not on the list of award recipients.

Steve Ruda, public information officer for the department, said an investigation determined that although Torstenbo survived a traumatic experience, Kirkwood and Tomlinson were the heroes.

Eleven others also received the award of merit--only the third time that the award has been given.

Merit recipients were Capts. Thomas C. Moore, Timothy D. Wilson, Ronald S. Lem and Bobby J. Mihlhauser; Engineers Donald E. Witty and James R. Porter, and Firefighters John E. Ruedy, David T. Moorman, Anthony E. Senior, Theodore H. Mayeda and Edward A. Rivas.