Battalion Chief Honored as Hero

The Colton City Council on Tuesday, Dec. 16 invited the Fire and Burn Foundation to present the Courage Award to Battalion Chief Kevin Valentin for his courageous action in the line of duty. The Fire and Burn Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing burn injuries and deaths through fire and burn prevention education, burn survivor programs, and firefighter training. Jeanne Terwilliger, Fire & Burn organization director, along with past San Bernardino County Fire Chief Peter Brierty, gave a brief accounting of why Valentin deserved this recognition. On Saturday, May 24, firefighters from Loma Linda and Colton were dispatched to a structure fire in the City of Colton. The fire was contained within 35 minutes and the clean up was initiated. As the clean up was progressing, Valentin, who was watching his crew work, heard some commotion coming from around the fire truck. Moving to investigate what was going on, Valentin saw Capt. Scott Daniels lying on the ground with blue arcing coming from his boots, and one of engineers yelling for help to get down from the ladder turntable on the truck. Acting quickly and calmly, Valentin was able to coach the engineer on the turntable down from the truck, and then turning quickly to Daniels, who was lying limply on the ground, Valentin, with presence of mind, heard the pop of a circuit breaker. He checked to see if any current was still surrounding Daniels, and knowing none existed, Valentin proceeded to pull Daniels clear of the truck. The engineer on the ladder turntable sustained a minor electrical shock, and Daniels sustained serious injuries including entrance and exit wounds to the upper extremities and third degree burns to his feet. Valentin said, “It was a horrible incident, and I hope I never see anything like that again in my career.” Daniels attended the presentation of the award for Valentin and praised him for his quick actions while endangering his own life. After receiving his award from Terwilliger, the Council and all in attendance gave Valentin a standing ovation.