These state workers risked their lives on the job. Gavin Newsom recognized them this week
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday presented 33 state workers with the Governor’s State Employee Medal of Valor Award, recognizing those who risked their lives to protect members of the public in 2020 and 2021.
More than half of the recipients earned a gold Medal of Valor — the highest honor awarded, for “extraordinary act(s) of heroism.”
Those included 10 California Highway Patrol officers, one of whom pulled an unconscious driver out of a burning truck on Interstate 80 in Sacramento County; as well as seven Cal Fire employees.
“These individuals are heroes, not because they sought glory or even recognition, but because they acted without hesitation when the time for action and calling came,” Newsom said in a video announcement Tuesday.
California Highway Patrol award recipients
CHP Officer Verna Mondell responded to a crash between a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer on March 26, 2020, on eastbound I-80 near Citrus Heights. The pickup caught fire and its doors became trapped shut. Mondell attempted to pull the driver out of the passenger-side window, but the driver’s legs were trapped.
“Without any regard for her own safety, Officer Mondell leaned completely into the burning vehicle, grabbed the passenger’s waistband and right shoulder, pulled him out of the vehicle, and moved him to safety,” CHP officials wrote in a news release announcing the award recipients.
Seven other CHP officers earned medals for their response to an August 2020 plane crash at Benton Airpark in Redding.
Lt. Michael Berry of the CHP’s Redding office, along with Sgt. Jeff Edgerton and officers Jeff Hatcher, Erik Mallory, Eric Pohrman, Steve Weyand and Jonathan Wion of the CHP Northern Division’s air operations unit, all responded to a downed private plane within 30 seconds of it crashing, according to the CHP news release. An onboard oxygen tank on the plane exploded, authorities said.
The seven officers were able to remove two passengers from the crashed plane; however, both died of their injuries at a hospital weeks later. Two other occupants of the plane were trapped in the wreckage and died at the scene.
Three other CHP personnel based in Southern California received gold medals in this year’s ceremony.
Sgt. Patrick Bourassa climbed into a burning vehicle that crashed following a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 5 near Oceanside in February 2021, rescuing the driver and providing medical aid.
And in June 2020, officers Wesley Barnes and John Gallemore of the CHP’s Monterey office rescued three people from a burning vehicle that had crashed into a tree following a pursuit. All three occupants survived, according to the news release.
“Each of the officers honored this year displayed incredible courage in the face of personal danger,” Amanda Ray, commissioner of the CHP, said in a prepared statement. “Their actions exemplify selfless service and a commitment to helping others.”
Cal Fire award recipients
Cal Fire Capt. Tom Crass and Capt. Ryan Wallace were honored for their role in a February 2021 vehicle pursuit and shooting incident that ended in a Tulare County orchard.
Crass and Wallace administered medical aid to a veteran CHP officer who had been shot by the pursuit suspect, California Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said in a video presentation for the award. The two armed fire captains had also been among the first to respond. The suspect shot at them, and they returned fire.
Capt. Robert Rubalcava in December 2020 saved a firefighter trapped inside a burning building in Indio following a partial roof collapse, following a mayday call, according to Crowfoot.
Capt. Eric Ayers, while driving with his daughter near Grass Valley in June 2021, came upon an overturned SUV that had caught fire with its driver trapped inside. Ayers and his daughter rendered assistance, attempting to rescue the driver from the vehicle until on-duty fire crews arrived. The driver was freed and ultimately taken to a hospital with extensive burn injuries, Crowfoot said.
A fire apparatus engineer, Martin Newman, earned a gold valor medal for his actions while responding to the August 2021 Cache Fire near Clearlake.
Newman, along with Cal Fire firefighters Jared Gotro and Cory Souza, spotted a woman attempting to escape from a trailer park who had become “engulfed in flames,” Crowfoot said. Newman “hoisted the victim onto his shoulder and ran 100 feet to safety.” The victim survived, being treated at a burn center.
Two other fire apparatus engineers, Omar Desiderio and Tyler Williams, saved a pair of victims trapped in a burning home in Riverside County in October 2020. Crowfoot said Desiderio and Williams dove head-first through a window to enter the home.
The final recipient of a Gold Medal of Valor was Sgt. 1st Class Jason Shilling of the California Military Department, who in October 2021 de-escalated a situation in which an armed intruder jumped the perimeter fence at Oakland Military Institute.
Gotro and Souza received silver medals in Tuesday’s award ceremony, along with 14 other state workers: four with Caltrans, three with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, three with the Department of Industrial Relations, two others with Cal Fire and one with the Department of Consumer Affairs.
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 2:16 PM.
