Local firefighter awarded Idaho Medal of Honor

Published at 3:21 pm, September 9, 2016

EastIdahoNews.com staff

BOISE — A local firefighter will receive the Idaho Medal of Honor for “performing with exceptional courage and bravery,” according to a news release from the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

Sean Allen of the Idaho Falls Fire Department is being honored for his role in rescuing a driver who had crashed and overturned his vehicle in an an irrigation canal on Sept. 25 of last year.

When Allen arrived at the crash, the vehicle was almost completely under three feet of cold water.

“After trying several times to break into the vehicle, rescuers finally gained entry via a back door,” the news release stated. “At that point, Allen, disregarding his own safety, climbed into the submerged vehicle, cut the victim free, pulled him from the car and got him to the banks of the canal and began providing first aid.”

Also receiving the Idaho Medal of Honor in 2016 was Lt. John Ward of Kootenai County Fire & Rescue, who rescued a woman in wheelchair and her pets from a burning home while he was off duty and didn’t have fire gear.

The Idaho Medal of Honor was created by the Legislature in 2004 to be awarded by the governor for “exceptional meritorious conduct at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”

“There is no better way to recognize and express our appreciation for the valor, courage and bravery shown by our firefighters than the Medal of Honor,” said Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, chairman of the Medal of Honor Commission.

SUBMIT A CORRECTION