Rescue Attempt

Firefighters honored for heroic rescue try

Saturday, May 6, 2006

BY PAUL SINGLEY

MIDDLEBURY -- Four volunteer firefighters will be honored tonight, called heroes by their chief and many others.

They rushed into a burning home at Steeplechase of Middlebury last year, found a woman lying on the floor and pulled her out of the building.

Patricia Castigliego, 64, later succumbed to smoke inhalation. But the firefighters who risked their lives in an attempt to save hers are heroes, according to Chief Paul Perrotti and many others. And that's why they'll be honored at the annual firemen's ball.

Senior Lt. James Redway and firefighters Billy Calabrese, Ed Cavallaro and Tony Bruno will all cited at the dance, Perrotti said. But the chief was mum and just what's planned. He wants it to be a surprise.

The men said their actions on the morning of April 14 came "second nature" because of their extensive training through the department.

"You simply act on your training," said Cavallaro who found the woman in a bedroom down the hall from where the blaze broke out. He immediately yelled for help from the three others.

"It's like a military exercise; you just do your job and think about it later," he said.

When the men finally had a minute to collect their thoughts, they realized they did all they could to help.

"EMS was there as soon as we brought her out," Redway said. "You tell yourself that you wish you could have gotten there sooner, but God just beat us to her."

Perrotti said there is no way to know if Castigliego was dead when the firefighters pulled her out of the townhouse, which is in a cluster housing development. Perrotti also said the cause of the fire was never determined.

Medical examiners said Castigliego had emphysema, which they said was another significant factor in her death.

After the firefighters turned Castigliego over to emergency medical technicians, they immediately went back into the house to knock down the fire, which fully engulfed a room on the second floor.

They were able to save the home, which Castigliego shared with her husband, Anthony Castigliego.

Perrotti said there have only been a few life-saving attempts in the department's 65-year history.

The call came in as a smoke alarm, and we were kind of short-handed that day," he said. "But these guys stepped up and just did everything right."