Ayer Firefighters Receive Medal of Valor

Congratulations to the following Ayer Firefighters receiving the Medal of Valor from Governor Baker: Captain Jeremy Januskiewicz, Lieutenant John Bresnahan, Firefighter Brenton Bourne, and Firefighter Tyler Schwabe. On behalf of the Town of Ayer, thank you for your service and congratulations on receiving the Medal of Valor.

On March 23, Engine 2, consisting of career and volunteer firefighters, responded to a call for an explosion at a commercial building housing a company that makes industrial vacuum furnaces. When Engine 2 arrived, they saw heavy smoke and were told a worker was still inside. Without hesitation, firefighters entered the burning building and stretched a 200-foot hand line through a door. They found the worker 200-feet inside the building, badly burned and tangled in debris. Firefighters used a Stokes basket to remove him and took him to Nashoba Valley Medical Center and then via medical flight to UMASS Medical Center. The crew re-entered the building and extinguished the fire. The explosion occurred during a test of a vacuum furnace. Although the fire reached four alarms and required mutual aid from surrounding towns, the rescue was executed within ten minutes of the alarm. Unfortunately, the worker succumbed to his injuries during the flight to UMASS Medical Center.