City police, fire departments honor group who saved man from car fire
By Brandi Makuski
Officials from the Stevens Point fire and police departments on Tuesday honored several people who saved a life during a February car fire.
According to Assistant Police Chief Mike Rottier, a group of eight men—comprised of local police officers, firefighters and passing civilians—responded to a car fire just before 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 to find a male driver trapped in a burning car following a single-vehicle accident.
The accident occurred near Rocky Run and Little Chicago roads in the Town of Carson.
Rottier said two SPPD officers, Sgt. Greg Bean and Corp. Ben Uitenbroek, both grabbed fire extinguishers from their squad cars to help keep the flames at bay while firefighters extricated the driver.
Rottier said Bean “basically jumped into a burning car,” suppressing the flames from the cabin area of the vehicle long enough for firefighters to cut away part of the vehicle.
For their actions, Bean was presented with a Meritorious Award, and Uitenbroek received a written commendation from Police Chief Martin Skibba.
Bean was also honored by the Stevens Point Fire Dept. with a Civilian Lifesaving Award—the highest honor bestowed on someone outside of the fire service. Uitenbroek received a Civilian Commendation from Fire Chief Robert Finn.
Finn also awarded a Civilian Commendation to two civilians who assisted on the scene, Kevin Modrzewski and Brandon Nagorski.
Finn recognized several other firefighters who were at the scene that night. Lt. Tracy Aldrich received a Meritorious Service Medal, and Firefighter Dayton Budsberg was awarded a Lifesaving Medal.
Firefighter Frank Minervini was bestowed with the Medal of Bravery—the highest honor available in the fire service.
Assistant Chief Tom DeWitt from the Plover Fire Dept. was also at the scene that night. He was honored with the Civilian Lifesaving Award. DeWitt will also be honored by the Plover Fire Department at a later date.
Meritorious Service Award certificates were handed out by Sheriff Mike Lukas. The driver’s identity has not been released, but police say he survived.