Three Spring Valley Police Officers Honored After Running into Burning Building to Save Three Children

By Sarah Morgenstern

Spring Valley police officers Andrew Cole-Hatchard, Robert Romano, and Detective Matthew Galli, who ran into a fire and smoke-filled apartment at 34 Columbus Ave. in Spring Valley, on Dec. 23 to save the lives of three young children, were honored on Friday afternoon by Rockland County legislators Aron Wieder, who represents District 13 and Toney Earl, who represents District 8.

“These police officers responded to a 911 call, and quickly arrived before the Spring Valley Fire Department (SVFD),” Weider told RocklandDaily. “The police officers got there, went inside, and put their lives on the line to save three children, who without the efforts of these policemen, literally, would probably not be alive today.”

Cole-Hatchard, Romano, and Galli did not run into the burning building just once, when they had to crawl in because the smoke was so thick, but twice.

First, the police officers went in to carry out the three terrified children: ages 1, 3, and 5 years-old, who were huddled together under a blanket in the bedroom, and then again, the officers went back in to ensure that no one else was inside the apartment that was ablaze from a fire that was thought to have started from a faulty stove, Wieder said.

On Friday, the police officers were given framed certificates that are called Distinguished Service Awards from the county legislature at what Wieder called, “a very nice event that was attended by the police officers, their wives, and their children at the Spring Valley Village Chambers.”

“The children were not easy to find because they were trying to hide from the fire and the smoke,” Wieder recounted. “If the police officers didn’t go in and take these children out, we would have had the same situation [of death by smoke inhalation] we had in the Bronx,” in which a deadly fire that was started from a faulty space heater killed 17 people, eight of whom were children, last Sunday.

“In the Bronx, it wasn’t the fire that killed the people, but the smoke,” Wieder said. “The lives of these three children were literally saved by these three police officers.”

The child’s mother was already outside with one or two other children, reported Wieder, and the SVFD arrived promptly to quickly extinguish the fire.

Police Chief Richard Oleszczuk, who spoke at the event, thanked the three brave police officers, but he also talked about how the police department uses patrols, different units, and back-ups to help people.

“It takes a team for three people to be able to save lives,” Chief Oleszczuk said.