Overview
- Ford Field hosted the 13th annual event Thursday night, drawing roughly 600 attendees to honor police, firefighters and EMTs.
- Detroit firefighter Sam Lemire and police Sgt. Rodney Ballinger received the Medal of Valor for a coordinated, nearly two-hour effort to pull a non-communicative man from a fourth-story ledge.
- Ballinger said the pair exchanged a silent nod before grabbing the man through a shattered window to prevent a jump as negotiators worked the scene.
- Detroit Fire Sgt. Joe Easterling was honored for locating homeowner Jim Davenport inside a fast-moving Palmer Woods blaze and carrying him out through a broken window.
- Lemire was also slated for a second honor for a separate defibrillator-assisted cardiac arrest save, according to FOX 2 Detroit.