2020 Class D Certificate of Commendation

On October 21, 2020, units responded to a report of a person stranded on a cliff near Marshall’s Beach. There was limited information from the reporting party regarding where and how many victims were stranded. T14, E14 and E51 navigated rugged poison oak infested terrain and steep cliff drop offs that required using rope guidelines, traversing over eroded cliff edges, and scrambling over slippery rocks near the surf. The complex and dangerous rescue incident was compounded by the victim’s unknown location behind rocks and hidden from view. E51 eventually located the victim with assistance of Rescue Boat 1 and the FLIR infrared camera. Officers formulated a plan to deploy FF O’Donnell and FF Kelly to swim in the breaking waves and into deep water to gain access to the victim. They were able to rescue the victim off of the rocks and onto a rescue board, then swim to RB1 Staging 300 yards offshore. All SFFD units, particularly Firefighters O’Donnell and Kelly, showed a high standard of courage, duty and professionalism. 

Class D Certificates of Commendation for: 

• FF Tyler Kelly
• FF Ryan Swaner (O’Donnell)