First Responders Facts

Officers Dennis Stachura and Marco Lomibao took a 1:35 AM call in Glendale Heights, Illinois. A car had sunk 12 feet into a frozen pond at 1 degree Fahrenheit. They arrived to find three people - hands visible above the ice. They jumped in, broke through with shovels and a sledgehammer, and held all three afloat until backup arrived. Everyone survived.

Bretagne, a golden retriever, worked Ground Zero for 10 days after 9/11 as a 2-year-old. She later responded to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ivan. When she died at 16 in 2016, firefighters lined the sidewalk and saluted her - then carried her out draped in an American flag.