Department of Public Safety

Two Firefighters Honored for Their Heroism

Liberty Mutual Insurance recognized Firefighters Galen Taylor and Matt Kotraba for saving a baby.

September 1, 2011 | 2 min reading time

This article is 14 years old. It was published on September 1, 2011.

During a ceremony at Fire Department Headquarters last month, Liberty Mutual Insurance presented St. Louis Firefighters Galen Taylor and Matt Kotraba with the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award for Community Service and Public Education.

Matt Kotraba (l) and Galen Taylor received Liberty Mutual Firemark Awards for saving a baby.

Pictured above from left: Firefighters Kotraba and Taylor responded to a call for a person not breathing on Feb. 18, 2010. When they arrived, they found an unconscious baby on the bed. The firefighters performed CPR on the child until they got the baby to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, the baby had a stronger pulse and was trying to breathe on its own.

The award is presented annually to hundreds of firefighters throughout the country who best represent their communities through courageous acts and who best demonstrate the firefighter's selfless spirit.

The Firemark Award takes its name from the firemark, a leaden plate in the form of a Phoenix rising from the ashes, which American fire offices in the 18th and 19th centuries used to mark all the houses they insured. The firemark stood as a guarantee to all fire brigades that the insurance company that insured the house in question would reward a brigade for extinguishing a fire on the premises. St. Louis has one of the largest collections in the country of them at the Missouri History Museum.

 

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