Saugus firefighter receives top honor

SAUGUS – At around 1 a.m. on a cold December morning, Saugus Fire Lt. Jim Hughes braved the freezing water of the Saugus River to try and save a woman trapped in a car that had just drove off the Fox Hill Bridge on the Lynn-Saugus line.With fellow firefighter Charles Stewart in his buoyant cold water survival suit, there was no way he could swim down to get to the victim. So Hughes took off his shoes and jumped into the water.”I broke the sun roof and located the victim inside,” said Hughes. “I was not able to get the victim out of the sun roof, but was able to maneuver her over toward the door and then had to get down and pull her out.”It was for these actions that Hughes was awarded this year’s Thomas Linsky award at a ceremony this past Sunday.Fire Chief James Blanchard said Hughes had to battle a strong tidal current along with near zero visibility and freezing temperatures to pull the woman out.”Lt. Hughes’ unselfish and courageous actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Saugus Fire Department, whose members dedicate themselves to the protection of life and property,” said Blanchard in a press release.”It is with great pride that Lt. Hughes is recognized and awarded the Thomas Linsky Award for his heroic actions.”Hughes said he was in the 50-degree water for about 15 minutes and had to be treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for hypothermia and a laceration to his foot.”You start to lose control of your muscles,” said Hughes. “Like your hands won’t be able to grasp. It depends on how cold and how long. Then it just progresses from there and eventually you wind up dying, but we were a long way from that.”Hughes said diving into the water wasn’t his first choice, but it was the only option to get into the car.”I had no idea about injuries or anything,” said Hughes. “I didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman. I don’t think I would have a choice.”Despite his efforts, the woman died.Hughes said Monday that the award is a great honor that means a lot to him.”It’s the highest award that we have here at the Saugus Fire Department,” said Hughes. “To be put in a class with the people that have won it in the past is a pretty high honor. We’ve had some people do some pretty spectacular things here who have received the award and it’s an honor to be in the same category.”Sunday’s award ceremony was part of a larger memorial ceremony the Fire Department has every year to honor Saugus firefighters.”We pay tribute to all the firefighters from Saugus who have served, both alive and dead,” said Blanchard. “We do a nice ceremony and it’s pretty neat. We all gather and the guys are in their dress uniforms. We place a wreath at our memorial at the station out front. We raise the flag ? and have a bag pipe band that plays a couple of really nice tributes.”From there Blanchard said the names of all the firefighters who have died, both in the line of duty and of natural causes, are read as a bell is rung for each name.Blanchard said three firefighters have died in the line of duty in the long history of the Saugus Fire Department, including former Chief Mellon R. Joy, who died on July 31, 1935, two days after being seriously injured in an explosion at a fire in the old Department of Public Works building.The memorial sits outside the fire department and is located in the exact spot where the DPW building used to stand.”He was killed in the line of duty right on the very spot where the central fire station is,” said Blanchard.”Years before that we had two guys die in a theater fire in Cliftondale. We’ve lost three guys in the line of duty.”Last year firefighters Christopher Rizza and Michael Newbury were given the Thomas Linsky award after removing an unconscious man from a burning building.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].