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Date: 9/19/2022
EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton resident Paul Galotti was honored in Boston on Sept. 11 after saving his wheelchair-bound neighbor from a house fire back in May.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Gov. Charlie Baker presented Galotti, 38, with the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery in a ceremony commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The annual award is given in honor of those who have demonstrated “exceptional bravery without regard for personal safety, to save the life of another in actual, imminent danger.”
The award was named after Acton’s Madeline “Amy” Sweeney, an American Airlines flight attendant who was killed while aboard the American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001. Sweeney was able to contact a ground service crew and pass along crucial information about the hijackers’ plans. She left behind her husband and two children.
While home on a Sunday night watching a Boston Celtics playoff game Galotti’s wife came into the room and said she heard something strange from across the street while sitting on their porch outside. When Galotti himself checked out the front window, he said something didn’t look right.
“You’re not gonna see like the fire itself at that point or anything but I saw like a mirage when you see heat coming off the ground? I saw that so I ran across the street and as soon as I was out there, I saw all the fire coming out of the building that had already been coming out,” Galotti said. “I was just frantically trying to see if anybody was around and started banging on a bunch of doors.”
Galotti was not getting a reply and was able to get into the buildings front right side. He continued knocking on doors within the building. Hearing no responses, he continued through the building trying to make anyone inside aware of the ongoing fire.
He then came across the basement stairwell and opened the door to call out for anyone there.
“I opened the basement door just because I could see the flames were mainly coming from that level. As soon as I opened the door there was just nothing but smoke,” Galotti said.
Galotti said he called down the stairs to no reply before moving back through the building to try and warn anyone else. After hearing no reply again, he made his way back out the building but stopped at the basement stairs one more time to yell down.
“I was sort of at a point where I really didn’t know what else I could do, and it didn’t seem like anyone was responding to me. I just went back to the basement one last time and when I screamed at that time somebody responded to me,” Galotti said. “It’s traumatic just thinking about it now, you don’t want there to be somebody in there. You’re yelling in there but in the back of your mind you’re sort of praying that nobody is going to respond to you.”
Galotti said the man in the basement indicated to him he was in a wheelchair. This made Galotti realize he couldn’t direct the man stuck in the basement, but he would have to go in there and get him.
Galotti attempted to go down the stairs to rescue his neighbor but due to storage in the basement it was at first challenging to navigate the smoke-filled area.
“I couldn’t breathe in there at all so I ran out of there and I had to go back outside, and I was hoping when I got outside that there would be some emergency folks there, but I kind of also knew in the back of my head there wouldn’t be because it was just still happening so fast,” Galotti said.
He added it wasn’t a realistic expectation for emergency services to already be on the scene as everything had only happened in the span of a few minutes.
Galotti felt with the situation he had to go back in. The second time he went down to the basement he was able to find his neighbor and carry him out of the building.
“I just knew I was the only person who could do anything. It wasn’t a situation where there were many options. It was pretty much the unthinkable of doing nothing while this person suffers or passes away in there, or try again,” Galotti said. “It’s scary, I didn’t feel heroic. I felt like really just kind of scared to be honest.”
Thankfully, Galotti had saved his neighbor’s life and also came out of the incident with no long-term issues. He said his throat hurt from running through the smoke and from screaming but overall, he was doing well health-wise.
Galotti did add that days later he felt like he was “in a bottomless pit” and it was hard to describe the feeling, but he eventually was able to work himself out of that state reflecting on the incident. He said it was hard to feel like he was in his normal routine following an experience like he had so he had just been looking forward to getting back to his normal life. Now, this month, Galotti was recognized at the state level for his courage and action in order to save a neighbor’s life.
“It’s a good thing I think to be recognized. There’s also an element of stress. I talk as somebody who tends to shy away from a camera, the stress of going to the State House, but it was just a huge honor,” Galotti said.
Galotti was also honored for going beyond this act of courage to assist his displaced neighbors with their material needs following the fire, establishing an online fundraiser to pay for the costs of lost items. Galotti was nominated by state Sen. John Velis, as well as Easthampton Fire Chief Christopher Norris and Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle.
Norris said he and his team who arrived later on the scene had no idea about Galotti’s actions in saving his neighbor. Galotti was recognized for what he did locally in July by the Easthampton Fire Department.
“Without his intervention it certainly could have had a much different outcome for that individual in the house. There were about 25 applicants this year and Paul was the only one selected to receive that award,” Norris said. “[Saving his neighbor] certainly showed his absolute bravery and disregard for his own personal safety to save the life of someone else.”