Bravest honored

Firefighter Artur Podgorski, of Brooklyn's Ladder Company 108, was among eight FDNY firefighters honored at the department's Medal Day ceremony Wednesday for their actions, including a daring 20-story rope rescue of trapped residents, during a Manhattan high-rise fire in November. 

Altogether, nearly 70 FDNY firefighters, EMTs and paramedics were awarded medals of courage and bravery. “These are the moments when our neighbors were in need, when the FDNY showed up,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at the ceremony, held at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. “Moments when families were trapped by flames and our members swung off a building to bring them to safety. Moments when patients were at their lowest point and in need of critical care, and our EMTs and paramedics arrived at just the right time and administered the care they needed to survive.”