Man Receives Prestigious Honor for Rescuing Girl, 7, from Somers Fire

The Stafford Springs man who rescued a 7-year-old girl from a burning apartment in Somers last year is being honored with a Carnegie Medal from the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

Frederick J. Levesque Jr., 52, is one of 19 people from throughout the United States and Canada being honored with a medal for risking their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.

Levesque rescued Kerra R. Colgan, 7, from the fire on Dec. 4, 2013 in Somers. Kerra was in her family’s apartment, which was on the second floor of a two-story building, after fire broke out in one of the unit’s bedrooms, according to a press release.

Levesque, a retired corrections administrator, was driving by and saw flames and smoke issuing from the bedroom’s window. He stopped at the scene, as did other motorists, who gained entry to the building through its front door.

Levesque responded to the rear of the building, entered it through the back door, and climbed an interior stairway to the second floor. He forced open the burning apartment’s back door and entered the unit but was forced out because of dense smoke.

Entering a second time, shouting, he heard Kerra’s voice, but the smoke forced him out again. A third time Levesque entered the apartment, but crawling. Despite limited visibility, he advanced through the smoke following Kerra’s voice and found her on the floor.

Grasping her, he backed to the door, pulling her, and then stood, picked Kerra up, and took her downstairs and outside to safety. Kerra was hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation and minor burns, and she recovered.

Levesque inhaled smoke and was given oxygen at the scene, and he too recovered.

The honorees announced Monday brings the total number of awards made in 2014 to 84 and a total of 9,737 have been honored since the commission’s inception in 1904.

Commission Chair Mark Laskow stated that each of the awardees or their survivors will also receive a financial grant.

Throughout the 110 years since the fund was established by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, $36.7 million has been given in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits, and continuing assistance.

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