[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 79 (Monday, May 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3726]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER HERM SUPLIZIO

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak 
about a volunteer firefighter from DuBois, Pennsylvania, in my 
district.
  Herm Suplizio hates ladders and says, ``I avoid them at all costs.'' 
Luckily that was not true back in December when fire erupted in a 
multi-story building and people were trapped on the upper floors.
  Suplizio arrived with the fire trucks and was among the first on the 
ladder to a window where survivors had been seen. Visibility was a 
problem through all of the smoke.
  Suplizio first was handed a 2\1/2\-year-old boy, Gavin Zawrotny, and 
carried him to another firefighter on the ladder, Greg Vida, while the 
boy protested leaving his parents. He climbed back up the ladder to 
take 7-month-old Sarah Havrilla from her parents. ``When I got her, she 
was not breathing. It scared me. I was blowing in her face, shaking 
her, and after what seemed to be minutes but probably was seconds, she 
started crying.''
  Again, Sarah was handed to Vida, and he returned to bring down James 
and Amanda Havrilla, the parents of the children.
  One person died in this terrible fire, but thanks to Herm Suplizio 
and the rest of the DuBois firefighters, the Havrilla family survived.

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