Carnegie Hero Fund President Eric Zahren presented the Carnegie Medal to Somerset, Pennsylvania, police officer Kevin E. Huzsek at a ceremony held at the Somerset Country Club on April 10. Somerset Mayor Fredric Rosemeyer was also in attendance.
Before President Zahren presented the medal to Huzsek, he read Huzsek’s official citation that detailed the events that occurred on March 26, 2024, when Huzsek removed an 89-year-old woman from her burning home.
Flames broke out in the living room of a one-story house in Somerset with the woman, who had limited mobility, still inside. She utilized oxygen and was in her bedroom in the subgrade basement when the flames broke out. Huzsek, 50, was patrolling nearby and dispatched to the scene. He arrived to find the woman’s son had exited from the main floor and alerted Huzsek that his mother was still inside.
Huzsek entered through a side door on the main floor, but saw the flames had spread up a stairwell from the basement. He retreated and descended an outside stairwell where Huzsek kicked in a basement door. Heavy smoke inside limited visibility, and Huzsek crawled beneath the smoke to advance inside the house. A wall of flames on the outer wall of her bedroom forced him to retreat again. In his third attempt, he approached one of the bedroom’s windows, breaking it with his police baton. Huzsek cleared the remaining glass from the window frame and called inside for the woman. He heard her voice and climbed onto the window ledge and entered the home, head-first. He saw the woman, disoriented, sitting on her bed. He lifted her from the bed and carried her to the window, where other officers outside the window helped her out to safety. Huzsek started to exit, but his duty belt became caught on the window frame. One of the officers returned and aided him out through the window opening to safety. Flames soon entered the room and engulfed it.
The woman was taken by ambulance to a hospital for serious burns. She died about two months later. Huzsek was taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment of cuts and smoke inhalation. He recovered.
“It is my distinct honor and privilege to present to you the Carnegie Medal for heroism,” Zahren said. “Congratulations.”
A very emotional Huzsek was grateful for the honor he received, describing the events of the day, and what it meant to him.
“This is a great honor. I know I do the job to the best of my ability. I think that day I didn’t think about doing what I did, but I always say, ‘do what you need to do, and get the job done’… I knew I had to get her out rather quickly … I’m just glad I was able to be there for her and her family; to get her out,” he said.
Huzsek was one of many first responders who arrived at the site of United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Even before he had been recognized with the Carnegie Medal, Huzsek has always had a heart to help others.
“We didn’t know how many passengers were actually on that plane, and I couldn’t help anyone that day,” Huzsek said in an interview with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. “That probably broke my heart more ways than one.”
Huzsek was joined at his ceremony by several friends and family, including retired Sgt. Stephen Borsoky, right, who helped Huzsek exit the house through the window opening.
