Matthew Griswold and Chris Sampson will never forget the moment they ran into a burning building on Parsons Avenue.

“Certainly going in, looking for him on the second floor and calling out for him and at some point hearing him call back, it was kind of surreal,” said Griswold, an inspector with the EFD.

On May 11, 2021, flames engulfed a home on in the village of Endicott with multiple people inside. 

“I definitely recall it being a fairly chaotic scene. We arrived to find the building fairly well involved with fire,” Griswold said.

It was on that day that Griswold and Sampson changed lives. In front of their peers, along with family and friends, the two were named firefighters of the year.

“We don’t get to hear the thanks from the people that we help very often, so to be able to get an award for the actions that we took, it’s a pretty good feeling,” Sampson said.

When Griswold made it inside, one man had fallen through a stairway and was trapped. The fire inspector was able to pull him out out just in time, saving his life.

But that resident wasn’t the only one trapped. A firefighter had also fallen into a hole, with nearly his entire body covered. Sampson was able to rescue him as flames ripped through the building.

For the pair, it’s just another day on the job.

“A lot of it is just trying to make somebody’s really bad day just a little bit better," Sampson said. "That’s really what it is. If we can save some family heirlooms, family pictures that can’t be replaced, things like that, it makes it all worth it."