FULTON – Three men were honored by Fulton Fire Chief Adam Howard for their heroic efforts in saving a grandmother and her two grandchildren from a burning house fire during last night’s Fulton Common Council meeting, Tuesday, November 1.
According to Howard, Ted Starr, Shawn Perry and Ian Woodworth helped save Adelaide Hotaling and her two grandchildren from the burning structure on Sunday, October 30.
“Along with recognizing the members of the fire department, I am also here to recognize a persistent grandmother and some selfless individuals for their courageous acts that they performed prior to the fire departments arrival that day,” Howard said.
According to Howard, Fulton resident Adelaide Hotaling was at home with her two grandchildren, ages 11 and two at the time of the event, unaware a fire had started in the back of the home. A smoke alarm alerted them of the danger.
“Tragically, the front door was inoperable and the fire had grown and blocked the back door, which was their primary means of escape. Not giving up hope, Adelaide gathered her grandchildren and went to a window at the front of the house, and this is where I am being told that Ted Starr of 706 Highland [St.], Shawn Perry of 703 Highland [St.] and passerby Ian Woodworth played a pivotal role in getting Adelaide and her family to safety,” Howard said.
“Risking their own lives, these three individuals placed themselves in harm’s way by rushing up to the window that was now exhausting toxic fumes and smoke. These individuals continued to stay there, despite the risk to their lives, to get Adelaide and her babies out. These individuals rescued Adelaide’s grandchildren through the front window and got them to safety. Once the grandchildren were safe, these individuals proceeded to pull Adelaide through the same window and get her safely away from the burning building. Please join me in commending these individuals for their heroic actions they took that day.”
The room broke into applause, giving Starr, Perry and Woodworth a standing ovation for their heroic efforts that day. According to Howard, the fire is still under investigation.
Also discussed during the public session portion of the meeting was a data breach occurring within the Fulton Police Department database a year ago.
Oswego County Legislator (D-25) and Fulton resident Frank Castiglia Jr. spoke about the data breach, pointing out the error of not informing the public sooner, pinpointing the fact that the data breach occurred a year prior. According to Castiglia, 28,282 people were affected.
“The appalling part about that is that it took a year to notify the people with letters that there was a data breach,” Castiglia said. “There should have been notification sent out as soon as there was information that there was a data breach.”
Fulton Police Chief Michael Curtis answered Castiglia’s concern about the delay in notifying residents, and the means it takes to identify all information occurring in any data breach even with the best security in place.
“When we had to look at that data, the companies that are experts in these areas had to examine all the data – what data we lost, where it went, who has it, where it’s going to be put out, and that’s a long process – that’s why there’s a delay,” Curtis said. “We don’t know who to send these letters to until that data is combed over and then it’s something that the City of Fulton [and] the City of Fulton Police Department could not do.”
Castiglia countered Curtis’s comments, saying it wasn’t the police department’s job to notify the public, addressing potential problems within Mayor Deana Michaels office.
Michaels added to Curtis’s remarks, referring to the legal team associated with the breach, and their guidance in overseeing the process.
“I’ll take that back to our attorneys and the legal team who have to oversee this. So there’s probably about ten legal attorneys who oversaw this, and they guided us every step of the way. Just so you know this, the letter I sent out is almost identical to other letters sent out by many other companies, and it’s very similar and the process was very much the same. So I’ll trust in those attorneys who do this on a regular basis,” Michaels said.
Michaels also said they speak with and receive advice from their legal team weekly, also following the Standard of Conduct required by law as they work with agencies that include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York State, and other agencies as well.
“I myself used to be the person to say, why does this stuff take so long to get out,” Michaels said. “Because a year ago, I had no idea why these things would take so long, and then you go through the legal process and you quickly learn just why those things take so long to get out. Not to mention you have criminals on the other side that you have to be very delicate with how we handle this. So, it’s not something that we are proud to have gone through, but it’s something we have certainly learned quite a bit from.”
All items on the except one (Resolution No.12) were unanimously passed by the council. Two items were removed from the agenda (Resolution No.’s 13 and 21) before the start of the meeting.
To view the full agenda, please click here.
The next meeting to be held on November 15 at 7 p.m. in the community room of the city’s Municipal Building.
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