4 people awarded Madeline ‘Amy’ Sweeney Award for bravery they showed after Mass. house explosion

BOSTON — During a ceremony commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at the State House on Monday, four Berlin residents were awarded the Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery for their heroic rescue efforts following an explosion in the Worcester County town earlier this year that claimed one person’s life, injured another, and destroyed a family’s home.

The Sweeney Award, which is issued annually, honors civilians who demonstrate exceptional bravery without regard for personal safety to save the life of another in imminent danger.

Brian and Dylan Clemmer, Bobby Wheeler, and Jonathan Goals were named the 2023 recipients of the award for the roles they played in rescuing a woman, Jill Christensen, who was crying out for help after a gas explosion leveled a home in Berlin during the early morning hours of April 14.

In the aftermath of the explosion, knowing that two women lived in the collapsed home engulfed in flames, the Clemmers, Wheeler, and Goals searched the scene alongside Berline police for signs of life, successfully rescuing a woman who was trapped in the rubble, officials said.

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Berlin house explosion

Berlin Fire Chief Michael McQuillen and Berlin Police Chief Eric Schartner nominated the four good Samaritans for the award after they helped carry the woman over live power lines to safety moments before a second explosion engulfed the site and claimed the life of a 79-year-old woman.

“For Jill to look at me and say you were the first person I saw that night and I knew I was going to be safe. It makes you feel better and makes you realize what you did was really, really good,” said Dylan Clemmer.

Prior to the initial explosion, neighborhood residents reported smelling propane and a fuel company responded to the scene and moved a leaking gas cylinder to a new location about 20 feet away from the home. However, the container continued to leak gas, causing it to travel through the fieldstone foundation and basement walkout into the basement of the home.

The blast demolished the two-story structure and damaged three neighboring homes, as well as two vehicles. Personnel from 10 communities responded to the scene, ultimately leading to a Worcester District Attorney’s Office investigation.

“To say it was a chaotic scene is an understatement. It was horrific to have that building coming down,” Berlin Fire Chief Michael McQuillen said. “They truly were heroes that day and saving one occupant. Unfortunately, we could not get to the second occupant that morning but we have at least one positive outcome from this.”

The Department of Fire Services’ Code Compliance & Enforcement Unit later found no evidence that the explosion was suspicious in nature.

Known as “Amy,” Sweeney was an American Airlines flight attendant for 14 years. She lived in Acton with her husband and their two small children.

On Sept. 11, 2001, she was killed aboard American Airlines Flight 11, the first aircraft hijacked by terrorists and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. In the flight’s final minutes, Sweeney contacted the airline’s ground services crew to convey critical information about the hijackers and their actions on the plane that morning.

It’s for her heroism and all victims of 9/11 that this award was created.

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