Raleigh will pause to honor first responders on Sept. 11

But the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce want to change that by honoring first responders who have gone above and beyond their call of duty to protect others.

The group will present Outstanding Service Awards at a breakfast event scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 a.m. inside PNC Arena.

WRAL anchor David Crabtree will emcee the event. The event will be streamed live on WRALcom and on the WRAL-TV Facebook page.

Families invited to celebrate first responders, see vehicles they use in saving lives

WRAL News recently sat down with four firefighters to talk about their profound impact on one local family who will never forget their bravery

Stephen and Karen Lewandowski say they will never forget Sept. 4, 2017, which is the night they woke up to flames and tried to find their two adult sons through the heavy smoke.

"I saw the flames, and my husband said, 'They have to get out,'" Karen Lewandowski said. "That was the scariest."

Once outside, the couple watched their house burn.

"Not being able to do anything" was the scariest part, Stephen Lewandowski said. "My whole world was gone. Just total hopelessness."

"When I actually looked at the house, I was like, 'Ain't no way someone can live,'" said senior firefighter Corey McGee, a member of the Raleigh Fire Department:. "Flames coming out the window, dark, smoky, you couldn't see anything.

"When there's someone trapped, it's a whole different gear," said Capt. Bryan Grisel of the Raleigh Fire Department. "We're worried about getting that person out."

When Grisel's team from Raleigh's Fire Station No. 8 arrived, firefighters Corey McGee and Searcy Howard took the lead.

In a smoky room, McGee found 42-year-old Mark Lewandowski alive and passed him through a window to his team.

"They were so brave going into that fire," Stephen Lewandowski said. "Risking their lives to get my sons out."

The couple's 42-year-old son, Mark, who suffers from schizophrenia, survived. Firefighters also found his brother, 43-year-old John, but he died.

The family's newly rebuilt home honors the son they lost, and the family they still have.

"Words can't express how grateful I was that they did that," said Stephen Lewandowski. "And what a Godsend it was that they were able to do that."

Said McGee: "I don't see myself as a hero. This is just something I do. It's the love of the job."

These firefighters, along with other first responders, will be present at the Tuesday breakfast.