Madeline “Amy” Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery (2007)
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in which at least 206 people with ties to Massachusetts perished. The first flights to be hijacked took off from Boston Logan International Airport. Madeline “Amy” Sweeney, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, displayed extraordinary cool under extreme pressure during the hijacking. The Massachusetts 9/11 Fund Blog is profiling the Sweeney Award recipients for the past quarter century every week leading up to the naming of the 2026 Honoree(s) at the 25th Anniversary Commemoration on September 11th.
Danvers group home attendant evacuates 4 after chemical plant blast
Shortly before 3 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving last year, Peter Muthua was working for Triangle, a nonprofit whose mission is to empower people with disabilities.
He was the overnight attendant at a group home in Danversport when a blast from a nearby chemical plant rocked the mostly residential neighborhood.
It proved to be the largest explosion in the history of the Commonwealth.
The initial blast sent an orange mushroom cloud in the sky, blowing out windows of buildings, knocking some homes off their foundation and sending frightened locals fleeing into the street, some bleeding, Reuters reported.
Confronted with this extraordinary situation, Peter rose to the occasion and more. Seeing the living room ceiling collapsing around him, Peter quickly ran to his car, which was parked perilously close to a gas station, and moved it in front of the group home.
Peter went back inside the group home and coaxed the four anxious residents out of their rooms, carrying one of them out on his back. Never expecting to be hailed as a hero, he bravely honored his commitment on that early morning to the men left in his charge.
The blast, felt as far as 50 miles away in Southern Maine and New Hampshire, damaged at least 16 homes and three businesses beyond repair in the nearby Danversport neighborhood. The Danvers Fire Department ordered the evacuation of more than 300 residents within a half-mile radius of the facility. Surprisingly, only 10 people were treated for minor cuts and bruises following the blast, which Gov. Mitt Romney called a “Thanksgiving Miracle.”
"This is a lot like a 2,000-lb bomb being dropped on a residential neighborhood," Romney told reporters.
Danvers Fire Chief James Tutko said the blast leveled the plant and devastated the area around it.
"It looks like a war zone," he said.
Next week: Red Sox intern rushes back to calm women in wrecked trolley