Comox Fire Rescue recently held its annual awards night, recognizing members for various contributions to the fire department.
Captain Terry Dean was recognized for his 25 years of service to the fire department and community. Lieutenant Kelly Rusk was recognized for his 20 years of service.
Anne Thomas was named Rookie of the Year, while firefighter Sacha Scott and Perry Assu were jointly awarded the Firefighter of the Year.
Firefighter Richard Quinn received the Stewart Rennie Memorial Award titled, “I Made a Difference.”
Firefighter Brent Craven received the Kevin Kimler Memorial Award titled, “Above and Beyond.”
Fifteen members of the department were recognized for achieving various levels of the Fire Officer (NFPA 1021) standard with four of them at the highest level available, Fire Officer 4.
“I am so proud of all of our members,” said Comox Fire Chief Gord Schreiner. “It takes a very special person to volunteer for anything, let alone to be a firefighter and an even better person to serve for many, many years. We are very demanding of our firefighters and expect a very high level of training and effectiveness from them. We are very fortunate, here in Comox, to have such a great group of firefighters assisting our community in so many ways. Our firefighters are our most important asset. Combined our three chief officers have over 100 years of service. We are a successful organization because of all the great people we have within the organization.”
Comox Fire Rescue has six full-time and 50 highly trained part-time members. They provide most of the services typical of a larger fire department and responded to about 700 emergency incidents a year.