Press Release  State Officials Present 26th Annual Firefighter of the Year Awards

CAMBRIDGE — Governor Charlie Baker today joined Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett and State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan to honor firefighters from 22 Massachusetts fire departments for heroic acts of bravery at the 26^thannual “Firefighter of the Year” Awards ceremony, held at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium.

“This year’s award recipients are each fine examples of the instinct that all firefighters possess to help others,” said Governor Baker. “We honor these heroic men and women of the Massachusetts fire service who deployed their training and experience to protect those in need – often at great risk to themselves.”

“The firefighters we honor today showed tremendous skill and bravery in the face of fires, technical rescues, emergency medical services, on land and on water, on duty and off,” said Public Safety Secretary Bennett. “This ceremony allows us to express our appreciation for these hometown heroes and their families,” he added.

“Everyone knows that firefighting is a dangerous job, but sometimes the dangers are hidden,” said State Fire Marshal Coan. “Witnessing the suffering of others takes its toll and sometimes we need someone to be there for our firefighters to ensure they keep their physical, mental and emotional health, and can continue to serve.”

Governor Baker and Secretary Bennett presented 43 awards in total:

• Two Norman Knight Awards for Excellence in Community Service to a Lawrence firefighter for his youth firesetting intervention program and to two Worcester firefighters for their public education and community risk reduction efforts;
• An Excellence in Leadership Award to a Saugus firefighter for his work to help public safety officers who are also veterans heal the emotional scars of war;
• Ten Individual Awards for Meritorious Conduct to firefighters from Boston, Bourne, Chelsea, Falmouth, Framingham, Massport, and Melrose;
• Eight Group Awards for Meritorious Conduct to teams of firefighters from Boston, Bourne, Framingham, Greenfield, Nantucket, Norwood, Palmer, Three Rivers, Turners Falls, Westwood; and
• Twenty-two Medals of Valor to individual firefighters from Bourne, Brookline, Chelsea, Lowell, Marblehead, Revere, Taunton, Turners Falls, and Westwood.

The State Fire Marshal’s Award for Critical Incident Stress Management was presented to three groups who help firefighters manage the stress and emotional tolls resulting from the performance of their duties. The Massachusetts Corps of Fire Chaplains, the On-Site Academy, and the Massachusetts Peer Support Network created and manage a system that promotes the health, fitness and well-being of Massachusetts firefighters.

This year’s awardees are:

Norman Knight Award for Excellence in Community Service:

• Worcester Fire Department Public Education Unit – Lt. Annmarie Pickett and FF Jeffrey A. Spring
• Lawrence Fire Department Juvenile Fire Setters School – Lt. Patrick Delaney

Excellence in Leadership Award:

• Saugus Fire Department – FF Gregory Cinelli

Individual Awards for Meritorious Conduct:

• Boston – Lt. Joseph Minehan
• Massport – Lt. Richard Shea
• Bourne – FF/P Matthew Langler
• Falmouth – FF/P Randy Koslowsky and FF/P Russ Ferreira
• Chelsea – FF David Bishop and FF Bryan Bermudez
• Framingham – Lt. John P. Farrell and FF Joseph A. Ahearn
• Melrose – FF Robert McVoy

Group Awards for Meritorious Conduct:

• Boston – Lieutenant Charles Popp, FF William Benevelli, FF Isaac Florez and FF/Pilot Brian Henry
• Bourne – Chief Martin Greene, ret., Deputy Joseph J. Carrara Jr., Lt. Thomas Swartz, Lt. Gilbert Taylor, FF/P Alexander Heikkila, FF/P Nicholas Reis, FF/P Holly Kuhn, FF Robert Ronayne, FF Steven Marzelli, FF Timothy Young Sr., and FF Timothy Young Jr.
• Framingham – Lt. Joseph A. Mazzola, FF Jose F. Rubio, and FF William R. Petro
• Framingham
  • Engine 1 – Lt. Robert Morrison, FF Joseph Curtis, FF Jose Funes, FF Ted Lima, and FF Joel Sexton
  • Platform 1 – Act/Lt. Dave Peters, FF Trevor O’Leary and FF Edward Rokes
  • Rescue 1 – Captain John Schultz, Lt. Mike Cantin, FF Jeff Casale and FF Brian Morgan
  • Engine 3 – Captain John Tremblay, FF Ted Dones, FF Dan Harding and FF John Sulfaro
  • Dive Rescue 1 – Lt. Jose Delgado, Lt. Vincent Zanella, FF Mike Espinosa, FF James Madden, FF Joseph Neiberger, and FF Steve Seariac
  • Fire Dispatch – FF John Ford and FF Orlando Gonzalez
• Nantucket – FF/EMT Beau Barber, FF/EMT Nathan Barber, FF/EMT Dave Pekarcik and FF/EMT Kevin Ramos
• Palmer – Capt. Chief David Pranaitis, Lt. Sean Reynolds, FF Devan Beane and FF Shawn Doran
• Three Rivers – Lt. Benjamin Duby, FF Michael Frydryk and FF Patrick Austin
• Turners Falls – Deputy Chief John Zellmann, Captain Todd Brunelle, FF Michael Currie, FF Luke Hartnett, FF John Grace, FF Justin Bittner, and FF Cooper Grace
• Greenfield – Captain Jesse Phelps, Lt. Andrew Eisch, FF John Martin and FF Allen Baker
• Westwood – Chief William Scoble, Deputy Michael Reardon and Capt./EMT Steven Lund
  • Engine 2 – Lt./P Andrew Mahan, FF EMT/P Gerard Smith and FF EMT/P Neil Martino
  • Ambulance 1 – FF EMT/P Anthony Burke and FF EMT/P William Little
  • Ambulance 2 – FF EMT/P Ronald Kolozie and FF EMT/P Robert Kilroy
  • Engine 5 – Captain/P Richard Cerullo, Lt./P Luigi Molinaro and FF/P Christian Pierce
• Norwood
  • Ambulance 2 – FF/P Brian Donoghue and FF/P Paul Ronco

State Fire Marshal’s Award for Critical Incident Stress Management:

• Mass. Corps of Fire Chaplains, Chief Chaplain James Tilbe accepting
• On-Site Academy, Hayden and Valerie Duggan accepting
• Mass. Peer Support Network, Lt. Charlie Popp accepting

Medal of Valor:

• Bourne – Lt. Dana Dupuis, FF/P Shawn Silva, Lt. Richard Emberg and FF/P Michael Berthiaume
• Brookline – Captain John Teahan
• Chelsea – FF Miguel Acosta
• Chelsea – FF Janine Romano
• Chelsea – FF Angel Arrieta
• Lowell – Captain Brett Dowling, Lt. Mary Stelmokas, Lt. Ryan Carroll, FF Marc Poirier, FF David McNeil and FF Michael McGuire
• Marblehead – Lt. Grant Glavin, FF Eric Ridge and FF Mark Borowski
• Revere – Senior Deputy Chief Christopher Bright
• Taunton – Captain Mathew Arruda and Private Joseph. Santos
• Turners Falls – Deputy Chief John Zellmann
• Westwood – Captain Steven Lund

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