Comox Fire Rescue held its annual awards night on Saturday, November 26, 2022. This was the first in-person banquet and presentation since 2019 due to the pandemic restrictions.
The department continued its tradition of recognizing members for various contributions to the local fire department.
Captain, Rob Stevens, was presented his provincial 25-year medal and Lieutenant, Ron Barrow, was presented his federal 20-year medal and Lieutenant, Elsa Gilroy was recognized for her 10 years of service.
Other award recipients included Tammy Blair and Leif Lefevre who were both honoured for “Rookies of the Year” for 2022, and Nick Gilroy and Josh Tadeson recognized for the 2021 year. Firefighter, Ryan Chittle was awarded the “Firefighter of the Year” for 2022 and Elie Dewulf for 2021. The “I Made a Difference” award went to firefighter, Sacha Scott (2022) and Brent Craven (2021). The “Kevin Kimler Memorial Award” titled “Above and Beyond” went to firefighter, Andrew Pisano (2022) and Else Gilroy (2021). The department also recognized Captain Pascal Lafreniere for completing Fire Officer level 4 and Lieutenant Brent Craven for Fire Officer level 2.
“I’m so proud of all 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 even better person to serve for many, many years. We are demanding of our firefighters and expect an extremely high level of training and effectiveness for them. We are fortunate, here in Comox, to have such a great group of firefighters assisting our community in so many ways.”
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 will respond to over 900 emergency incidents this year.
For more information about Comox Fire Rescue and some photos from the evening, visit comoxfirerescue.org/news
Comox Fire Rescue provides a variety of preventive and emergency services to a population of approximately 23,000 in an area of 16 square miles. This includes the Town of Comox, the Comox Fire Protection Improvement District, the K’ómoks First Nation and the Bates Huband Local Service Area.
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Media Contact:
Gord Schreiner, Fire Chief
firehall@comox.ca
250-339-2432
Leif Lefevre (Rookie of the Year 2022 ), Sacha Scott (I Made a Difference, 2022), Ryan Chittle (Firefighter of the Year 2022), Elie Dewulf (Firefighter of the Year, 2021), Andrew Pisano (Above and Beyond 2022) Elsa Gilroy (Above and Beyond 2021), Josh Tadeson (Rookie of the Year 2021 ) and Tammy Blair (Rookie of the Year 2022 ). Missing from the photo is Brent Craven (I Made a Difference, 2021), Nick Gilroy (Rookie of the year, 2021)
Photo below: Captain, Pascal Lafreniere receiving his Fire Officer level 4 standing to his right is Mayor, Nicole Minions, and Mike Hoy, Treasurer of Comox Fire Protection. To his left is Jim Lariviere, Assistant Fire Chief, Rick Shelton, Assistant Fire Chief, and Gord Schreiner, Comox Fire Chief.
