Justin Baird, Division Chief Photo provided
Five South Lane County Fire & Rescue members will be receiving recognition from the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association (OCFA) for bravery and excellence next month.
The Meritorious Service Awards stem from the June 2018 rescue of a person from a house fire on Adams Avenue in Cottage Grove. Crews simultaneously attacked the fire and rescued a resident on the second floor, where the fire was located.
Division Chief Justin Baird will receive an Award of Excellence for providing clear direction for the rescue. The victim was resuscitated within 10 minutes of Baird arriving on scene.
Awards of Excellence are awarded to people for performing highly credible acts of fire service, for demonstrating continuous professionalism and for developing a program or process positively affecting the fire service.
Captain Travis Hansen and firefighter Cliff Horton will receive Medals of Honor, noted for rescuing the woman inside the fire room on the second floor, among other duties onsite.
Medals of Honor are awarded to people who, intelligently and in the line of duty, distinguish themselves by an act of extreme courage involving the risk of imminent danger to their life, above and beyond the call of duty.
Engineer Dylan Fitzgerald and firefighter Robert Cournyer will receive Medals of Valor, for assisting in reviving the victim after she was brought out of the house, among other duties onsite. The victim was transported to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend, and later to the burn center in Portland. She has since been treated and is again residing in Cottage Grove.
Medals of Valor are awarded to people who, intelligently and in the line of duty, distinguish themselves in the performance of an act of courage involving risk of imminent serious physical injury for the purpose of saving or protecting human life, according to the OCFA website.
Last time SLCF&R received an award from the OFCA was a Unit Citation award in May 2006. The award came after an October 2005 heavy extrication involving a log truck, in which five crew members were honored for their acts, SLCF&R Fire Chief John Wooten said.
The Oregon Fire Chiefs Board will present the Awards at the OFCA Conference May 2.
