Members of the Quinte West Fire Department were recognized for longstanding service on Monday.
Mayor Jim Harrison, Fire Chief John Whelan and Deputy Chief Dan Smith presented a total of 27 awards in front of City Council, recognizing service terms between 20 and 45 years.
Included in those honours was fire Chief John Whelan, who was recognized for 30+ years of service, after starting his emergency services career as a police officer.
Mayor Harrison says Whelan has been a cornerstone of the city’s emergency response community.
Councillor Karen Sharpe echoed the mayor’s sentiment and credited all of the award winners for their service to the community.
Another one of those firefighters honoured was Chuck Naphan, who has 30 years experience and runs the city’s mutual aid training centre.
He credited the mayor and council for their continued backing of that facility, which keeps Quinte West on the map as a firefighting hub.
Here is the full list of award winners:45 Years
Captain Doug Phillips – 45 years
Darko Medved
40 Years
Captain Alex Gaudet
Commander Gary Lambert
Councillor Dave McCue (Ret)
Division Commander Mike O’Neil
Division Commander Grant Reid
Ronald Yome
35 Years
Bill Connell (Ret)
Division Commander Brad Graham
Acting Captain Larry Grills
Scott Saylor
30 Years
Sr. Firefighter Steve Blight
Sr. Firefighter Charles (Chuck) Naphan
Captain Ron Phillips
Captain Gary Smith (Ret)
Rick Vanvaals
Chief John Whelan
25 years
Kyle Heitala
Mike Labelle
Thomas Sweet
Jeff Wemyss
20 Years
Mike Boyd
Cordell Deck
James Dick
Ross Elson
Adam Fornier
Ryan McNaught
Mike Williams
Wayne Young
15 Years
Peter Richards
Gerry Acton
Levi Grills
Richard Cocek
Sean Robinson
George Burton
Paul Ray
Stephane Bergeron
Jeff Brock
Michael Knowles
Rob Fisher
Scott Hall
John Mitchell
Tomas Schick
Keith Locklin
10 Years
John Vries
Joshua Fairman
Rodney Rankin
Blain LePierre
James Legros
David Wheeler
Gordon Babb
Ryan Genereaux
Chad Butcher
Michael Hackatt
