Peace River and County of Northern Lights Fire Department members recognized at Annual Awards Night

December 15, 2022

The Peace River and County of Northern Lights Fire Departments held their Annual Awards Night on December 10th in Peace River. Fire Chief Tim Harris presented nine awards to the members and Patrick Connellan, President of the Peace River Firefighters Association, presented the President’s Award.

“The awards represent and recognize the achievements that the members have attained over the year” said Chief Harris, “whilst some awards, such as the Attendance Award and Fit-to-Fight Award are based on performance numbers, other awards, such as the Firefighter of the Year and the Officer of the Year are based on nominations from fellow firefighters who recognize the efforts of their peers”.

The 2022 award recipients were:

  • Attendance Award – Engineer Cheryl Rogers (Dixonville Fire Dept.)
  • Fit-to-Fight Award – Senior Firefighters Tim Berger (Weberville Fire Dept.) & Drew Keddie (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Junior Firefighter of the Year Award – Junior Firefighter Stephanie Amor (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Rookie of the Year Award – Firefighter Mark Owens (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Most Improved Firefighter Award – Engineer Dale Shewchuk (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Martin Cooper Award of Merit – Firefighter Kelly Laramore (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Lee Vickery Award for Firefighter of the Year – Senior Firefighter Jesse Kasouf (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • Don Konkin Award for Officer of the Year – Captain Robin Differenz (Weberville Fire Dept.)
  • Fire Chief’s Award – Lieutenant Patrick Connellan (Peace River Fire Dept.)
  • President’s Award – Senior Firefighter Drew Keddie (Peace River Fire Dept.)

Service Bars and pins for 5 years of service on the Fire Department were also presented to Senior Firefighter Tim Berger (Weberville), Chaplain Cornelio Esguerra (Peace River) and Firefighter Cameron Jackson (Dixonville).

Also in attendance at the awards were Councilor Orren Ford, who brought greetings and appreciation from the Town of Peace River Council, and Reeve Terry Ungarian and Councilor Kayln Schug from the County of Northern Lights Council. Reeve Ungarian brought greetings and appreciation from the County and also mentioned the special collaborative relationship that the two departments have.

Chief Harris also mentioned another recent ceremony the department conducted to recognize Firefighters “On December 6th we held our Graduation ceremony to induct all new recruits and new members that have completed their basic training over the year” he said. “The ceremony includes the member receiving their membership coin, uniform epaulettes, “ringing” themselves in with our ceremonial bell, and citing an oath”. The ten members inducted were; Stephanie Amor, William Daub, Zachary Krahn, Terry Ladue, Patrick Lavoie, Amy Li, Mark Owens, Kenzie Peterson, Michael Serata, and Attila Telek.

The Town and County Departments are always seeking a few more members to join their ranks. If you are interested in learning new skills and serving your community, please contact Chief Tim Harris at 780-624-2993 or [email protected]