Haddonfield firefighters, EMT personnel and police officers were recognized by the borough with certificates of commendation at an Oct. 7 commissioners meeting.
Haddonfield commissioners recognized five police officers, 28 firefighters, EMTs and borough employees on Oct. 7 for their “brave and selfless actions.”
From the police department, the following received certificates of commendations: Kirk Earney, Nicholas Placentra, Joni Frangieh, Kevin Grygon, and Lucas Brousse.
From the fire department, the following also earned certificates: Fire Chief Patrick Gorman, firefighters Joseph Walls, Bob Henry, Mitch Baron, Jon Holland, Harvey Shaw, Joe Pearson, Paul Bradley, Will Schaub, Dan Repsik, Alex Ruffalo, John Springer, John Walsh, Jason Douglas, John Ioanucci, Devon O’Neil, Don Hensel, Steven Ioanucci, Brian Plodizyn, Charlene Creed, Jim Killmeyer, Jason Kolbe, Bob Giorgio, Brendon Bulmer, Darby Rice, Jeff Mirabello, Nicolette Warrington and Tim Kravitz.
Gormon recounted how over the course of this year, he would get an alert while walking his dog about a fire, police or EMT call. He recalled the following instances where members of those departments acted heroically:
- May 13: Firefighters were dispatched to a pedestrian motor-vehicle accident on the PATCO Speedline that was updated to a railroad incident. Firefighters succeeded in extricating a person trapped under the train.
- Aug. 20: The fire and police departments responded to a house fire that had significant impact on the property, and were able to save the residents due to their quick response and actions.
- Sept. 8: Firefighters were dispatched along with a syphon to a motor-vehicle accident that involved the spilling of hazardous materials.
“The crew went out, isolated the spill and worked diligently with the county hazmat team to curb any further spread of the unknown substance that came out from the van,” Gorman reported. “We did our job and neutralized it and stopped it, and saved it from going into the drains and other things within the municipalities.”
- Sept 16: Firefighter and EMT personnel responded to a house fire that resulted in the death of a man and his pet and was still under investigation at the time of the commendation presentation. Gormon recognized firefighters Respik and Kravitz, who answered the call as their shift was changing and the stipend crew was still getting set up.
“They responded right out and did everything they could to rescue and attempt resuscitation, so we highly commend them,” Gorman said.
Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich also commended the firefighters.
“This (Sept. 16 house fire) was one of the calls that I was able to go on scene here in the month of September,” she recounted. “It’s heartbreaking for anyone in the borough when we lose someone, and of course it’s heartbreaking for friends and family, but for our firefighter, EMTs and police, they deal with that prospect every day, every call they go on.
In other news, the commissioners proclaimed the week of Oct. 20 Friends of the Library Week.
The next commissioners meeting will be on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
