Thirty-four members of North Bay Fire and Emergency Services were recognized Monday night with medals for reaching important career milestones.

Chief Jason Whiteley says the federal exemplary service medals are for 20 employees who have served for 20 years.

Eleven others received their 25 year service award from the provincial government.

Whiteley says first responders play a major role in the safety of a community, pointing out they don’t know what awaits them on any given shift.

“Four days ago we were rescuing 3 people, finding a 4th person deceased. But, then we also get the great calls too and we help the community. It’s a very up and down job for sure,” he says.

Three others received medals for 30 years of service including Platoon Chief Greg Kraft, Captain Bill Purtell and Captain Carey Korhonen.

Both the Mayor and Ross Nichols, the Ontario Fire Marshall, were on hand for the ceremony.

Here is the full list of recipients:

30 Years
Platoon Chief Greg Kraft
Captain Bill Purtell
Captain Carey Korhonen

25 Years
Retired Captain Brian Emond
Chief Training Officer Andy Girard
Captain Terry Hargrave
Platoon Chief Mike Hives
Captain Dave Kervin
Platoon Chief Stu Mossington
Platoon Chief Mike Newman
Captain Brian Boutillier
Captain Alex Leadbetter
Captain Peter Nowak
Captain Robb Roy

20 Years
FF Jeff Bethune
FF Steve Denomme
FF Jamie Desrosiers
Captain Todd Gleason
FF Mark Linkie
FF Greg Macie
Deputy Chief Greg Saunders
Captain Mike Souter
FF Mark Tourville
FF Steve Vibert
FF Joe Zimbalatti
FF Tom Heppenstall
FF Dave McDonald
Retired Captain Claude Massicotte
FF Derek Sinai
FF Derek Gignac
FF Maurice Demers
Captain Keith Hann
FF Chad Ringler
FF Darren Davies

Filed under: north-bay-fire-and-emergency-services