LEXINGTON, Ky.– For the first time, the Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services held an awards banquet to recognize individuals who save lives and often risk their own.
The awards banquet at the Radisson Plaza Hotel lured nearly 300 people, including firefighters, emergency medical service workers and their families.
For decades, the division has recognized a firefighter and EMS provider of the year during a daytime event, usually held at the fire department s training center, Chief Robert Hendricks said.
But the division wanted to recognize more individuals and allow families to mingle, he said.
It seems like a great success so far, Hendricks said.
Battalion Chief Clayton Richards, who organized the ceremony, said fire and EMS plan to hold the banquet annually, and he hopes it will only get bigger and better.
Fire Capt. Mark D. Cole was awarded Company Officer of the Year and given a Meritorious Citation with others who saved an elderly couple from a burning house on Main Street last year. He said all the awards are a result of teamwork within the division.
In a letter, Lt. Richard Carlin, a firefighter seriously injured in a house fire last month, thanked the department for support.
I have been overwhelmed and incredibly humbled, he wrote.
