South Burlington Firefighters Honored for Dedication and Service

Gratitude and appreciation were extended to the South Burlington Fire Department at a dinner held in their honor Thursday February 19, at F.H.Tuttle Middle School. The Firefighters 2nd Annual Recognition Dinner provided an opportunity to formally honor the department for their selfless and dedicated service to the community.

The event was well attended by firefighters and their families and friends. Also in attendance were City Manager Kevin Dorn, Deputy City Manager Tom Hubbard, city councilors, city staff, representatives of the Vermont Air National Guard and others who came to show their support and appreciation for the hard working members of the department. City Council Chair Pat Nowak, who organized the event, welcomed the group. Fire Chief Doug Brent, introduced the Color Guard, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Deputy Chief Terry Francis. Senior Firefighter Brad Dattilio thanked the organizers of the event on behalf of the department, and recognized the firefighter’s families for the support they provide.

The keynote speaker was Deputy Director of Vermont Emergency Management Rob Schell who noted the department’s professionalism and deep commitment to serve. Col. Michael Morgan of the United States Air Force acknowledged the strong history of SBFD and the unique relationship they have with VTANG’s 158th Fighter Wing.

Chief Brent, who is the longest serving career fire chief in Vermont, expressed pride in the department. which has seen a steady increase in demand for emergency services each year since its inception. Recent statistics tally a total of over 3,000 combined fire related and medical emergency responses in the past year, which are carried out by a full time staff of 29.

Awards for years-of-service in five year increments were presented, and the retirement of on-call Captain Ray Forsell and Firefighter Darren Hall were acknowledged. At the conclusion of the event, city councilors presented a pin to each member of the department honoring their dedication and service to the city.

Firefighters enjoyed an evening of dinner, conversation and comaradarie, but exactly 24 hours earlier, they had been fighting a raging barn fire in South Burlington.

South Burlington Fire Department

Fire Chief Douglas Brent

Deputy Chief Terrance Francis

Captain Gary Rounds

Captain Sacha Lascala

Lt. Micah Genzlinger

Lt. Trevor Poor

Lt. Christopher Corbin

SFF Troy Porter

SFF Casey Follensbee

SFF Bradley Dattilio

SFF Jason Cummings

SFF Roger Pidgeon

SFF William Moran

SFF Nick Perkov

SFF Edward Spooner

SFF Joshua Laird

SFF John Christman

SFF John Goodrich

SFF Todd Poole

SFF Will Boyea

SFF Dustin Lasher

SFF Brian Bast

SFF Justin Bliss

SFF Jeffrey Spencer

SFF Eric Bollhardt

FF Roger Gosselin

FF Jordan White

FF Jason Neal

FF Leo Wermer