The Town of Vernon Fire Department honored its members and others at its annual awards ceremony Monday at Rockville High School. The department also highlighted the contributions of some Vernon Department of Public Works employees who helped battle a brush fire last fall.
The annual ceremony is an opportunity for members of the volunteer department to come together to celebrate the good and selfless work of members, honor veteran members and hear messages of thanks from Mayor Dan Champagne and Fire Chief Stephen Eppler.
“I thank you every single day for what you do and am grateful for what you do for our community,” Mayor Champagne said. “It is an honor me to come to this annual awards program.”
Eppler, in addition to thanking firefighters and EMTs, thanked their family members for their sacrifices. “We … know what it’s like to have dinners, sleep, family activities and holidays interrupted when the [alarm] goes off,” Eppler said. “We understand the sacrifices you make to support us when we take off of at a moment’s notice.”
The chief also urged department members to be forward-thinking and to not fall into the “we’ve always done it this way” trap. He cited Navy admiral Grace Hopper, who earned a doctorate in math from Yale and became known for innovations in computer software development and programming languages and who is credited with the statement, ‘The most dangerous phrase in the language is we’ve always done it this way.’”
“Now doesn’t that sound like something you might hear in the fire service,” Eppler asked. “Continuing to do things the same way can lead to stagnation and inflexibility. Not questioning why things are done in a certain way can mean missing out on opportunities for innovation and improvement.”
Individual firefighters and entire companies and departments can easily fall into the trap, Eppler said. It is essential for everyone to have an open mind and willingness to learn.
“We face new challenges today, including mental health, funding and resource allocation, recruitment and retention and safety and risk management,” Eppler said.
That’s not to say department members should not honor the tradition of the fire service. “But there is a difference between tradition and ‘the way we’ve always done it,’” Eppler said. He urged members to not respond to questions with “we’ve always done it this way,” but to instead pivot to saying and thinking, “what can we do better?”
Among those honored Monday night were four fire department members who have made outstanding contributions to the fire department and, in turn, to the people of Vernon. Ethan Adkins was honored as Junior Firefighter of the year, Engineer Raymond Tautic was honored as Firefighter of the Year, EMT Alex Bohr was honored at EMT of the Year, and Fire Police Lt. Antoinette “Nettie” Kenzior was honored as Fire Officer of the Year.
Emergency Medical Technicians Amy Bassett, Cameron Schmelter, Joshua McGill, Danielle Solito and American Medical Response Paramedic Jessica Casey were honored with a “Pre-hospital Code Save” award for saving the life of a man who’d gone into cardiac arrest and was unresponsive. The team administered CPR and defibrillation and brought the patient back. He was transported to the hospital and was discharged.
Vernon Public Works Foreman Steve Scaramella and DPW employees Chad Thompson, Mathieu Lavoie and Dominic Zbell were honored for helping the fire department battle a nine-acre brush fire on Oct. 21, 2024 on land off Reservoir Road. Using backpack blowers, the team worked with firefighters to create a fire line to contain the fire.
Several firefighters were honored for their years of service to the fire department. They include:
• Capt. David Goric, 50 years
• Capt. Jeff Schambach, 40 years
• Robert Turkington, the department’s air pack coordinator, 35 years
• Capt. William Solito and Lt. Sandra Manseau, 30 years
• EMT Jared Galica and Engineer Scott Shepard, 25 years
• Emergency Management Director Michael Purcaro, 20 years
• Deputy Fire Marshal Sheila Taridona, 10 years
• Firefighter Adam Bowman, Photographer Duncan Stewart, Lt. Connor Raymond and Firefighter Matthew Kenzior, 5 years.
Firefighters Justin Taverna and Ryan Kiely and Lt. Spencer Padget of Engine 141 were honored with a certificate of recognition for their hard work in training new members of their company.
Rocky’s Ace Hardware, Superior Energy LLC, Casey’s Café, Firefighter Justin Taverna, Firefighter Ryan Kiely, Lt. Spencer Padget, Lt. Nicholas Bartos, Lt. Ashley Shepard, Engineer Anthony Napolitan, Capt. Daniel Robertson, Fire Police Office Dana Robertson, Firefighter Hunter Chipman, Firefighter Troy Colli, Engineer Andre Lisee and Firefighter Daniel Moura received certificates of recognition for their work supporting the department’s Toys for Tikes program.
Department member Walter Joe Hampton was sworn in to his position as captain of Squad 442.
Capt. William Solito and Engineer Bart Blonstein were honored as they retire from the department.
Kaleigh Lambert, a paralegal with Kahan, Kerensky, Capossela, LLP was honored for her assistance to the fire department for her work revising the Vernon Volunteer Firefighters Association by-laws.