Five active members and two retired members of Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services were awarded the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal on behalf of the Governor General on November 26.
Retired firefighters Lieutenant Clifford Swan and Brad Charlton of the Breton station were awarded the 20 year service medal, along with Acting Battalion Chief Colin Bredin. Deputy Fire Chief Murray Galavan, Deputy Fire Chief Kamil Lasek, and Battalion Chief Mike Gramlich of the Drayton Valley station were all given their 20 year service medals, as well.
Battalion Chief Mark Raines of the Breton station was awarded his 1st bar for 30 years of service as he has already received an Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of service.
The members were also congratulated at the November 29 town council meeting.
“That’s a big shout out,” says Mayor Nancy Dodds. “Thank you, and thank you to your families.”
Fire Chief Tom Thomson, who had the honour of nominating the award winners, says the medal isn’t just for the years of service that a firefighter has worked.
“You have to show exemplary service. You can’t just show up. You have to do more than that to receive the reward,” he says.
Even though Thomson nominated the members, they weren’t automatically awarded the medal. Each nomination form was reviewed by a selection committee to decide if they would receive the award.
“All of the members I nominated won,” says Thomson.
He says he chose those individuals because he has seen the effort they put into their positions. “All of them were selected because of their commitment and dedication to the department.”
Thomson says these members have demonstrated leadership, education of staff and the public, working toward fire prevention, and many other qualities that show their work ethic for Fire Services.
Thomson says these medals are normally awarded annually, but with Covid and the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it has been a few years since they were given out.
