FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Maisel
Director of Communications, City of Harrisburg
(717) 255-7295
[email protected]
October 10, 2023
HARRISBURG – Under the heroic eye of the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, not a single life has been lost in a city fire for more than two years.
This accomplishment was one of many celebrated Tuesday at the fire bureau’s Uptown Station 1 during its annual awards ceremony. Nearly 50 firefighters were honored for their life-saving actions over the course of the past year. These range from CPR saves, to rescuing someone from a burning home, saving the life of a person who was in a car crash.
“This is just a small glimpse of what our members do on a daily basis,” said Fire Chief Brian Enterline. “Each and every day, citizens in the capital region call upon the Bureau of Fire to make a difference in their lives.”
In 2022, the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called out for service 3,295 times, Enterline said, adding that not all of those times did the call involve saving someone’s life, but did involve interacting with the public which Harrisburg firefighters swore an oath to protect.
In addition to saving lives within city lines, Harrisburg Fire is consistently called to assist other communities in emergencies, and often times arrives first on the scene.
These 47 firefighters were honored on Tuesday with awards in CPR Save, Merit, and Unit Citation. The firefighters are as follows:
- Award of Merit: Firefighter Richard Brocius, Firefighter Bobby Jones
- CPR Save: Firefighter Nathaniel Barbolish, Firefighter Tyler Bender, Firefighter Hadiel Bey, Firefighter Brendon Booz, Firefighter Richard Brocius, Firefighter Michael Bruetsch, Captain Michael Feldman, Firefighter Shakur Hakeem-El, Firefighter Billy-Bob Holtzman, Firefighter Nicholas Hurst, Firefighter Bobby Jones, Firefighter William Kauffman, Firefighter Jamie Kleckner, Firefighter Cory Lease, Lieutenant Jeffrey Miller, Firefighter Jonathan Morrow, Firefighter Eriq Nowlin, Firefighter Kyle Paul, Firefighter Bryan Rooney, Captain Jeremy Saul, Lieutenant David Schock, Firefighter Allison Shattuck, Firefighter Samuel Welk, Firefighter Scott Young
- Unit Citation: Firefighter Hadiel Bey, Firefighter Brendan Booz, Firefighter Robert Brackbill, Firefighter Jared Briggs, Firefighter Richard Brocius, Firefighter Brayden Byers, Firefighter Connor Davis, Firefighter Patrick Giberson, Lieutenant Matthew Kuntz, Firefighter Gregory McDonald, Firefighter Nathan Martin, Captain Aldo Morelli, Firefighter Garret Morey, Firefighter Pablo Passalacqua, Firefighter Kyle Paul, Firefighter John Peskie, Captain Jeremy Saul, Firefighter Codie Schaffner, Firefighter Jordan Stoudt, Lieutenant William Skinner, Firefighter Joshua Winters, Lieutenant Brian Yonkin
In addition, eight firefighters were honored for their work of service as part of Pennsylvania Task Force 1, an elite team of search and rescue first responders who were deployed to Florida a year ago to assist with cleanup efforts in the wake of Hurricane Ian and Idalia. Those firefighters include:
- PA Task Force 1 Deployment: Firefighter Joshua Hull, Firefighter Nathan Martin, Firefighter Zachary Miller, Captain Also Morelli, Firefighter Brian Riddle, Captain Jeremy Saul, Lieutenant William Skinner, and Lieutenant Justin Zimmerman.
Hull was also honored for his PA-Task Force 1 deployments to assist in the aftermath of the Palmer Chocolate Factory explosion last March in West Reading, and flooding in Berks County in July.
Four new firefighters were also sworn into the ranks of the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire, bringing the total number of firefighters to 96, its highest number staffed since the early 1990s. Joshua Jones, Kaleb Shreiner, Kevin Tarapchak, and Samuel Welk were given their oath by Mayor Wanda R.D. Williams.
“You have heard the stories of Harrisburg firefighters saving lives,” Mayor Williams said. “This is now the expectation we have of you. When others run from burning buildings, you run towards them, and I am certain you will do so with honor.”
Chief Enterline also announced a partnership with the Harrisburg School District to provide fire safety training and career development training for all students. These will begin with visits next week from firefighters to the district’s elementary and middle schools, and continue on to Harrisburg high schools at a date and time to be determined.
These types of visits haven’t happened since the late part of the 2000s decade, approximately 15 to 18 years ago, and will hope to grow curiosity among young students in fire safety and foster a sense of career opportunity in fire and emergency services.
“We want to show kids in Harrisburg that being a firefighter is a career opportunity,” said Harrisburg School District Superintendent Eric Turman.
