Romulus firefighters and paramedics awarded honors

Firefighter Andrew Thompson

City of Romulus firefighters were honored during a special ceremony at the Romulus Athletic Center where both the  Firefighter of the Year and the Paramedic of the Year were named. The Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chief's Medal were also presented during the ceremony followed by the introduction of new members of the department.

This is the first year the event was hosted by the Romulus Public Safety Foundation.  Deputy Chief Ken Chapman presented the awards.  Chapman, who was a paid-on-call firefighter in the city in 1987 under former Fire Chief William Greenslait, was recently named to his new rank in the department. 

Honored as 2022 Firefighter of the Year was Andrew Thompson and Summer Sokolowsk was named  2021 Firefighter of the Year during the ceremony.

Named as 2022 Paramedic of the Year was Firefighter Gerald Gauss and 2021 Paramedic of the Year was Firefighter Eric Bruley.

Unit commendations were presented to Cpt. John Thiede, Firefighter John Blanchard, Firefighter Summer Sokolowski and Firefighter Gerald Gauss. Firefighter Ryan Mehrhof was presented with a Lifesaving Ribbon during the ceremony.

Achievement awards were presented for dedicated full-time service to Fire Chief David Allison in recognition of his 30 years with the department; Jill Martin for 30 years with the department; Battalion Chief George Simko for 45 years; Cpt. Michael Wojtylko for 20 years; Cpt. Scott Ladach for 20 years; Cpt. John Thiede for 20 years; Lt. Michael Fyfe for 10 years, Firefighter John Blanchard for 5 years and Chief Kevin Krause for 20 years of service to the community. 

Baby delivery awards were presented to Cpt. Scott Ladach; Lt. Michael Fyfe; Firefighter Eric Bruley; Firefighter Steven Hicks, Jr.; Firefighter Gerald Gaus and Firefighter Ewing Joyce. 

City of Romulus Clerk Ellen Craig-Bragg, officiated at the swearing-in for Firefighter Gino Gonzalez, Firefighter Ryan Wilson and Firefighter Malani Arnold. Craig-Bragg also formally announced the appointment of Deputy Chief Ken Chapman during the ceremonies. 

A Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Jill Martin for her dedicated service to the City of Romulus and the Romulus Fire Department during the event.