 One sec. Oh, there we go Good afternoon My name is Paul Lowenthal division chief fire marshal and it's my pleasure to welcome you to the Santa Rosa fire department's badge pinning for April 2023 Looking around the room. It kind of feels like they should be given a commencement speech But in reality, this is an exciting opportunity for friends and family to recognize the accomplishments of 98 men and women of the Santa Rosa fire department So a couple quick items today's event is being live streamed on the city of Santa Rosa's YouTube channel Which also be recorded for those that were not able to make it. You'll have access to it I'd also like to take an opportunity to thank the committee that made this happen division chief Anthony Westergaard Fire captain Mike Musgrove fire engineer Teddy Day and fire engineer Zach Brown Would also like to thank the LBC for their generosity and making this event happen with the staffing in the venue Without Before we get any further into this afternoon's events, please stand as we bring the Santa Rosa fire department's honor guard to present the colors Please be seated Historically our department has held badge pinning ceremonies in smaller venues and more frequently to celebrate promotions welcome new hires into our fire department family Those events were paused at the onset of the pandemic smaller informal paintings took place in Stations amongst crews with shift battalion chiefs and loved ones in fire station parking lots today is an opportunity to catch up Since March of 2020 over three years ago We've hired a lot of employees and promoted a lot of them Promoted a lot of employees across all divisions and bureaus of our department Amongst those promotions was our own fire chief Scott Westrope. Please help me in welcoming chief Westrope to the stage Good afternoon everyone It's my my honor to be here in front of you. I'm humbled to see all the faces out there The longer you're in these positions public speaking doesn't get any easier. Please for me So bear with me here a couple of quick. Thank yous. I'd really like to to thank our Wonderful city council members for being here Mayor Natalie Rogers vice mayor dana McDonald and council member Jeff O'Crepkey Members of the executive team city manager marakisha Smith assistant city manager Jason nut and assistant city manager Darryl Dunstan, so thank you all for being here. I'd also like to thank chief West regard for putting this all together I think we're going to give Anthony a break on sending out emails. I did read all of them But but you're you're on pause for an outlook for a minute. Just just give everybody a break And also you'll see we have a lot of equipment here We have a lot of a lot of our personnel here And so we relied on our mutual aid partners to cover our station so we could all be here in the same place at the same time So while they're not here, I'm certainly thank them for covering our stations to protect in the city So we could be in being the space together Next I'd like to thank the families You know, thank you for being here and taking the time out of a weekday to be here to honor your Husbands and wives your daughters and sons and your fathers and mothers and your loved ones We all understand and appreciate the sacrifice that you really make for this profession The times that we're away, which is a lot The birthdays the holidays the anniversary anniversaries Other major life events and sometimes even when we're home. We're not necessarily always home So thank you all We know that you are the true heroes in the room All the families that support what we do on a day-to-day basis to protect our community Y'all are supposed to clap for your families It wasn't in Paul's script. I I'd left that one So we gather today together to pay respect and acknowledge 92 Santa Rosa fire department employees that have been hired or promoted In the past two years As a point of reference were authorized to hire and have on staff 157 personnel So this represents honoring over two-thirds of our fire department to frame it a little bit more Since 2017 of the Tubbs fire and we've hired 65 new employees So it's about 42% of our workforce has been hired since the Tubbs fire So it just shows how young our department is but also how vibrant and resilient our fire department is So why are we here today Paul touched on it a little bit and I just like to expand on that a little bit The path to get hired in the fire service and to get promoted once you're in the fire service is not easy It's not guaranteed It takes grit determination Fortitude and the love of the profession. It's not not something you can fake and you're continued to be tested on a daily basis As an organization we understand that people are our greatest asset Taking the time to recognize the hard work and dedication of our people is a is of the utmost importance And we're proud to share this day with you Thank you to each and every member of the team of our department Regardless of what bureau in admin administration prevention operations in response to emergency management What you do every day makes a difference What you do every day is appreciated and what you do every day changes the world in some small way One quick story my first day as a chief officer in 2014. I sat down at my desk Brad I had bushy tailed ready to change the world my boss walked in at 701 and said who's gonna replace you when you leave I Thought well, this is the shortest probation ever But the point was do you have the mindset of secession planning and planning for the future? Are you developing the workforce to replace you when you're gone because these careers do you have a timeline on them? And I've carried that mindset with me and and I think our team has done a great job of carrying that mindset as well How do we develop our future leaders? How do we make sure that our members are healthy and happy both on and off duty? And how do we ensure the community is protected to the highest level possible now and for generations to come? And as I look out here today with the members of our organization, I know the future is bright This is the future the Santa as a fire department. I'm proud to be part of that We will continue to grow build diversify and protect this community with respect and dedication to this community truly deserves With that I thank you for your time. Thank you for being here, and I will talk to you soon. Thank you Thank you chief Westrop. I'd now like to bring to the stage city manager Mark Hisha Smith Thanks, Paul. Thanks chief So good afternoon, and thank you all for joining us on this special occasion So today it is an honor to celebrate excellence Promotions and officially welcome our newest members of the team. I want to thank fire chief Westrop The fire command staff and most importantly the families and friends who sit in front of us today Because without you your love your support your sacrifice These individuals could not be here today. So this is what you're supposed to do chief Everybody give a round of applause for the families of friends So I just want to leave a few words for you today Know why you wear the uniform You wear the uniform because you have committed to providing the highest level of fire and emergency protection Here in the city of Santa Rosa you wear it because we are the best We are the number one fire department in the nation. Yes. I said nation We set the bar high here, but that bar is no higher than one that you have all should have already set for yourselves You wear the uniform as a symbol of integrity discipline bravery love Humility humility selflessness and it is an honor You wear the uniform because you made the choice to lead as Franklin Roosevelt once said it is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead and You find no one there You made the choice honor it and lead You wear the uniform because you are your brothers and your sister's keeper Take care of yourselves and take care of each other This career is much bigger than you Since 1894 the Santa Rosa fire department has been proudly serving the constituents of Santa Rosa This is your opportunity to help us write another chapter There will be many good days But there will be some tough days some trying days and unfortunately some tragic days But when you put that uniform on you put it on with pride love Passion and integrity You wear the uniform knowing that you make the difference Congratulations. Thank You city manager Smith and now the acknowledgments. We've been waiting for as much as we'd like to stick to Judition and have each member pinned by a loved one on the stage We only have this venue reserved for so many hours and we have a lot of names to get through After each individual is called up on stage They'll have an opportunity later on to take lots of pictures I promise but each individual will be called up and we'll work through our way through the divisions and bureaus of administration fire prevention and operations Captain Musgrove Mike. We're yet. I promise Mike Musgrove will be assisting coordinating this to make sure the rose flow smoothly onto the stage Everybody because I'm sure you didn't read all the emails that went out and we're gonna add a couple more details So once you come up you'll be able to shake some hands smile and then you're gonna head out door one Through the lobby come back in a door seven And I promise like I said, there's opportunity to take pictures with family friends up here on the stage In front of a step and repeat, which is really a fancy name for a curtain in the lobby with flags and good lighting And we also have several apparatus in the parking lot that I'm sure you saw a couple of us came out yesterday 330 to make sure we knew where the light was so that it works out for the gram so we get the pictures taken and we're not in shadows So we should be in good shape So without further ado, we'd like to start off by recognizing our command staff So starting off with number one Promoted fire chief on March 15th, 2021 Stand up shake your hand You always know that first one's gonna be awkward. It's like there where does he go does he stand up? Yeah, see I call it audible We call a lot of audibles for this All right, and working our way through the command staff starting with deputy chief of operations And promoted May 10th, 2021 Travers TC Collins He will shake your hands and he will have a seat deputy chief of administration promoted August 15th, 2022 Mike McCallum Promoted January December 19th, 2021 division chief fire marshal Paul Lowenthal Not present division chief of support services John Avers promoted May 24th, 2021 Division chief of training promoted August 15th, 2022 Anthony Westergaard division chief of EMS Promoted December 4th, 2022 Jack Thomas Interim division chief of support services Promoted May night. Sorry March 19th, 2023 Mark Ligorg. I didn't forget you guys. Don't worry pre-existing and command staff member Matt doll a shift Battalion chief Matt Glockner B shift Who we saved the last seat for since he's on duty in the event that he needs to respond to an emergency He can safely exit stage left or stage right and now moving on to our team In response paramedic Ivan Falcon Mendoza hired me February 5th, 2023 In response paramedic Kayla Neil Grant hired August 30th, 2022 in response paramedic Kylie Odin Promoted June 27th, 2022 Firefighter Zach Block B shift or Matthew Shilling's a shift fighter Ryan Hayden B shift editor Nathan Dilly B shift firefighter Jeremiah Zitner C shift firefighter James Sakees a shift firefighter Alberto Rodriguez a shift firefighter Isaac Congus B shift Kangus I blew that one and Literally, I have phonetic spellings and everything down here So I knew right away plus I could see all the reactions in the crowd firefighter Dan Bush Crispo a shift firefighter Andrew Young a shift firefighter Eli held B shift firefighter Colin Garavaglia a shift firefighter Alex Eberle C shift firefighter Spencer Lopes C shift firefighter Ruben Alvarez C shift looks like not present firefighter Darren Hill C shift firefighter Matthew Stoba B shift firefighter Lindsey Williams a shift firefighter Camden plunge plumber a shift at a Brett Hollister B shift firefighter Christopher Reese a shift firefighter Nesta Vega B shift firefighter Bennett Lita C shift firefighter Robin Robert Coxson C shift swear who would have known reading this many names would be this hard firefighter John along Alcantara a shift. Was he not a shift? I do I need some water too firefighter Douglas Lyons B shift and moving on to our engineers starting with Thomas Leach C shift fire engineer Camden Wardlaw C shift Fire engineer Kevin Fritz a shift not present fire engineer Stephen smoker B shift fire engineer Zack Brown C shift Fire engineers Chad Goff B shift fire engineer Scott motor B shift fire engineer Andrew Valle C shift We've got a couple not here. It looks like so we've got fire engineer Michael McCartney fire engineer Mark Haas Fire engineer Luke Bahanan Fire engineer Joe Hughes now we got one fire engineer Brandon Palmer B shift fire engineer Tim Glass C shift fire engineer Teddy Day B shift fire engineer Patrick Bradley B shift Fire engineer Cody Bradley B shift not present fire engineer Andrew Island Felt a shift and Fire engineer Jesse Tainter a shift starting with fire captains fire captain Brad Blasto a shift fire captain Matthew technology a shift Not present fire captain Andrew hole Sam hole. Sorry C shift fire captain Ian Hodges a shift Fire captain Drew Peterson a C shift fire captain Gary Lopez a shift fire captain Chris Matthews administration fire captain Pete would a shift fire captain Kyle bunch a shift Not present fire captain Brian mechanic B shift fire captain AJ Arminini C shift Fire captain Travis Berg C shift fire captor Gunner Dean C shift Fire captain Stavros Caliguru C B shift fire captain Thomas Gallagher C shift fire captain AJ Alkasser a shift Fire captain Stephen Del Porto C shift fire captain Dean Bordage a shift not present Mark Jackson fire captain B shift Moving on to a combination of administration and prevention staff Community outreach specialist Krista butts Technology application specialist Alondra gutting community outreach specialist Daisy Vargas deputy emergency manager Brittany Miller administrative secretary Irene Medina administrative analysts Sarah Roberts administrative technician Sadie Bracey administrative analyst Gwen Buckeye More of my people fire plans examiner Brandon Stolt fire inspector Aver Myers Fire inspector Jesse Gearhart he's embarrassed him fire inspector Ian broski Fire inspector will powers fire inspector Devon Gammonini assistant fire marshal Mike Johnson assistant fire marshal Jared McDaniels and Assistant fire marshal Kempel in Robbins That concludes the welcoming of our new employees and the recognition of promotions throughout our department We'll now bring Chief Westrow back to the podium to present two special accommodations All right, we almost had to call in the lefty there The PIO was getting a little tired So it's with great pride. I'm back before you this afternoon To present two company citations for actions deemed above and beyond the call of normal duty to engine 3b and engine 8a I'd like to invite the crew members of engine 3b to the stage captain Scott burn Engineer Teddy day and firefighter paramedic Matt Stoba. I'll tell you hugs everybody in the room. I'll get started on November 18th, 2021 While conducting company-assigned fire inspections the crew of engine 3b witnessed a highly unusual and dangerous situation unfold in front of them Engine 3 witnesses subject to his engaged activities that posed a high risk to the public safety The crew of engine 3b quickly took action by immediately providing shelter to witnesses in the cab of the fire engine Relocating them to a safe distance away from the area the crew of engine 3b attempted to deescalate the situation and Commonly relayed the appropriate information via radio to request additional resources and law enforcement With the arrival of the first law enforcement officer necessary information was quickly relayed to which at which time the officer held the subject in question at gunpoint Observing the situation was dynamic dire and multiple lives are at risk engine 3b moved to subdue and disarm the subject to eliminate the threat The subject was attained in place in handcuffs by law enforcement at which time engine 3b began to render emergency Metal medical care to the victims with minor injuries This company citation is in recognition for recognition for the quick calm and device decisive actions I'm gonna need some help here Paul Taken by all crew members of engine 3b the actions taken were courageous and put the lives of the community well above your own Beyond the course of your normal duties without doubt your actions saved the lives of countless members of the community including the subject involved Congratulations, I'd like to invite the crew of engine 8a to the stage captain Jim Feige Former engineer now assistant fire marshal Mike Johnson and firefighter paramedic John Holt on the rainy night of March 27th 2022 at 738 p.m. Engine 8 was dispatched as part of a residential structure fire fire assignment to 3851 Lewis Crone Road While on route crews were advised of an occupant trapped on the roof of the home involved with fire on Arrival engine 8 encountered heavy black smoke emitting from a second-story window over a covered front porch With an occupant on the roof of the porch clinging to the facial board The victim was in direct threat of fire and superheated smoke overtaking them Engine 8 initiated a two-person rescue with firefighter Holt climbing the ladder as captain Feige assisted swiftly and safely rescuing the victim and bring him into safety Due to normally assigned resources in this area being tied up on a possible vehicle Extrication assignment the second to fire apparatus was nearly four minutes behind and an engine 8's arrival in The time that elapsed the crew not only rescued the trapped occupant But secured a water supply deployed attack lines and ready to make entry to perform fire attack This company citation is in recognition of the quick common decisive actions taken by all crew members of engine 8a The actions taken were courageous and put the lives of the community well above your own to be on the course of your Duties the training readiness and fire ground awareness and pace clearly prove effective in the outcome of this dire and unusual situation Without a doubt your actions saved the lives of the fire victim the life of the fire victim who only suffered minor smoke inhalation In general there will never be enough words or citations to probably thank you or engine 3b for the service You provide to our community and I could not be more proud of our personnel every day But certainly on days like this So thank you all for being here before we send you to enjoy the snacks that are in the lobby Take pictures with family friends. Love ones We'd like to call another audible and bring all the Santa Rosa fire department employees up onto the stage For one big group picture. So if we can have everybody Santa Rosa fire employees Come on up come out from backstage And there's two stairs stairs that over here stairs that over there whatever I get everybody up here faster This is where we need another audible and people with cameras. Feel free to take pictures and then air drop them to us