NFFF's Siarnicki Receives Lifetime Achievement Award at FDIC

It can be said that Ron Siarnicki has dedicated his life to the fire service, having spent nearly 35 years as a volunteer and career firefighter and now as the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF).

It is for that reason, and his tireless dedication to keeping firefighters safe that he was presented the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening of the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) happening this week in Indiana.

In announcing the award, Retired Fire Chief Robert Halton, the editor in chief of Fire Engineering and education director of FDIC, called Siarnicki, “One of America’s most distinguished firefighters.”

Siarnicki joined the fire service in 1978 and rose through the ranks to become chief of the Prince George’s County (Md.) Fire/EMS Department in 1997. In 2001 he became the executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF).

“Whenever one of America’s bravest falls in the line of duty, Ron Siarnicki responds,” Halton said, adding that he’s there to explain details about benefits and “to provide a strong, loving and caring shoulder for people to lean on when they need it most.”

Halton said comments from Siarnicki’s peers were solicited and he read them during the award ceremony.

Chief Dennis Compton, chairman of the board of the NFFF, wrote in a letter that Siarnicki has dedicated his professional life to serving and protecting people.

“For him, it’s all about serving the nation’s firefighters by honoring those who are lost in the line of duty,” Compton wrote. His letter also said that Siarnicki cares for the survivors, supports training and “doing whatever it takes to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities experienced in this country.”

Comments were also read from Chief Billy Goldfeder, who is a member of the NFFF board of directors.

Goldfeder said there are many reasons why Siarnicki received the award, none the least of which is defined in the word “achievement.”

“The key word of this major fire service award is achievement,” Goldfeder wrote in his letter. Starting out as a volunteer firefighter, then becoming a career firefighter and officer, and retiring as chief is an achievement most would be envious of, Goldfeder said. However, Siarnicki has achieved more than that, affecting the lives directly or indirectly, of nearly every firefighter in the nation through his efforts to prevent line of duty deaths. Goldfeder called him a “firefighter death preventer.”

Goldfeder said Siarnicki has convened a message that “It is possible to be an effective firefighter while not unnecessarily getting seriously injured or killed… Simply put, what Ron has achieved matters.”

Dr. Denis Onieal, superintendent of the NationalFireAcademy, wrote that, “Only once or twice in a lifetime will one ever meet an individual with the poise, leadership and compassion and fiscal acumen,” as Siarnicki.

Speaking on behalf of the firefighters of the nation, Halton called Siarnicki a “friend to every firefighter, a supporter, a shoulder to lean on when times are tough and a light we can always count on to point to true north.”

In accepting the award, Siarnicki said he’s truly humbled and honored to join the ranks of people who have received it in the past.

“Tom was a gentleman and a friend,” he said. “To be associated with his legacy is phenomenal.”

Siarnicki thanked his parents for teaching him the value of community service, his family, and the people of the Monessen Volunteer Fire Department Hose House No. 2 in Pennsylvania for giving him the chance to join as a volunteer in the community where he grew up.

He also thanked the United Communities Volunteer Fire Department in Stevensville, Md., where he currently lives, for allowing him to stay active in the fire service as a member and “helping me to maintain a reality check on what it’s like to be a firefighter today.”