Goldfeder Among CFSI Award Winners
The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) announced the recipients of its four major national awards for 2021 during its National Fire and Emergency Services Virtual Symposium. Deputy Fire Chief Billy Goldfeder, who authors the Close Calls column in Firehouse Magazine, is among the honorees.
Goldfeder received the 2021 Congressional Fire Services Institute/Motorola Solutions Mason Lankford Fire Service Leadership Award. Goldfeder, who is deputy fire chief of the Loveland-Symmes, OH, Fire Department, is a 48-year member of the fire and emergency services, who has made firefighter safety and survival a central tenet of his career.
The CFSI/IFSTA Dr. Anne W. Phillips Award for Leadership in Fire Safety Education was presented to Don Porth, who is the former director of public education for the Portland, OR, Fire and Rescue Department. Porth perhaps is best known for his many contributions to the field of youth firesetting, having established a nonprofit intervention program (SOS FIRES) in 1995 that provides guidance and training for the fire service and others nationwide.
The Fairfax County, VA, Fire and Rescue Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department were awarded the Senator Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award. Cosponsored by CFSI and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, with corporate sponsorship from State Farm Insurance and VFIS, the award recognizes fire and emergency departments and organizations for leadership in advancing the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.
The CFSI/Masimo Excellence in Fire Service-Based EMS Award is presented to fire and emergency services departments for innovations in the delivery of emergency medical services. This year’s recipient is the Thornton, CO, Fire Department for its Pandemic Response team, which conducts rapid testing of public employees, senior citizens, first responders and other community members in addition to setting up drive-thru vaccinations.
For more information, visit cfsi.org.
- President: Chief Don Lombardi, West Metro Fire Protection District, Lakewood, CO
- Vice President: Chief Robert Rocha, Corpus Christi, TX, Fire Department
- Secretary: Chief Edward “Loy” Senter Jr., Chesterfield County, VA, Fire & EMS
- Treasurer: Chief Ernest Malone, Indianapolis Fire Department
- Chief John Butler, Fairfax County, VA, Fire and Rescue Department
- Chief John Lane, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Chief (retired) Denis Onieal, Jersey City, NJ, Fire Department
- Chief Trisha Wolford, Anne Arundel County, MD, Fire Department
Line-of-Duty Deaths
5 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Two firefighters died from health-related incidents, two died after contracting COVID-19 and one died during fireground operations. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters. For the latest on COVID-19-related LODDs, visit firehouse.com/covid-19.
FIRE CHIEF DONALD L. JONES, 59, of Midfield, AL, Fire and Rescue Service, died on April 21. During a lunch break, Jones went into cardiac arrest. He was transported to the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, where he died.
FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC ROGER DEAN III, 31, of the Seguin, TX, Fire Department, died on April 23. On Dec. 20, 2020, Dean responded to an EMS call at a residence. The patient had a known case of COVID-19. Dean subsequently contracted the virus.
ASST. FIRE CHIEF CHARLES EDWARD “CHUCK” SCOTTINI, 67, of Laramie County Fire District #2 in Cheyenne, WY, died on April 24. In October of 2020, while on a wildland fire assignment in Steamboat Springs, CO, Scottini contracted COVID-19. He was flown to the University of Utah Hospital for treatment and remained there until April 21, 2021, when he returned to Wyoming and was admitted to hospice care, where he died.
SENIOR FIREFIGHTER JEFFREY EUGENE ARMES, 38, of the Nelsonville, OH, Division of Fire, died on May 2. While on scene of a residential fire, Armes collapsed. He was transported to the OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital where he was pronounced deceased. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
FIREFIGHTER RICARDO TORRES JR., 30, of the New Haven, CT, Fire Department, died on May 12. Torres was among several members of the department who responded to call of a residential fire with victims trapped. During the fire, Torres transmitted a mayday. He and his lieutenant were both found unconscious on the second floor. Torres was transported to a local hospital, where he died. The lieutenant was listed in critical condition. Two victims were rescued from the fire.
Firehouse Staff
Content written and created by Firehouse Magazine editors.