Manti Fire Department recognizes members at annual reward banquet

ByRobert Stevens

MANTI—The Manti Volunteer Fire Department held their annual awards and recognition banquet on Thursday, Feb. 6 where a new captain was named and more than a dozen members were honored with awards.

            The banquet was held at the Manti Old City Hall with fire department members and their families attending, along with Mayor Chuck Bigelow and City Administrator Kent Barton.

            Running the show was Fire Chief Elliot Anderson, who presented a wide range of recognitions, ranging from awards for serving a certain number of years to awards for service calls and more.

            Firefighter Ben McCumber was promoted to captain. Chief Anderson said, “I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve with Captain McCumber. He always has our firefighters’ safety and tactical readiness in mind.

            “The captain’s ability to look to the future and learn from our past experiences and tie these together for our firefighters in training has and will keep our firefighters ready to respond to the best of their abilities.”

            Anderson told the Messenger,            “Having the opportunity to honor and reward our firefighters for their ongoing service has been truly an honor. We are so blessed to have firefighters in our community willing to serve us all.”

            In all, seven service-in-action awards were given out, along with eight tactical awards and four awards for saves. A few firefighters, including Chief Anderson, receive recognition for hitting milestones in terms of years with the department.

            “Our service-in-action rewards refers to an opportunity where individuals are recognized and rewarded for actively demonstrating exemplary service, often going above and beyond their typical duties,” Anderson said.  “Your Manti firefighters wear a small heart on their helmets for this award.”

            Sanpete County Fire Warden Tom Peterson recognized Anderson, saying, “The leadership style that Elliot shows (demonstrates) that he’s not just training firefighters, he is training future leaders.”