The Yakima Fire Department presented annual awards during the 2019 IAFF Retirement Ceremony and Celebration event held last Thursday, March 20th.
- Firefighter Jason Horton received the Rusty Hauber Memorial Outstanding Achievement Award, Firefighter of the Year. “The award is presented to Jason as the firefighter who made the most significant contributions to the Yakima Fire Department during the year,” said Yakima Fire Chief Aaron Markham.
- Captain Kari Brown received the Fire Officer of the Year Award. “In 2018, Kari went on an EMS call to assist an elderly person and discovered their home would not accommodate the use of a wheelchair. After the call was over, he went back at a later date and offered to help the home owner fix this problem,” said Markham. “Kari spent several hours off duty widening the home owner’s doorway to improve access to allow them to get through the doorway with a wheelchair. He has assisted with recommendations to fire station facility issues and remodeling. Kari has even on occasion used his expertise to help with the installation of some needed equipment when time was of the essence. He is known for keeping the officers and firefighters at his station well informed on a regular basis.”
- Captain Alex Langbell received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Langbell started with the Yakima Fire Department in 1995. “Over the years, he has focused on standardizing the way the department operates,” said Markham. “He is very detail oriented and motivated in making the Yakima Fire Department a role model to all fire and EMS agencies in Yakima County.”
Langbell was nominated for the award as “…pivotal in the re-organization of the training division, first as the training assistant and more recently as the training supervisor.”
In addition, Markham said Langbell consistently brings new training and designs drills to improve the Department. “One of Alex’s latest projects is the creation of an officer development program,” Markham said. “He has used his personal skills and equipment to create training videos for our department, as well as assisting the EMS office in the creation of their videos.”
Visit https://yakimafire.com/ or call 575-6060 for more information about the Yakima Fire Department.
Photos below courtesy Susan Madrigal/Yakima Fire Department
Jason Horton is presented the Rusty Hauber Memorial Outstanding Achievement Award, Firefighter of the Year by Fire Chief Aaron Markham.
Captain Alex Langbell, pictured with Tina Richardson, receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from Fire Chief Aaron Markham.
Captain Kari Brown, pictured with wife Reagan Brown and their sons, received
the Fire Officer of the Year Award.