Bath Volunteer Fire awards Preston Skillman with “Firefighter of the Year,”

GALLERY and See full honor roll of awards from the banquet

From The Bath Volunteer Fire Department, pictured is Chief Mike Fiordo with Skillman

Recently The Bath Volunteer Fire Department held their annual awards banquet. The banquet is obviously to award our members for all their hard work for the past year but it is also a time to thank our spouses and partners for supporting us when we had to leave the dinner table or the pager goes off in the middle of the night and we have to leave, and the stress they go through not knowing what situation their firefighters are about to encounter. Area fire chiefs who provided mutual aid, Bath Village Police Chief and the Bath Village Board were in attendance as well. Bath Mayor Mike Sweet thanked all the volunteers and Bath Police for the service they provided to the community and for the dedication and hard work all year.

I will start off with the Firefighter of The Year. This person is nominated from the membership. The nominations are then reviewed by past winners of the award and one person is selected to be that year’s award winner. This was the nomination letter for this year’s winner Preston Skillman.

“Preston was nominated for firefighter of the year due to the fact that he came to us with no connections, ties, or family in the department and no experience or exposure to the fire service. He has embraced the job, the culture and the brotherhood of the department and has seamlessly become a huge asset. He is consistently in the top 10 of calls responded to and the top 3 in internal and external training attended. He is always willing to lend a hand or help out other members. He manages to juggle a full-time job and even got married in 2023. Preston embodies everything that we look for in a firefighter. “

Next, we have the Firefly of the Year. The Fireflies are the fire department auxiliary who are very much a part of our department and support us in many ways, from helping with our fundraisers and holding their own as well. When we have large scale calls they will come down to the station and make coffee and sandwiches for the crew and bring cold drinks to the scene. They support the department in every way! Here is this years award winning nomination selected by her peers.

“The 2023 Firefly of the Year is Tiffany Fiordo. Tiffany has served as President of the Fireflies for the past three years. She always ensures meetings are entertaining, yet efficient. Tiffany has focused on ensuring the families of the Department and Fireflies have meaningful, engaging activities. She has placed an emphasis on assisting with Department fundraisers to ensure that the Department has funds for its needs. Tiffany is at fundraisers and helps in whatever ways she can. Tiffany pushes to see improvement for both the Department and Fireflies. Congratulations Tiffany on being the 2023 Firefly of the Year.”

We also thank everyone in the department for all their dedication to The Bath Volunteer Fire Department and their commitment to the Bath and surrounding communities. The department covers a very large response area of 72 square miles and in 2023 we had a record number of calls of 530. The following have been awarded for their outstanding achievements.

Internal Training

Junior Firefighters

3rd Dustin Snell – 44.67 Hours 2nd Alexander Snell – 55.67 Hours 1st Matthew Sabins – 74.67 Hours

Fire Police

3rd Jason Causer – 41.25 Hours 2nd Greg Glashauser – 42.75 Hours 1st Ron Delio – 43.75 Hours

Firefighters

3rd Preston Skillman – 38.25 Hours 2nd Harry E. Keen – 43.75 Hours 1st Coby Causer – 50.25

Captains

3rd Curtis Wininger – 32 Hours 2nd Daniel Fiordo – 45.75 Hours 1st – Josh Ames – 53.92 Hours

Chief Officers

3rd – Matthew Glashauser – 45.75 Hours 2nd – Michael Fiordo – 45.25 Hours

1st – David Dowdle – 50.25 Hours

Most Calls

Junior Firefighter

3rd – Dustin Snell – 10

2nd – Alexander Snell – 11 1st – Matthew Sabins – 72

Fire Police

3rd – Mark Phillipson – 90 2nd – Brent Hockaday – 110

1st – Robin Havens – 191 *192 last year

Firefighters

3rd – Harry E. Keen – 185 2nd – Kyle Prutsman – 207

1st – Austin Wheatcraft – 289 * Top Responder

Captains

3rd – Joshua Ames – 138 2nd – Daniel Fiordo – 207 1st – Curtis Wininger – 243

Chief Officers

3rd – Matt Glashauser – 183 2nd – Michael Fiordo – 194 1st – David Dowdle – 215

Robert and Rita Award for Outside Training – Hours

3rd – Timothy Lamphier – 50 Hours 2nd – Austin Wheatcraft – 56 Hours 1st – Preston Skillman – 92 Hours

Robert Brown Award for Outside Training – Classes Attended

3rd – Tim Lamphier – 1

2nd – Austin Wheatcraft – 3 1st – Preston Skillman – 4

Years of Service Awards

5 Years

Austin Wheatcraft

15 Years Jason Causer Anthony Barros

20 Years

Brent Hockaday Kyle Lisefski Sean Walruth

25 Years Rod Fisher

35 Years

Corey Zydanowicz

65 Years

John Burdick

1000 Call Milestones

1,000 Calls – Curtis Wininger

Firefly Lifetime Achievement Award

Becky Washburn, Tami Dowdle