LIMA — Lima Fire Department Lt. Doug Corwin was honored as the 2016 Firefighter of the Year by the Lima Noon Sertoma Club during the club’s regular meeting Tuesday at Old Barn Out Back.
Along with serving as both a firefighter and medic for more than a decade, Corwin has also served as a fire and EMS instructor for the past eight years, as well as serving as public safety manager at Apollo Career Center since January. He has also been an Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support instructor at Lima Memorial Health System and St. Rita’s Medical Center. Corwin also serves as an arson investigator when needed, and he also is a CPR instructor for Lima-Allen County Neighborhoods in Partnership.
“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” he said. “It’s always difficult to accept an individual award because being a firefighter is a team effort.”
Corwin was surprised at hearing he was the award winner this year, but he was grateful to have fellow Lima firefighters there with him to share in the honor.
“This is a great thing [the Sertoma Club does] for firefighters,” he said.
A tradition going back 25 years, the Firefighter of the Year Award gives the Sertoma Club a chance to recognize an essential component of public safety, according to club president Jason Stolly.
“We feel it’s an opportunity to honor the Fire Department and the amazing people that work there,” he said. “They’re a humble group by nature, but it’s important to recognize them.”
While the Sertoma Club gives out the award, the recipient is chosen internally in the Lima Fire Department, according to Stolly.
“Each shift nominates a person they feel deserves the honor,” he said. “Then the chief has the final say.”
Having that history together makes the annual award ceremony an important event, both for the Lima Fire Department and for the Sertoma Club.
“We always look forward to it,” Stolly said. “We have a nice meal together and chat and talk to people that we maybe only see once a year, and it gives us a chance to thank them for all of their service.”
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