Arvada Fire held it's annual Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 31, recognizing more than 100 members with honors. The ceremony includes the Honor Guard and Pipes and Drums band, the announcement of many awards, and the presentation of our 2022 Highlights video.
Congratulations to our many award winners!
Firefighter of the Year
Derrick Varela, a lieutenant serving out of Station 5, was named Arvada Fire’s 2022 Firefighter of the Year.
Varela is a 19-year member of the department after joining as a volunteer in 2004. Since then, he’s developed into one of “the most influential officers and firefighters in Arvada and in the metro area” according to his peers. In addition to being a company officer, Lt. Varela is a leader within our Technical Rescue Team and is a member of Colorado Task Force 1 as a rescue technician.
Last year, Varela served as a trainer at our acting officer academy, at a joint-recruit academy, and technical rescue academy. Varela is a selfless leader and mentor who raises the bar for what it means to be a firefighter at Arvada Fire.
Employee of the Year
Matt Boyd was named our 2022 Employee of the Year. Boyd joined Arvada Fire in 2019 and serves as a Business Intelligence Analyst.
Behind Arvada Fire’ many front line personnel are dozens of employees with specialized skills that support our mission of keeping our community and our responders safe. Through the data and analysis that Matt creates, our agency is better able to understand performance metrics, response trends, and critical information. Matt’s analysis also helps Arvada Fire maintain its status as an accredited agency.
“Matt is a fantastic example of how employees can make a life-saving impact here, too,” said one of his peers.
2022 Award Winners
- Firefighter of the Year: Lt. Derrick Varela
- Employee of the Year: Matt Boyd
- Lt. Jim Schaefer Award: Lt. Matt Berland
- Schaefer Scholarship: Dylan Espinosa
- 35 Years of Service: Capt. Mike Kulp, Lt. Scott Stringham
- 30 Years of Service: Capt. Todd Hill
- Individual Award: Jon Garcia
- Individual Award: Craig Adams
- Unit Award: Water Rescue — Rescue 52: Lt. Jason King, Tristan Exner, Jon Mauer, Elise Guidry / Medic 52: Ross Vance, Scott Johnson-Meyers, Ryan Walker
- Unit Award: Officer Allan Fischer Response — Rescue 52: Lt Jason King, Jeremy Gaccetta, Christian Humbert, Elise Guidry / Medic 52: Colin McKeever, Scott Johnson-Meyers
- Unit Award: Structure Fire — Engine 51: Lt. Thomas Lyons, Bo Connell, Scott Long, Phil Stover
- Meritorious Service: Structure Fire — APD Sergeant Josh Mazone, APD Officer Matt Duffey
- Group Award: Radio Workgroup —Bryan Attardi, Bryce Segovia, Jen Sliemers, Phil Trujillo
- Group Award: Community Risk Reduction — Chief Deanna Harrington, Amber Jones, Jillian Moore, Brady Johnson
- Phoenix Award for the successful resuscitate a patient in cardiac arrest: 10 qualifying incidents, 50+ members honored (Jared Acker, Ben Ackerman, Lt. Kody Allen, Bryce Anderson, Lt. Tyler Beck, Bert Brooks, Arthur Bruck, Joe Chinburg, Terry Collier, Joe Decker, Brian Drumm, Daniel Duncan, Corey Dvorak, Jacob Eldridge, Tristan Exner, Daniel Gantt, Lt. Jon Garcia, Todd Hobler, Christian Humbert, Jeff Jungert, Patrick Jungels, Brendan Kelly, Lt. Jason King, Capt. Mike Kulp, Don Lindsey, Lt. Thomas Lyons, Dashell Marquardt, Jon Maurer, Patrick Nashleanas, Robert Nelson, Jake Orr, Daniel Patrick, Philip Peterson, Olito Pierluissi, Sean Quinn, Lt. Nick Quintana, Kyle Rice, Jeremy Roberts, Troy Rodvold, Capt. Dan Roozen, Andrew Rouse, Bruce Segovia, Denny Stark, Ben Stoner, Phil Stover, Ty Stuebner, Lt. David Thomas, Aaron Van Leeuwen, Ryan Weir, Rob Widom, Josh Wilson, Sterling Wise, Cory Ziegler)
- 25 Years of Service: Ben Ackerman, Lt. Matt Berland, Lt. Brendon Dougherty, Scott Long, Capt. Tim Piel
- 20 Years of Service: Wyatt Koeniger, Josh Schairer, Shane Sims
- 15 Years of Service: Bryce Segovia, Tracy Vitale
- 10 Years of Service: Craig Adams, Lt. Kody Allen, Nicholas Faes, Capt. Brooke Elder, Chief Kevin Ferry, Lt. Jon Garcia, Lt. Andy Higgins, Lt. Emily Jury, Lt. Brendan Kelly, Frank Lonardo, Lt. Ian Mattice, Ryan Miller, Troy Rodvold, Chris Solomon, Dennis Stark, Ty Stuebner, Lt. David Thomas, Aaron Van Leeuwen, Bryan Zale
- Citizen’s Awards: Andy Flood, Jim Black