2012 Largo Firefighter of the Year Andrew Dixon Receives National Medal of Honor

Andrew Dixon, the Largo Fire Department's 2012 Firefighter of the Year, received a National Medal of Honor for earning the award in a ceremony at City Hall last week.

Dixon, an 11-year veteran of the department, was a unanimous selection for the award when it was announced in February.

"This year we did the nominations a bit differently," interim fire chief Shelby Williams said during the April 16 City Commission meeting. "We allowed the fire service personnel to send in nominations for any fire rescue employee."

"We selected a nomination and a selection committee," she continued, "they reviewed all the nominations and ... they unanimously selected Andrew Dixon as Firefighter of the Year for 2012."

Williams went on to state that Dixon has been certified on every apparatus the department has, he's certified as a Fire Officer 1 and 2, an Instructor 2 and is working on his Master degree at USF.

She added that Dixon's greatest accomplishment is his family, his wife Courtney, and his 1-year-old son, Logan.

In addition to honoring Dixon, Julie Barlet was named the 2012 Fire Service Employee of the Year.

Barlet is an operational secretary who has been with the department since 2006. She was also a unanimous selection for the award.

Prior to recognizing the two employees, three new firefighters were sworn in to the Largo Fire Department: Kristen Williamson, Jordan Gross and Matthew Gouge.

"We have new firefighters that we have been wanting, and we recognize some firefighters who have gone beyond the call of duty, and that's always wonderful," Commissioner Harriet Crozier said after the ceremonies.

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