Community Corner
Treasure Island Fire Rescue Members Honored For Hurricane Recovery
Three members of the department received an award for their work in helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Southwest Florida.
TREASURE ISLAND, FL — At the Oct. 18 Treasure Island City Commission meeting, Treasure Island Fire Rescue Chief Trip Barrs presented awards to three members of the department for their work in helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Southwest Florida.
Barrs awarded Deputy Chief Tom Brennan, firefighter/paramedic Sawyer Keller and firefighter/emergency medical technician Travis DeBerry the Exemplary Fire Performance Award.
Brennan was assigned to lead a strike team of five fire apparatus in support of the fire departments that were impacted by Hurricane Ian. Brennan was deployed a total of 11 days and accomplished a variety of search and rescue, humanitarian and firefighting missions.
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Keller and DeBerry volunteered for a seven-day mission to the area of southwest Florida impacted by Hurricane Ian. They were assigned to staff an "Ambu-bus" provided by Pinellas County EMS with an initial assignment to evacuate patients from flooded hospitals. Upon arrival at the staging location, they were assigned a variety of other tasks, including search and rescue, welfare checks and delivering food and water to stranded residents in flood conditions.
Barrs also awarded DeBerry the Medal of Valor, the department's highest honor, for his heroic actions disregarding the danger to himself while saving another's life.
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While assigned to perform welfare checks on residents in an area isolated by flooding, DeBerry noticed a person behind a flooded home that appeared to be in distress. When he and his Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation partner Lt. John Martino stopped to investigate, they found a 70-year-old woman who had fallen into a flooded stream and was unable to get out due to the rapidly moving water and muddy bank. DeBerry immediately entered the water and grabbed the victim while his partner pulled them both out.
Treasure Island Fire Rescue firefighter/paramedic Joshua Torres is currently deployed to Southwest Florida and is supporting recovery efforts on Pine Island as part of a combined west-central Florida strike team.
This press release was produced by the City of Treasure Island City. The views expressed here are the author's own.