South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

MFPD presents Making a Difference Awards

Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors Treasurer Bonnie Stegman and Secretary Ed Ryan with Chief Brian Hendricks, Deputy Chief Dan LaFata, Deputy Chief Tim Dempsey and recipients of the fire districts Making a Difference Awards: former St. Louis County Police Department Capt. Chris Stocker and St. Louis County Police Officers Samantha Sirles, Patricia Eller, John Spicer, James Peterson and Andrew Schuette, among other honorees.
Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors Treasurer Bonnie Stegman and Secretary Ed Ryan with Chief Brian Hendricks, Deputy Chief Dan LaFata, Deputy Chief Tim Dempsey and recipients of the fire district’s Making a Difference Awards: former St. Louis County Police Department Capt. Chris Stocker and St. Louis County Police Officers Samantha Sirles, Patricia Eller, John Spicer, James Peterson and Andrew Schuette, among other honorees.

The Mehlville Fire Protection District last week presented its 2016 Making a Dif-ference Community Awards to residents, businesses and law-enforcement personnel.

“… The Mehlville Fire Protection District is tasked every day to make a difference in the lives of the taxpayers and the people who serve, and we do that very well,” Chief Brian Hendricks said at the April 20 ceremony. “But sometimes we can only do the job we do with our community partners and we also can only do the job we do with the citizens that we serve.”

Two types of awards were presented — Community Partner Awards — and Individual Awards for “people who have gone above and beyond,” the chief said.

Community Partner Awards were presented to:

• Dan Gilman of the Mehlville School District.

• George Foster of JB Marine.

• Jason Oppermann of Squires Towing.

• Jerry Reinhold of Reinhold Electric, who also was presented an Individual Award for his assistance with an electrical issue on a call.

Individual Awards were presented to:

• Kyle Halamicek. As a 9-year-old, Kyle performed the Heimlich maneuver on a friend who was choking on a bratwurst.

• Mike Ellis, who was recognized for entering a burning apartment, crawling to his neighbor and pulling her out of the residence to safety.

• Steve Lattray, who was honored for his assistance in a rescue operation at Cliff Cave Park.

• Bob Kaufman and Jason Meyer of Reinhold Electric, who were honored for their assistance with an electrical issue on a call in the Green Park Industrial Park.

Individual Awards were presented to the St. Louis County Police officers for their ongoing assistance to the fire district:

• Patricia Eller.

• Samantha Sirles.

• John Spicer.

• James Peterson.

• Andrew Schuette.

Also honored for his assistance to the fire district was recently retired St. Louis County Police Capt. Chris Stocker.

To view more photos from the ceremony, visit

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