The Wrightsville Beach Fire Department honored Firefighter of the Year Marc Scott and several other volunteer members Dec. 12 for their exceptional efforts toward keeping the community safe.
The awards, which included a Service Commendation Award for firefighter Garrett McQueen, were handed out during the fire department’s 100th annual Christmas Dinner at 22 North. The event was sponsored by the Wrightsville Beach Volunteer Firefighters Association, a nonprofit corporation comprised of the fire department’s volunteers and interns.
Only volunteer firefighters were eligible for most of the awards because, Smith said, “you’re recognizing people that volunteer their time — and in a lot of cases, a lot of their time — to be a member of the fire department and perform on the same level as the career employees who are getting paid to be there.”
Scott earned Firefighter of the Year for his contributions to the department during the past year, Smith said. He attended over 200 hours of fire service training and participated in 34 drills, 10 more than the minimum requirement. He also completed the extensive assessment process to become a lieutenant.
“He really shows initiative to advance his fire service training and take advantage of all the training opportunities he can,” Smith said.
Scott’s promotion to lieutenant also proved his diligence because the process involves a group interview with members of the fire department’s command staff and tactical simulations of emergency situations. As lieutenant, he is now responsible for leading and directing groups of firefighters, both during training and emergency situations, Smith said.
“He’s performed that responsibility very capably as well,” he added.
One of the fire department’s interns, 22-year-old Garrett McQueen, was honored for furthering his training with the fire department while earning his graduate degree at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
McQueen is studying and working to becoming a federal law enforcement officer, Smith said, but on top of his role as a graduate student he is also the fire department’s senior intern, a director of the Volunteer Firefighters Association, an emergency medical technician and qualified to be a fire equipment operator and an ocean rescue lifeguard.
“He’s involved in nearly the whole spectrum of the department’s operations,” Smith said.
The fire department also values McQueen’s ability to serve as a mentor to younger interns. Newly hired interns are often recent high school graduates who have just moved away from home for the first time, and McQueen helps them with that transition, Smith said.
“It’s really important to have someone who can mentor them but still is close enough to their age and their situation that they can directly relate to,” he said.
The Volunteer Firefighters Association handed out several other awards during the dinner. In addition to his Firefighter of the Year honor, Scott received the Best Drill Attendance Award for attending 34 department training drills and he, along with firefighters Kyle Kling, Gordon Smith and Caleb Vankirk, were recognized for attending over 200 hours of fire service training during the past year.
Vankirk also received the Most Duty Time Award for serving 416 on-call duty shifts and the Most Fire Alarm Responses. A five-year Service Anniversary Award was presented to firefighter Trey Shipp and a 10-year Service Anniversary Award was presented to firefighter Mike Arthur.
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