Petersburgh Fire Department Installation

by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Fire Department held its 2012 Installation Dinner on Saturday, April 28. A fine dinner was provided by caterer Melanie Teliska, and music was provided by D.J. John McEnerny. Fire Department Chaplain Walt Knightes provided a brief Invocation before the meal and a Benediction after.

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Officers at the Petersburgh Fire Department Installation Dinner last Saturday are: (l to r) Fire Chief Bill Seel, Auxiliary President Maureen Seel, Captain #1 Earl Brock, Auxiliary VP Karina Michaels, Auxiliary Secretary Shannon Morgan, Captain #2 Jim Morgan, Auxiliary Treasurer Barb Snyder, Captain #3 Mike Lindsey hidden behind Snyder, Safety Officers Dick Snyder and Randy Harrison, Treasurer Martin Conboy, Fire Police Captain Charlie Carr, Fire Police Lieutenant Ziggy Krahforst and Secretary Katie Fiske. Assistant Chief Nathan Michaels is missing from the picture. (Alex Brooks photo)

Continuity was one of the themes of the evening, as nearly all of the officers are the same as last year. Bill Seel will continue as Fire Chief and Nathan Michaels as Assistant Chief. Earl Brock, James Morgan and Mike Lindsey continue as Captains. Randy Harrison and Richard Snyder continue as Safety Officers. Charlie Carr is Captain of Fire Police, and Siegfried Krahforst is Lt. of Fire Police. Katie Fiske is Secretary, and Martin Conboy is again the Treasurer.
Earl Brock, Mike Jones, Don Paulson and Steve Waytkus will serve as Fire Commissioners. Christina Lamphere will serve again as Secretary/Treasurer of the Commissioners and Terry Neaton as Chairman.
Fire Auxiliary Officers this year are Maureen Seel, President, Karina Michaels, Vice President, Shannon Morgan, Secretary, and Barb Snyder, Treasurer.
Former Chief and  Chairman of the Fire Commissioners, Terry Neaton, again attended the most drills and the most calls. Second most drills was John Telford, and third was Dave Michaels. Second most calls was Charlie Carr, and third was Sebastian Krahforst.

Fire Chief Bill Seel presents former Chief Rolland Hewitt with a ceremonial basket commemorating Hewitt’s 20 years of service as Petersburgh’s Fire Chief. In the basket was Hewitt’s old Chief badge which Seel urged him to hang on to as a symbol of his honorable service to the Town. (Alex Brooks photo)

The highlights of the evening were tributes to former Chief Rolland Hewitt, who gave twenty-eight forty-eight years of service to the Fire Department and served as Chief for 20 years, and to Janet Snyder, who has served on the Fire Auxiliary for an impressive 50 years.
The most notable event of the past year for the Fire Department was the extraordinary volume of calls related to Hurricane Irene. There were 20 calls for Hurricane Irene emergencies, which was more than a quarter of all the calls for the year. There was an average of nine members responding to calls. The most members responding to a call was 22.
Recognized for their years of service to the Fire Department were Ben Krahforst with 35 years, Bill Seel with 30 years, Mike Lindsey with 25 years, Nathan Michaels with 20 years and Steve Harrison with 5 years.

Fire Auxiliary Secretary Shannon Morgan thanks Janet Snyder for her 50 years of service to the Fire Auxiliary in Petersburgh while Maureen Seel presents Snyder with presents and Janet's children, Auxiliary Treasurer Barbara Snyder and Safety Officer, and former Fire Chief, Dick Snyder, look on. (Alex Brooks photo)

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