Many members of the Scarborough Public Safety Department were honored Friday night during the town’s annual Fire and Police Department award ceremony.
The evening concluded with the awarding of the William Quentin Award, which is the Fire Department’s highest honor and is only given out when a department member has placed himself in danger to rescue a victim of a fire or emergency situation. The last time the award was given out was in 1998.
This year’s recipients are Lt. Jeff Rogers and Firefighter/EMT Travis Gibson, who were given their award for rescuing Gloria and Tammy Holbrook from their burning home on Gorham Road last November.
According to Fire Chief Mike Thurlow, the pair was the first at the scene of the fire and without concern for themselves gained access to the burning home from the second floor by climbing on a painter’s ladder.
“They performed the rescue and got Gloria out of that second floor window,” he said.
The men then reentered the building to search for Tammy Holbrook who had become trapped inside the home. They located her at the bottom of the stairs.
“Without regard for their own safety these two firefighters evacuated the second victim from the house,” he said.
Three Scarborough police officers were awarded the Medal of Valor for their actions during the same incident: Officers Mary Pearson, Glenn Tucker and Joshua Guay.
“The three officers put themselves in harm’s way to assist with firefighting and rescue efforts during the early morning fire,” said Deputy Police Chief David Grover. “They worked to keep people who were outside the residence safe and helped to take control of a very difficult situation. The officers also made appropriate notifications and assisted with the investigation.”
Auburn resident and former police officer Paul Renaud received the Fire Department’s Citizen’s Merit Award. Renaud, along with another unidentified bystander, performed CPR on a man suffering from cardiac arrest at the Big 20 bowling alley last December.
According to Deputy Fire Chief Tony Attardo, when public safety officers arrived on scene Renaud and the other man continued performing CPR while rescuers gathered information and prepared medical equipment. The man was eventually saved and was released from the hospital with little therapy.
“There is no doubt that without the valiant efforts of these two citizens the result would not have been the same,” Attardo said.
The Police Citizen’s Merit Award was given to Donald Mitsmenn, who assisted police in apprehending a burglar.
“This heroic deed led to the closure of several burglaries in the area,” said Grover.
The recipients of all of the evening’s awards were:
Police Department
Police Officer of the Year: Officer Joshua Guay
Police Dispatcher of the Year: Dispatcher Jaime Higgins
Explorer of the Year: Explorer Andrew Flynn
Reserve Officer of the Year: Reserve Officer Dwayne Hopkins
Medal of Valor: Officer Mary Pearson, Officer Glenn Tucker and Officer Joshua Guay.
Leadership Award: Officer Mary Pearson
Citizen’s Merit Award: Donald Mitsmenn
Unit Citation Award: Fire Police: Merle Cook, Robert Meserve, Leonard Libby, Dwayne O’Roak, Connie Meserve, Russell Wallace, Grant Worthing, Everett Senter, Steve Brown, Edward Minor and Gary Brown.
Unit Citation Awards: Explorer Post 883: Andrew Flynn, Ryan Sergeant, Linsey Payson, Patrick Gill, Andrea Ouellette, Joseph, Burns, Donna Schliepar and Derek Laflin.
Commendation Award: Officer Jeffrey Greenleaf, Sergeant William Jipson, Officer Allen Wilson, Officer Glenn Tucker, Officer Michael Sawyer, Reserve Officer Peter Nappi, Officer Timothy Barker, Officer Douglas Weed, Officer Joshua Guay, Officer Scott Corey, Officer John Gill and Officer Michael Sawyer.
Police Chief’s Award: Youth Aid Officer Eric Greenleaf, Sgt. John O’Malley and School Resource Officer Robert Moore.
Fire Department:
Citizen’s Merit Award: Paul Renaud
Chief’s Merit Award: Andy Morrison and Steve Higgins
Student of the Year: Jacob Letendre
Firefighter of the Year: Tom Dedian
Dispatcher of the Year: Eric Berry
Paramedic of the Year: Adele Jones
Officer of the Year: Capt. Bruce Bell
Unit Citation: Big 20 Bowling Center Code Save: Tony Attardo, Nate Bennett, Cliff Bourne, Betsy Carolan, Joe Carroll, Steve Higgins, Vinnie Pelletier, Scott Smith, Mark Stults and Doug Weed.
Unit Citation: 96 Gorham Road Structure Fire: Mark Anderson, Erik Ares, Matt Beeler, Nate Bennett, Cliff Bourne, Betsy Carolan, Joe Carroll, Rob Carson, Steve Chamberlain, Chad Charland, Ben Chase, Andy Clark, Nate Contreras, Jason Cote, Brian Croteau, Glen Deering, Warren Deering, Michael DiClemente, Michael Dwyer, William Farrell, Tobey Farrington, Anthony Favreau, Karl Finley, Mike Gallant, Travis Gibson, Cindy Gorham, Joshua Guay, Caroline Harden, Jamie Higgins, Steve Higgins, Thomas Higgins, Levi Jones, Frank Keenan, Jason Lepkowski, Jacob Letendre, Jim McCormick, Bruce McLellan, Wes Merritt, William Myers, Alan Nielsen, Jake Nielsen, George Oliver, Joe Pallotta, Neal Paulsen, Mary Pearson, Jon Perry, Doug Remington, Jon Rioux, Jeff Rogers, Scott Smith, Steve Sloan, Gary Tapley, Brad Timberlake, Glenn Tucker, Craig Voisine, Tyler Wheeler and Josh Young.
William Quentin Award: Lt. Jeff Rogers and Firefighter Travis Gibson.
Deputy Fire Chief Tony Attardo, right, give s the Fire Department’s Citizen’s Merit Award to Auburn resident and former police officer Paul Renaud, who along with another unidentified bystander, performed CPR on a man suffering from cardiac arrest at the Big 20 bowling alley last December.
Lt. Jeff Rogers and Firefighter/EMT Travis Gibson with Fire Chief Mike Thurlow, right. Rogers and Gibson received the … award for rescuing Gloria and Tammy Holbrook from their burning home on Gorham Road last November.
Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton, right, awards Deputy Chief Marla St. Pierre an award for XXX years of service to the Police Department. 
Deputy Fire Chief Tony Attardo, right, presents Paramedic Adele Jones with the Paramedic of the Year Award.
Scarborough Fire Chief Mike Thurlow, right, presents Firefighter Stan Payson with the Henry Gould Award for 40 years of service to the Scarborough Fire Department.
Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton, right, gives the Reserve Officer of the Year Award to Reserve Officer Dwayne Hopkins, left, as Officer Eric Greenleaf looks on.
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