Wednesday night, at the annual "Volunteer of the year", ceremony sponsored by the Mayor and Council, 2 members of the RFD were chosen by Chief Doug Harvey to receive this years award. Firefighter Robert Barton was honored for 60 years of active service in the FD. He started as a junior firefighter in Glen Rock, then after moving to Wyckoff, he served at Fire Co. 1 and then finally moved to Ramsey where he has been active to this day. Bob operates the radio desk during calls and doesn't hesitate to pick up a broom and sweep the bays or grab a vacuum cleaner and clean the upstairs area. Bob still attends meetings and drills and gives his monthly report from Mutual Aid meetings. The RFD congratulates Bob and thanks him for his service.
The second recipient is Ex-Chief Jonathan Krehel, who was honored for his efforts in obtaining grant money for needed equipment. His efforts have been successful and the RFD has received more than 600,000.00 in grant money. This has allowed the FD to purchase a heavy duty washer and drier for gear, a machine to clean and disinfect SCBA, a new mask fit testing machine and finally, all of the current aging SCBA will be replaced with new equipment. Additionally, during the COVID outbreak, Jon was able to provide necessary protective equipment for all of the members through donations. Left over money will go to ongoing training requirements. This grant money offsets the cost usually paid by the tax payers. Jon was unable to attend the ceremony, as he was on duty serving the Paterson FD. Jon's wife, Danielle was present and read a prepared statement from Jon. The RFD congratulates Jon for this award and we thank him for his continued service