Firefighters honor their own; awards night held in new hall

    Members of the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) had more than just their annual awards to celebrate Friday night.
    It was also a chance to hold the annual dinner and awards program in their new hall at 3rd and Broadway.
    It was the first time for the awards night there, and for some guests, the first time they saw the fire department equipment in the new location, and how the building is laid out.
    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell thanked everyone who had a part in getting the hall operational, noting the extensive hours IVFD members put in on the remodeling.
    But he pointed out the move from its tight quarters three blocks north in June wouldn’t have been possible without the city council and Mayor Dwight Coleman.
    “They mayor was a big part of this,” he said.
    The city council voted to use $650,000 in city sales tax funds to buy the property from Harchelroad Motors. The purchase included two small buildings west of the main structure.
    Mitchell also thanked the rural fire board for its ongoing support.
    He reminded the group the city owns one and a half of the units, with the rest purchased by the rural fire district board.
    The IVFD has been looking into a different facility or enlarging its former location since the mid-1980s, the fire chief said.
    In addition to the city contribution, Mitchell said the IVFD used $48,000 from its Helen Fanning fund toward the remodeling costs.
    He added the direct donations received from the public are important, too.
    One recent purchase by the rural fire board was a Ford Excursion, dubbed #61, which is available to the department and auxiliary members, the latter who provide food/water delivery to day-long fire scenes.
    The IVFD responded to 53 calls in 2019, which resulted in 910 hours response time. IVFD members also spent 1,070 hours in training in 2019.
    Kelsey Weiss, a 15-year IVFD member, received the Bob Allen Memorial Firefighter of the Year Award, which is voted on by the department.
    Other awards included:
    Doug Mitchell—Officer-of-the-Year
    Bill Whitlow—Driver-of-the-Year
    Wade Courter—Lineman-of-the-Year
    Fay Hiykel—Francis Nichols Memorial Training Award
    Duane Todd, Wade Courter and Aaron Greene—Francis Nichols Memorial Attendance Award
    Five years of service—Corkey Waide, Wade Courter, Fay Hiykel, Dustin Holmes
    Fifteen years of service—Ken Schilke, Kelsey Weiss, Aaron Greene
    Thirty years of service—Earl Loop, Duane Todd
    Top responders—Wade Courter (made 42 of 53 calls), Rick Elliott, Doug Wright, Bill Whitlow, Kelsey Weiss, Duane Todd, Brian Schippert, Doug Mitchell, Brad Wheeler, Nick Schultz, Aaron Greene