Each year since 1989 the Colorado Springs Fire Department has recognized the achievements of firefighters and other department staff. Since 1994, award recipients have been honored during the department's annual awards and recognition banquet.

The department also hosts a quarterly awards breakfast to recognize firefighters, civilian staff and local residents for their contributions to the department and to the community. 

Fire Foundation of Colorado Springs is proud to support these awards and recognition programs by securing sponsors for both the annual banquet and the quarterly breakfasts. The Foundation's goal is to secure $75,000 in sponsorships for the annual banquet and to identify $2,000 sponsors for the breakfasts, which take place three times a year.

Organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring either event should contact Niki Cicak, Fire Foundation of Colorado Springs coordinator, at tncicak@gmail.com.

2019 Colorado Springs Fire Department Annual Award Recipients

  • Jayme McConnellogue -- Career Achievement Award
  • Steven Nester — Firefighter of the Year
  • Lilyan Lucherini — Civilian of the Year
  • Jesse Weddle — Local #5 Firefighter of the Year
  • Derek Wheeler, Sunny Smaldino, Aja King and Curt Crumb — Medal of Distinguished Service
  • Logistics and Transportation Center: CJ Nauert, Janelle Smith, Steven Nester, Les Toffel, Rich Furrer, Dennis Cross and ​Justin Rael — Unit of the Year
  • Keagan Lacey, Brian Faggiano, Jacob Webb and Robert Short — Medal of Valor
  • Michael Galvin, David Ney, Laurence Buttenwieser, Kent Smith, Mike Smaldino, David Cates, Jared Whiteman, Steve Riker (Retired), TJ Bopp, Edwin Maher, Jonathan Robak, Benjamin Lester, Rick Schmidt, Kyle Cosgrove, Clark Gaddie, John Roy, Ron Shelly, Travis Nicks, Barry Madison, Ricardo Ramos, Gary Antonio and Brian Kurtz — Life Rescue Award
  • Janelle Smith, Stefan Manning, John Giacoma, Dr. Judith Long, Isaac Martinez, Dr. Victoria Allen-Sanchez and Jennifer Chandler — Award of Recognition
  • Harold Miller — Citizen Heroism Award
  • Barry Madison — Chiefs' Award
  • Kris Soppe — Safety Award
  • Daniel Lynch — Medical Director Award

2018 Colorado Springs Fire Department Annual Award Recipients

  • Steve Schopper — Career Achievement Award
  • Grant Tinker — Dr. Lester L. Williams Firefighter of the Year
  • Lindsey Pastore — Christina Randall Civilian of the Year
  • Ty Mather — Local #5 Firefighter of the Year
  • Austin Pugh — Medical Director Award
  • Juliet Keys and Doreen Withee — Medal of Distinguished Service
  • CSFD Honor Guard — Unit of the Year Award
  • Ian Bruzenak — Life Rescue Award
  • Candy Fontecchio and T.J. Bopp — Award of Recognition 
  • Rai Henniger — Donald R. Hekkers Community Service Award
  • Dave Broch — Chiefs Award
  • Ed Breece — Safety Award
  • CSFD Medical Division — Unit of the Quarter Award

2019 1st Quarter Award Recipients

  • Emily LaChant (Grant Elementary School teacher) — Good Neighbor Award
  • Joseph Brovont, Jason Jones, CSPD officers Josh Bliss and Allison Detwiler — Individual Citation
  • Kevin Apuron, Josh Buck, Ty Mather, Fred Salazar, Eric Long, Jason Schireman, Will Sinnot, Trace Reeves and Don Watkins — Unit Citation
  • Don Watkins, Fred Varnell and Kevin Ducy — Award of Merit
  • Tony Malacera — Citizen Lifesaving
  • Jay Dawes, Sarah Mros and Whitney Tramel (UCCS Peer Fitness) — Community Service
  • Amy Sutherland, Tiffany Manaois, Cynthia McKenzie, Jennifer McWilliams, Shawn Schilling and Julie Wrobel (DFM-Support Services) — 1st Quarter Unit

2019 2nd Quarter Award Recipients

  • Josh Webb -- #1 Firefighter Badge
  • Rayanna Mileto, Lilianna Tillman, Samantha Walters — Good Neighbor Award
  • CSPD Commander Mary Rosenoff, CSFD Captain Juliet Draper, CSFD Lt. Mike Evers, City of Colorado Springs Information Technology employees Blayne Blanton and Jesse Warner, and CrossConnect employee Bryan Wyland -- Individual Citations
  • Capt. Mark Olson, Lt. Bill Pellegrino, Lt. Rick McNew, Troy Vujcich, Jason Shireman, Guy Martin, Chris Breeden, Alan Kent, Brian King, Joe Nelson, Dean Welch and Steven Patrick Swanson (SCBA, Air and Oxygen Program) — Unit Citation
  • Capt. Brett Albert, Cory Piper, Trevor Olsen and Scott Hayes (Station 14C) — Unit Citation
  • Tony Malacera, Kayla Myers, Ken Hans, Calvin Goode and Brittany Sanders — Citizen Lifesaving Award
  • Trevor Leland, Stephen Larsen, Lt. Joey Buttenwieser, Lt. Ken Anderson, Carl Guivens and John Hussey — 2nd Quarter Unit

2019 3rd and 4th Quarter Award Recipients

  • Isaiah Morant, Nicholas Warden, Xavier Trujillo and Dominick Mahan — Good Neighbor Award
  • Colorado Springs Police Department Sgt. Paul Vandel and Officer Juergen Parks — Certificate of Appreciation
  • Training Cadre Firefighters Jordan Ruiz, Jesse Weddle and Zachariah Blair and Lieutenants Rachael Staebell and Richard Valdez — Individual Citation
  • Paramedic Chris Kenner — Award of Merit
Regency Apartment Fire Command Team:
  • Battalion Commander Dave Rocco (Incident Commander), Battalion Commander Kevin Bird (Incident Liaison and Accountability), Capt. Brian Vaughn, Division 11; Battalion Chief Jesse Ortiz, Division 10; Fire Marshall Brett Lacey (DFM Liaison & Investigation); Capt. Daniel Lynch (Medical Group Supervisor); Capt. Carrick Patterson (Mutual Aid Coordinator) — Unit Citation
 
  • Battalion Chief Michael Dalton; Lieutenants Kiersten Tarvainen, John Bajza, Donald Vander Linden and Bradley Williams; Driver Engineers Dale Winters, Chad Vester and Jason Riker; Firefighters Ricardo Ramos, Joshua Pearce and Weston Whitmore; Paramedic Donald Thurnherr; Dr. Eric Bronsky; Flight for Life; University of Colorado Health Memorial Hospital Emergency Department staff — Certificates of Appreciation
  • Mike Koscove, Neil Mutz and Dashan Alston (Colorado Industrial Recycling) — Donald R. Hekkers Community Service Award
  • Capt. CJ Nauert, Driver Engineer Steven Nester, Janelle Smith, Les Toffel, Rich Furrer, Dennis Cross and Justin Rael (Logistics and Transportation Center) — 3rd Quarter Unit Award
  • Capt. William Hull, Lieutenants David Barron, Jason Leach, Scott Reiman, Donald Vander Linden, Jason Veit and Aaron McConnellogue; Driver Engineers Nicholas Cruz, Steven Nester, Jason Riker, Jacob Schneider, Jason Wallace, Curt Crumb and Gary Trojanivich; Paramedics Robert Fildes, Brian Kurtz and Christopher Thomas; Firefighters Benjamin Allan, Gary Cronk, John Cummings, Patrick Dituillo, Aaron Gatti, Kevin MacDonald, Ryan Pighetti, Joshua Webb and Keith Williams (Rescue 17) — 4th Quarter Unit Award
The Fire Foundation’s mission is to strengthen the services of the Colorado Springs Fire Department while promoting excellence within the department and improving public safety by providing resources not otherwise available from the city.