DATE: Tuesday, 11 December 2012 FOR IMMEIDATE RELEASE
Contact: Larry Hess 985/966-4131 [email protected]
Subject: “Fire District No. 1 Recognizes 2012 Firefighters of the Year”
Annually the Knights of Columbus Lodge 2732 recognizes the Firefighter of the Year for St. Tammany Fire District No. 1 and the Slidell Police Department’s Officer of the Year.
During that recent ceremony Fire District No. 1 Fire Captain, Kenny Sanders and Fire Operator, Gary Jones, Jr. were honored as co-recipients of the 2012 Firefighter of the Year for the Slidell are department.
The citations presented to Sanders and Jones by Fire District No. 1 Fire Chief Larry Hess highlighted the uncommon contributions made by Sanders and Jones to Operation: “Scorecard”. This was the name given to the strategic effort that resulted in providing an improved insurance protection rating for residents in Fire District No. 1.
Hess noted that while many members of the fire department were responsible for the protection rating improving from a “4” to a “3”, it was the unselfish leadership, uncommon commitment, and dedication to community that were demonstrated throughout the 20-month project by Sanders and Jones that resulted in improved rating to became effective this past October.
As Chief Hess spoke of “uncommon commitment” he noted that Fire Operator Jones was off due to an injury for an extended period during the “crunch time” of Operation: “Scorecard”. The Fire Chief explained that being absent didn’t slow the progress of the mission, as Fire Operator Jones set up his own system at home to continue getting the job done.
The Chief further commented on the work done by Fire Captain Sanders on his off-duty days and seeing emails posted at 2:00 o’clock in the morning as Captain Sanders was sending out progress summary reports.
Hess stressed that this type of get-the-job-done attitude was the norm for these two leaders throughout the mission.
Prior to the results of Operation: “Scorecard”, Fire District No. 1 had two separate rating territories within the fire district that were evaluated by the Property Protection Association of Louisiana (PIAL). The result of this separation was that the more rural of the two territories, Territory “B”, would have a less favorable insurance protection rating than Territory “A”. The basic difference being that because it was more rural, Territory “B”, did not have the fixed hydrant systems for water availability that were present in Territory “A”.
The primary objective of Operation: “Scorecard” was to erase the disparity in the ratings. Due to the untiring efforts of Capt. Sanders and Fire Operator Jones and the many fire department members who supported them both Territories are rated by the PIAL as a “3”.
Those homeowners in Territory “B” have seen reductions in the homeowner’s annual insurance premiums drop by an average of $400 to $600 per year due to the rating improvement.
