The crew of Olive Branch Fire Department Truck 2 B Shift was presented the August Mayor’s Award for their response to a July 4 storm, the City of Olive Branch said. Mayor Adams and the Board of Aldermen honored Lieutenant John Maggipinto, Firefighter Coleman Dowell, Firefighter Anthony McGregor and Firefighter Jackson Nemcek, the city said.
The city said the Mayor’s Award is chosen monthly by Mayor Adams and the Board of Aldermen from employees nominated by fellow city staff for acts such as exceptional work, bravery or going above and beyond the call of duty.
Division Chief Eric Cohea nominated the Truck 2 crew, saying in a memorandum that the members played a key role in rescuing citizens and operating under hazardous conditions during the storm, which caused widespread damage including at a city park, the nomination said.
Cohea’s nomination said the crew also responded to a communications failure at the Olive Branch Emergency Communications dispatch center. Using the ladder truck, they accessed an antenna about 75 feet above the ground and reset equipment, actions the nomination credited with restoring the city’s communications system to full operation and reducing the impact of the outage.
The city release said Truck 2 returned to service after the repair and continued responding to emergency calls. Chief Clark, Deputy Chief Hogan and the fire command staff congratulated the four firefighters for receiving the award, the release said.
