Neligh Fire Department Honors Volunteers For Longevity

Among the firefighters honored Saturday night were Walt Storey 10 years, Tom Boggs 45, Randy Reinke 10 and Mike Wright 10.

First responders were recognized Saturday night for longevity with the Neligh Fire Department and Neligh-Oakdale Jaws of Life.

Tom Boggs received an engraved axe celebrating his 45th year with the fire department. Boggs, 69, will retire from the organization next year at age 70.

Tony Tschirren was honored for 20 years. Those recognized for 10 years were Gerald Knievel, Randy Reinke, Walt Storey and Mike Wright. Scott Kester was honored for five years.

Brian Hain was a dual honoree after spending five years with the Jaws of Life. He also received the Axe Award for having a mishap during the last year.

Looking back at 2018, the Jaws of Life had three rescue calls and zero extracations.

The fire department had 55 district calls and three mutual aid calls. Among the calls were one structure, two vehicle, two gas/hazard, three grass/brush, three rescue assist and one traffic assist. They also had special duty calls.

The department’s average response to 36 emergency calls from the time they were dispatched to leaving the fire hall was 2:38. The arrival average time was 2:18. The average fire call lasted 2 hours, 18 minutes.

Neligh firefighters spent 1,469 hours training and 2,694 total volunteer hours, including 274 classroom hours.

The fireighters also decided to host a pancake benefit on March 10 for the Scott and Caitlin Kester family who recently had premature twins. The twins are expected to be in the hospital for another month. ​