16 people recognized by the Calgary Fire Department for bravery

A stock photo showing the side of a Calgary Fire Department vehicle.

The Calgary Fire Department held an awards ceremony for several people who went "beyond the call."

The event, which took place on Thursday, is meant to celebrate local heroes, both regular citizens and those in emergency services, who were nominated by the fire department and general public to be recognized for their actions.

Calgary fire chief Steve Dongworth awarded to Shayna Labbe, Allan Ball, Eli Falk, Joe Gillis and several others.

In 2019, Labbe saved the life of a woman who collapsed and stopped breathing. Labbe, a paramedic, came to the scene alone and with the aid of the patient’s sister continued her life-saving efforts through CPR, until fire crews arrived.

Labbe and the patient’s sister, who was also a recipient of the award, played big roles in saving the patient’s life.

That same year, Ball and his wife were the second people to arrive in a high speed car crash.

Ball took action, instructing other people on where to go and what to do as he disabled vehicle batteries, poured water on the smouldering vehicles, and created a tourniquet for a woman with an arm injury.

In 2020, Falk and his father were working on a project together when his father received a nasty shock.

Falk, his mother and a friend started CPR and called 911.

While Falk’s father died five days later, he saved two other lives through organ donations.

Also in 2020, Gillis noticed smoke outside his kitchen window.

Rushing outside he saw a large fire growing along the outside of a neighbour’s house.

Gillis made sure help was on the way and then ran to the front of the house, yelling for people to get out. His actions saved the sole person in the house who had no idea what was happening.

“Making our city safer is something we strive to do at the Calgary Fire Department every day,” said Dongworth in a statement.

“It’s our mission to serve the community through excellence in prevention, education, protection and emergency response. However, we can’t execute that mission without assistance from members of our community.”

Full details of the awards and recipients can be found online.