Youngstown Rotary Club honors city firefighter and police officer

By LEE MURRAY

TheNewsOutlet.org

YOUNGSTOWN

The Rotary Club of Youngstown honored a city firefighter and police officer as two men who personify the club’s ideals of courage and community service.

The club had its annual Safety Awards luncheon Wednesday at the Youngstown Club on Commerce Street. Awards are given to local safety-service personnel who have shown courage or have contributed to the community.

“We, as a club, recognize the safety-service people every year here in Youngstown for heroics and for good deeds done,” said Ronald Cornell Faniro, president-elect of the club.

“It’s a gesture from our club, which is a service-oriented club, to the people who provide us with the most-important service that we can expect in a community.”

This year’s awards went to fire Capt. Alvin Ware of the city’s fire department and to Officer Mike Walker of the police department.

Fire Chief John O’Neill presented the award to Ware.

Ware heads the department’s arson-investigation unit. O’Neill cited Ware’s consistently high rates of arrests and convictions as one of the reasons he decided to put him forward for the award.

In addition to his full-time work investigating fires, said O’Neill, Ware also runs Young Fire Setters, a counseling program for young people who are either curious about fire or afraid of it.

Ware started the Youngstown program and now runs it single-handedly.

“I get referrals from schools and from juvenile court and from concerned parents,” Ware said, adding counseling sessions can be in groups or one-on-one.

Parents who catch their children playing with matches or lighters, or who have an incident at home, will contact the fire department and seek help from the program, Ware said.

Walker could not attend the luncheon, but police Chief Rod Foley spoke on his behalf.

“He was involved in a shoot out at the Galaxy Seafood Market” on Belmont Avenue, Foley said. Walker was at the seafood takeout business “working off duty up there as security,” Foley added.

A gunman held the 15-year-old cashier at gunpoint and demanded money. Despite the ensuing panic, Walker remained calm and told the assailant to drop the weapon. He did not, and Walker shot the assailant twice. Nobody else was injured, and the gunman died on the scene. Two accomplices were later arrested and charged.

What was remarkable, Foley added, was that Walker’s wife and daughter were in the store, too, yet he remained composed.

“The gunman was right next to his daughter and he was able to set that aside and immediately react to the threat level there,” the chief said.

Walker also was recognized last month for his bravery when he received the police department’s award of valor, Foley said.

The NewsOutlet is a joint media venture by student and professional journalists and is a collaboration of Youngstown State University, WYSU Radio and The Vindicator.