Firefighter's widow among award recipients at tonight's WR district dinner

LOWELLVILLE

Ask Jake Ezzo about his crowning achievements as a firefighter, and you’ll likely get a straightforward, if not modest, response.

“I’m proud to be working as a team with the other guys. It’s a privilege to go out on calls and serve the community,” Ezzo said with a touch of humbleness about his priorities. “I feel [the community] owes me nothing, but that I owe it everything.”

Even if he weren’t owed anything, suffice it to say that Ezzo was richly rewarded for his service to the community during Saturday evening’s Christmas party and awards dinner at Bogey’s Riverside Banquet & Conference Center, 3404 New Castle Ave., just off state Route 289.

Ezzo was among the Western Reserve Joint Fire Department firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics who took home awards for having saved several lives this year. Many also received awards for their personal accomplishments, as well as their length of service and number of responses during the year.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.