
DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9710310291

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   81 lines

CITY EMERGENCY SERVICES PERSONNEL RECOGNIZED THURSDAY

Modern heroics were celebrated at the Portsmouth Department of Fire Rescue and Emergency Services annual awards ceremony Thursday at the City Council chambers.

The work of firefighter Jeanette Hentze, a training specialist awarded a Meritorious Service Medal, was far from burning buildings, but the city hopes it will save young lives.

Hentze worked for two years to obtain a Kids' Mobile Safety House for the department. The rolling trailer simulates a house fire, and is used to teach children to stay alive in the event of a fire.

It wasn't easy. There was no money for the $32,000 unit when she approached the department about purchasing one in 1994. She solicited private donations and money eventually came in.

When it came time to order, Hentze suggested modifications which allow for handicapped children to use the simulator.

``If she hadn't started this and stayed with it for two years,'' said Capt. James W. Alexander Jr., ``it probably wouldn't have happened.''

An article she wrote on her efforts toward bringing the safety house here urged the use of alternative funding sources to buy education equipment when budget crunches hit.

``I would rather actively participate in preventing a child's injury or death than react to a 911 call,'' Hentze reasoned.

Retired battalion chief William E. Kube, who has served as the department's chaplain and has been an instrumental figure in the department's involvement with the Red Cross, earned the other Meritorious Service Medal this year.

Retired Battalion Chief James D. Creecy earned the Citizen Service Medal. Creecy, an expert diver, recovered the body of a 13-year-old boy who drowned near his Scotts Creek home.

Capt. Joe Grandison earned the Silver Medal of Valor for rescuing a man from a house fire in March.

Emergency Medical Specialist Laura L. Walker was named Paramedic of the Year for developing a program to re-certify the city's rescue personnel.

Battalion Chief James E. Hoffler was named Fireman of the Year for his work with the fire prevention bureau and as a liaison between ambulance services and the fire department.