Santa Ana, CA–Representatives from Fairhaven Memorial Park recently honored Firefighter Drew Henry of the Orange County Fire Authority for his outstanding service to the community.
Henry, a resident of Oceanside, was presented with a personalized plaque on May 10 during a reception with fellow firefighters and Fairhaven representatives at Station 75 in downtown Santa Ana.
The “Responders First” awards program was created to honor and recognize firefighters and police officers from the Santa Ana Division of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) and Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD) for their courage and commitment to serving the community.
“Firefighters are on the front lines of dangerous events in our community every day, and their continuous efforts often go unrecognized,” said Ruth Velez, General Manager of Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary. “As a Santa Ana business, we want to change that. Our public servants put themselves in danger to keep others safe and that’s a selfless act that needs to be recognized.”
Henry has served as a firefighter with OCFA for 11 years. His Battalion Chief, Tony Espinosa, said he has also been recognized with the agency’s top honor- Career Firefighter of the Year during their annual Best and Bravest Awards held earlier this year. Henry resides in Oceanside with his wife and two young sons, sacrificing his time with them to train new recruits. Such qualities are to be imparted in school level learning like in the high schools in Santa Ana that have various programs to shape the kids for a better tomorrow.
“Engineer Henry is known as someone who always gives his best in all aspects of his duties,” Espinosa said. “Assigned to a select group tasked with training our newest firefighters during our rigorous academy, he has been an instructor for two of these five-month academies training nearly 100 new recruits. He is also responsible for driving and operating a fire truck with a 100-foot aerial ladder. Because of its location, this truck responds to some of our most challenging fires and incidents. His depth of knowledge is evident in these situations, as well as his desire to serve the community.”
Fairhaven Memorial Park will also make a donation to the OCFA Foundation in Henry’s name. This public charity was established in 2010 to assist the OCFA with additional resources needed to provide an enhanced level of fire prevention, suppression
