OLCOTT – Olcott firefighters have received citations from local officials for their rescue of seven passengers from a 16-foot motorboat that sank in Lake Ontario last summer.
Two adults and five children were saved July 2 after their boat went down more than a half-mile offshore. The rescuers utilized GPS coordinates provided by a mobile phone used by one of the victims to locate the group, and brought them to safety within minutes.
The four rescuers were Olcott Chief Steven Miller, Assistant Chief Scott Gunby, and firefighters Rhonda Kreiger and Robert Dierolf.
They received citations from Niagara County Legislator John Syracuse and Newfane Councilmen Marcus R. Hall and Gordon H. Fletcher III, who also presented posthumous citations honoring Joseph McKernan and Egbert “Brud” Hamminga, firefighters who would have been recognized for 65 years of service to the Olcott Fire Company. Both died earlier this year.
Two adults and five children were saved July 2 after their boat went down more than a half-mile offshore. The rescuers utilized GPS coordinates provided by a mobile phone used by one of the victims to locate the group, and brought them to safety within minutes.
The four rescuers were Olcott Chief Steven Miller, Assistant Chief Scott Gunby, and firefighters Rhonda Kreiger and Robert Dierolf.
They received citations from Niagara County Legislator John Syracuse and Newfane Councilmen Marcus R. Hall and Gordon H. Fletcher III, who also presented posthumous citations honoring Joseph McKernan and Egbert “Brud” Hamminga, firefighters who would have been recognized for 65 years of service to the Olcott Fire Company. Both died earlier this year.