George Stahl/Special to the Sun

The Exchange Club of Kern Valley hosted the 5th annual Firefighter of the Year Award Dinner on Jan. 31 at Paradise Cove. More than 150 people attended the event honoring four firefighters from three different agencies in the valley.

After dinner, Fred Roach, a retired U.S. Forest Service Division Chief, called up 1st District Supervisor Jon McQuiston for what turned out to be a surprise.

Firefighter of the Year recipients front row Jimmie Rocha, left, and Shannon Solis. Back row, left to right, Travis Bowling, Exchangites Faith Morrison and Fred Roach, and accepting for Charles Sutton was Brandon Osthimer.

McQuiston was asked to remove his sport coat. After a comedy of errors and roars of delight from the audience, McQuiston stood before the group decked out in a flight suit, helmet, rope, and harness. The uniform proved a little challenging for McQuiston to navigate his way into, but when he was finished, he represented a rescuer ready to repel from a helicopter to save a life, almost convincingly, too.

The first honoree of the evening was the Superintendent of the Rio Bravo Hot Shots, Jimmie Rocha of the Kern County Fire Department. “The Rio Bravo Hot Shots were the first crew formed by local government. They are the Seals, the Green Berets of the firefighters. They go out on the front lines and do the job,” said Heidi Dinkler, Deputy Chief of Kern County Fire Department and BLM/USFS liaison. “And for 12 years, Jimmie has been leading them with a quiet competence and extreme capabilities,” Dinkler said, calling Rocha up for his award that was presented to him by Faith Morrison. “This award isn’t for me. It’s for my men,” Rocha said as the audience applauded.

District Ranger, Rick Larson of the U.S. Forest Service, introduced the second honoree, Shannon Solis, of the U.S. Forest Service. “Shannon is the epitome of a fire prevention tech,” Larson lauded. Solis began her career with the U.S.F.S. in 1992 and is now the Manager of the Lower Kern Canyon Station. Solis came up for her award and thank everyone, but “Especially my bosses, past and present.”

U.S. Bureau of Land Management Field Officer, Tim Smith introduced the last two honorees, Travis Bowling with the Kern Valley Hot Shots was first. “We learn to work together, sweat together and saves lives together, and without the constant scrutiny and coordination of Travis on the Golden Trout Wilderness fire, the controlled burn would not have been as successful as it was,” Smith said. When Bowling, who has a long line of firefighters in his family, came up to accept his award he said very few words, but two of them were, “Thank you!”

The final award was for Charles Sutton, who is currently at a U.S. Army base in New Jersey. “He is being deployed for his second tour in Afghanistan right now. We wish him only the best and for a safe return,” Smith said. Accepting the award for Sutton were four of his colleagues and members of his engine. Kyle Olson, Brandon Osthimer, Akadius Ashby, and Austin Berrigan.

Berrigan read a heartfelt letter Sutton wrote for the event. In it, he thanked everyone for the honor and said, that he would trust his life with the four men and that he would take them into battle any day.

Each recipient was given an award of appreciation from Benjamin Stark, Senator Jean Fuller’s representative and from Javier Reyes, representing both Senator Shannon Grove and Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Then Supervisor McQuiston came back up, sans the flight suit and gear, and presented the honorees and Sutton’s stand-ins with a Board of Supervisors Award.

The evening concluded with rousing applause from the audience and a special thanks to the Exchange Club and Paradise Cove.