Congratulations to Arvin Hart Fire Department (AHFD) Deputy Chief Bob Wood for being recognized as the Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association 2017 Firefighter of the Year.

Deputy Chief Wood was recently honored during the HVVFA’s convention in Queensbury. He was nominated for this award by Stillwater Fire Chief Jeff Mahar. Here is Chief Mahar’s nomination letter:

As Chief of the Newland-Wood Fire Company of the Stillwater Fire Department, I respectfully nominate Mr. Robert Wood, Deputy Chief of the Arvin Hart Fire Company, as a candidate for the highly regarded Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association “Firefighter of the Year” award.

On Monday, November 21, 2016 at 02:40 a.m., the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department Communications Center dispatched the Newland-Wood Fire Company to a working structure fire with entrapment at 33 Clinton Court in the Village of Stillwater. Hearing the alarm, Deputy Chief Wood, who resides in the neighborhood, immediately responded to the scene. Upon his arrival, the building owner informed him that the sole occupant of an upstairs dwelling refused to leave the structure.

As he ascended the stairwell, Deputy Chief Wood encountered heavy smoke and fire quickly consuming the apartment. The tenant, a 63-year-old male, in a combative state, rejected Deputy Chief Wood’s attempt to evacuate him, forcing Deputy Chief Wood to subdue him prior to carrying him down the stairs. Once outside, Deputy Chief Wood informed the Communications Center by radio that the occupant was no longer in the building.

As Chief of the responding department, I established command at 02:46 am and immediately requested neighboring mutual aid departments, including Deputy Chief Wood’s fire company, to the scene due to the large volume of fire showing from the A/B side of the structure. I then proceeded to help Deputy Chief Wood and the building owner carry the disoriented and burnt tenant to a nearby vehicle as we awaited the first due ambulance crew.

Unfortunately, the tenant succumbed to his injuries several days later at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.

For more than three decades, Deputy Chief Wood has unselfishly rushed to help his neighbors as a firefighter and chief officer with the Arvin Hart Fire Company and his heroic actions on the morning of November 21, 2016 exemplifies his commitment to his community and the well-being of its citizens.