A former public-education officer with the Hagerstown Fire Department was recognized in April for his lifetime efforts in fire prevention and community risk reduction.
Mike Weller, who retired from the city department in 2010 after nearly 30 years, received the Dr. Anne W. Phillips Award for Leadership in Fire Safety at the Congressional Fire Service Institute's annual dinner on April 19 in Washington, D.C.
"I’m very humbled," Weller told Herald-Mail Media in recent telephone interview. "The second thing that makes it so special is you’re nominated by your peers at the national level. I was very grateful to receive that."
Weller got his start in the Washington County fire service as a volunteer in Funkstown in 1974. From there, he was hired by the city in 1981.
"All I ever wanted to do was be a firefighter," he said.