Fairport Harbor Fire Chief Robert Lloyd was honored with an award for his outstanding service in Ohio’s fire department.
Lloyd received the honor on April 24 at an event called the 43rd annual Ohio Fire Service Hall of Fame and Awards Ceremony in Columbus.
The awards program is supported by two departments in Ohio: the State Fire Marshal’s office and the Emergency Medical Services division of the Public Safety Department.
At the event, they also gave out awards like the Fire Service Valor Award, Ohio Fire Officer of the Year, and Ohio Fire Department of the Year.
The Ohio Fire Service Hall of Fame doesn’t have a physical building. Instead, it’s like a special list of people who win awards each year. This list is updated annually and kept for historical reasons.
Lloyd won a 2024 Ohio Fire Service Distinguished Service Award. This award goes to people in Ohio who have shown great leadership and achievements in the fire service. It’s a big honor for Lloyd because his work is well-known and respected by many in Ohio’s fire community.
Captain Braemer from the Fairport Harbor Fire Department chose Lloyd for something special.
“Braemer said that Chief Lloyd has spent 40 years working in the fire department and helping the communities he served.”
Lloyd has been the chief of Fairport Harbor for six years now. Before that, he worked as a battalion chief at the Eastlake Fire Department and as the chief of the Grand River Village Fire Department.
He started working as a part-time firefighter in Painesville Township in 1984.
At the event, they showed videos about each person who won an award. In Lloyd’s video, people found out how he led during a dangerous situation in Fairport Harbor 13 years ago.
On January 24, 2011, there was a big problem with too much pressure in the natural gas pipes. This caused a house to explode and many other buildings caught fire in a community of about 3,100 people.
Lloyd was in charge during the big problem.
“In the video, he said there were 20 house fires happening all at once.”
Lloyd organized fire departments from different areas to come to Fairport Harbor and help put out fires. They also made sure people knew they had to leave the village. Luckily, nobody got hurt, neither civilians nor firefighters.
In the video, Lloyd talked about a program called Handle with Care that he helped start in Fairport Harbor.
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Handle with Care is a program where the Fairport Harbor School District works together with the village Fire and Police departments to help keep everyone safe.
When police or firefighters find a kid at a tough situation, like when someone is really sick or there’s a fight at home, they tell the kid’s school before the next school day.
“Picture this: the next day, the child heads to school and unexpectedly starts acting out, despite their typically well-behaved demeanor. Well, there’s probably a reason behind it.”
Through the Handle with Care initiative, certain staff members at Fairport Harbor schools are informed ahead of time if a child may have been involved in an incident with the local police or firefighters.
“Lloyd pointed out, ‘We send an email to a special inbox saying something like, “Joey had an incident with Fairport police and fire yesterday. Please handle with care.”‘ “
All the child’s teachers will be notified to handle the student with care. However, the affected children and any teachers who don’t directly interact with the child won’t be aware of this advisory.
When teachers get a heads-up about a student needing support, they can do things like go over lessons again or delay tests. If a student is struggling to stay alert or concentrate, teachers could send them to the school nurse’s office for a break.
Lloyd admitted, “Honestly, I hadn’t expected us to lean on Handle with Care as heavily as we ended up doing.” But in just one month, we ended up sending out nine of them to our schools.”
Fairport Harbor Mayor Timothy Manross described Lloyd as “a leader who inspires others.”
The mayor commended him for enabling his team of firefighters and EMTs to realize their maximum capabilities.
Lloyd continued his family’s tradition by becoming a firefighter.
“My dad was a firefighter, so we got used to it,” he explained. “Sometimes, Christmas didn’t happen on the actual day. We celebrated it on Christmas Eve or even at the fire station.”
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