At the 119th annual Dauphin Fire Fighters’ Ball on Saturday night, the Dauphin Fire Department gave out the Jack Carey Memorial Fire Fighter of the Year Award.
The winner of the 2019 edition was Gilbert Plains’ Mitchell Kanton.
Kanton has been with the DFD for a year and a half, and in that time he has completed both his Level 1 and Level 2 training.
Kanton has attended 125 of the DFD’s 160 incidents so far this year, equalling an attendance rate of 78%.
Mitchell also volunteers at a lot of the Department’s extra-curricular events, like taking part in fire protection and Countryfest.
On September 10, Kanton responded to an accident on Highway 5 while he was on his way to work. He called 911 when no one else could due to poor cell reception, but Kanton had a cell booster in his truck. He assisted with providing first aid to the occupants of the vehicle while awaiting other emergency services.
Kanton works in Dauphin and is a member of the DFD, but since he lives in Gilbert Plains, he also serves on their Fire Department.
Kanton was overwhelmed when he found out he won the award.
“It’s a very prestigious award, you got to put a lot of hard work in to get noticed for the award because the award is voted on by your peers,” said Kanton. “It kind of sets you back a bit, and it’s a huge amount of gratitude to my fellow firefighters.”
Kanton attributes a lot of his success this year to his colleagues in the Department.
Dauphin Fire Chief Cam Abrey says that by new firefighters like Mitchell winning this award; it shows the DFD is in good hands
“I look at all those up and coming through the Department that are taking their training now, our new recruits. It’s great to see people that are still taking an interest in this,” said Abrey. “We know that there is a strong future ahead of us.”
