City officials, current and former firefighters, and EMS and police personnel from the City of Bethlehem gathered at West Broad Street’s Memorial Station Oct. 15 to remember fallen colleagues and issue commendations at the annual Bethlehem Fire Department memorial service.

Fire chief Robert Novatnack said there were a total of 287 fires over the last year with 87 structure fires and 13 multiple alarms, and with only 19 total injuries called it one of Bethlehem’s “safest years.” Bethlehem’s EMS, a division within the fire department responded to over 11,000 calls in the same period according to Novatnack.

Noting a national theme of “a smoke detector....is a must,” Novatnack said that the Bethlehem Fire Department installed 380 smoke detectors in Bethlehem residences the last year. “You have a 60 percent better chance of surviving with working smoke detectors,” said Novatnack.

Fallen public safety personnel, paramedic William Guth and firefighters Henry Kulp, William Reinhard and Robert Zweifel were remembered for their combined over 120 years of service to the residents of Bethlehem.

Commendations were issued to ‘D’ shift 4th platoon for their responses to structure fires in February and September 2015; certified arson investigator, officer Christopher Beebe for his work in leading to the arrest and conviction of a serial arsonist; and to officer Kelly Martin, paramedics Greg Oaten and Doug Deutsch, fire Lieutenant Matt Griffin, and firefighters David Saltzer and Travis Simpson for their roles in saving a cardiac arrest victim in July 2015.