The Kenai Elks Lodge celebrated the Kenai Fire Department with an appreciation dinner and awarded two members certificates of service and medals of valor on Friday.

After the dinner, which was attended by department staff and their families, Kenai Elks Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett and other members of the lodge read messages thanking the Kenai Fire Department for their efforts and dedication to safety.

Receiving medals were Captain Pete Coots and Fire Marshal Jeremy Hamilton.

Coots, Burkett said, has been at Kenai Fire Department for 17 years, first as a firefighter and then as captain. He was recognized not just for his work at the department but also as a certified instructor for American Red Cross basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as with the Boy Scouts of America and “his local church.”

Hamilton was recognized for 15 years at Kenai Fire Department, similarly first as a firefighter then as a fire marshal. Also beyond the department, Hamilton was recognized for his involvement in local sports.

Hamilton “exemplifies what it means to love, serve and protect your community,” Burkett said.

For more information about the Kenai Elks Lodge, find them on Facebook at “Kenai Elks Lodge #2425.”

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Kenai Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett presents Kenai Fire Department’s Pete Coots with an award at the Kenai Elks Lodge in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)