The Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association has sponsored the annual TPFFA Media Awards since 1949. The purpose of these awards is to honour journalists who produce unusual and dramatic coverage of the exceptional work that Toronto Fire Fighters perform on a daily basis. The judges for the competition this year were: • Ken Mallett - A veteran print and television journalist and the former news director of Global TV News. • Norm Betts - A distinguished news photographer with decades of experience and himself the winner of several TPFFA Media Awards • Bill Dampier - A former police reporter for the Toronto Telegram and the winner of a National Newspaper Award as a writer for the Toronto Star. • Judge Emeritus: Bob Johnstone - A retired national reporter for CBC radio and television, and a former police reporter for the Toronto Star.
Here are the winners of the 2012 Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association Media Awards:
GLEN COLE AWARD Glen Cole was a long-time Chief Assignment Editor for City pulse News, who was dedicated to highlighting Toronto’s Emergency Services in the critical roles they played across the city, whether on an emergency scene, assisting the public or working within their community. Glen’s dedication to showing Toronto’s emergency workers’ positive contributions to our city earned him the respect of police officers, fire fighters and EMS workers. Glen Cole passed away in 1990 but his dedication to Toronto’s Emergency Services continues to be recognized. The Glen Cole Award was created by the former Toronto Fire Fighters’ Association prior to the amalgamation of the city of Toronto and is now presented by the TPFFA to an individual or group who, through their work in televised media, continue to shine the spotlight on the many positive contributions of Toronto Fire Fighters in their community every day.
Winner: Mike Holmes Mike Holmes is a professional contractor and the host and creator of Holmes on Homes, Holmes Inspection and Holmes Makes It Right. He has been named the “Second Most Trusted Canadian” by Reader’s Digest and “Third Most Trustworthy Celebrity” by Forbes. Through his company, The Holmes Group, Mike leads an international brand with operations in independent media production, new home building and home inspection, as well as expansion into product development. It is entirely owned by Mike Holmes and is responsible for developing and managing all HOLMES branded entities, including HOLMES Homes, MIKE HOLMES Inspections, HOLMES Work wear, Make It Right Releasing Inc. and The Holmes Foundation. For more information on Mike Holmes please visit makeitright.ca.
BEST PRINT ARTICLE, CIRCULATION OVER 100,000 Winner: Laura Stone, Toronto Star They are the worst words fire fighters can hear at an emergency scene: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, fire fighter down.” That’s what happened when Toronto Fire Captain, Kevin Aucoin, fell through a floor directly into the fire in 2012. Toronto Star writer Laura Stone did a tremendous job of capturing the tense moments of that terrifying day at a warehouse fire in downtown Toronto and the teamwork that went into saving Captain Aucoin in the horrifying minutes following his Mayday call. Laura gave us a great glimpse into the inner workings of fire teams in the scariest moments of their jobs. 38
S U M M E R 2 0 1 3 | F I R E WAT CH 38