The Turlock Fire Department and Local #2434 named Capt. Frank Saldivar as “Firefighter of the Year” awarded Tony Nascimento with the “Customer Service Award” during the Fire Department’s Annual All Personnel Breakfast last week.
Both courageous men were honored by the awards. For Saldivar, a 22-year member of the TFD, this is his second time earning Firefighter of the Year honors. He also earned the award in the late 1990s.
“I’m really honored to be given this. It means a lot coming from my peers,” he said.
Nascimento, who has served with TFD for two-and-a-half years, says he was shocked to learn of his award.
“I look up to the other firefighters, and I’ve learned from the culture in the department that we go above and beyond throughout the year and we treat people like they are someone in our own family,” he said.
He explained that firefighters will often show compassion by doing small acts of kindness like giving small children stuffed animals – even if they are only witnesses to an incident and aren’t directly involved in a fire or emergency incident.
