MARCO ISLAND, Fla. — Among the highlights each year at Honeywell’s annual dealer and integrator convention is the oftentimes emotional bestowing of the Life Safety Award, which for more than 20 years has honored first responders and citizens for their acts of life-saving heroism.
The award features a special video presentation narrated by Larry King, who details the heroic backstory for each year’s awardee. Presented here recently during the CONNECT 2018 convention, the Life Safety Award honored members of the Marco Island community for their work in minimizing the impact of Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The award was presented to the Marco Island Police Department, Fire Rescue Department, City of Marco Island staff, and the JW Marriott Marco Island for the work they did to protect the community from harm, both during the storm and in the days and weeks following.
Hurricane Irma blasted Marco Island as a category 3 hurricane, bringing ashore a 3-4 foot storm surge and leaving the island’s residents with no water or electricity. Thankfully, no deaths were reported on the island as a result of the storm.
Accepting the award on behalf of the city were Marco Island Fire Chief Mike Murphy; Police Chief Al Schettino; Jeff Poteet, General Manager of the Water and Sewer Department; and Raul Perez, Chief Building Official. On behalf of the JW Marriott Marco Island, the award was accepted by Laurie Flynn Valant, Director of Event Management and Charlie Albanos, Director of Food and Beverage.
“Hurricane Irma brought a variety of challenges to Marco Island. But by working together, the community was able to create a beautiful island once again,” Larry King said in the video presentation, which you can view below.
