Naperville residents honor emergency crews

Public service work combined with an array of compliments from residents propelled Naperville firefighter/paramedic Chuck Gros to be named Friday the winner of the 2007 Citizens Appreciate Public Safety George Winckler Award.

The award is named after a former fire lieutenant who emphasized community involvement outside of work hours, said Jerry Feldott, chairman of the CAPS board.

"In Chuck's case, he spends an enormous amount of time doing things outside the department that have an impact on citizens and residents," Feldott said.

Gros was among five firefighter/paramedics to receive awards from the local organization at the appreciation dinner. He was later announced as the Winckler winner, the group's highest honor.

Gros is a Boy Scout leader, helped with a firefighter-related benefit in St. Charles and serves on the department's technical rescue team. He also was part of the crew from Naperville who went to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina to help there.

George Hyland Jr., Robert E. Jones, Bill Kostelny and Amy Scheller also were CAPS award winners.

The winners are nominated by the public and chosen by the board. The nominations often stem from thank-you letters the department receives from the public.

Feldott said he is constantly amazed how many firefighters within the department are praised by those they come in contact with.

"Do I think we're ever going to run out of nominees? No," he said. "What you see sometimes is the same people come up because they consistently do good work, but there's so many of them it's easy not to have repeat winners."

The city's fire and police board of commissioners also named Bureau Chief Larry Deguisne its Firefighter of the Year at the banquet.

Fire Chief John Wu said Deguisne was a great selection because of his skill as a leader.

"People just like working with him," Wu said. "I think he has the personality that can do a couple things simultaneously. He can be a good boss, but he's very compassionate about his role as a coach and teacher within the department as well."