Before the City employees’ quarterly Rewards and Recognition ceremony Wednesday, Mayor John Peyton came downstairs at City Hall to bestow a special certificate. The recipient was Travis Sims, who works in the Military Affairs, Veterans and Disabled Services Division. He and his 10 year-old son were coming home from running errands Jan. 10 when they noticed a neighbor’s garage was on fire. Sims ran into the burning building, escorted the mother outside and reunited her with her three children who had already escaped. Then, with the help of a trash collector, Sims extinguished the fire before it engulfed the entire house. Peyton described Sims as “a hero among us” and said when firefighters arrived, they told the woman if Sims had arrived one minute later the entire structure would have been engulfed in flames.
Photo by Max Marbut