A Alnwick/Haldimand Township Fire Fighter was awarded the Fire Fighters Association of Ontario – Medal of Merit for his heroic actions following an incident north of Grafton.
The Ontario Mutual Insurance Association in conjunction with the FFAO partnered to present the award of Merit of Bravery.
Director of the OMIA, Dave Rutherford presented the award at the Centreton Firehall on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Dickson chalked it up to being in the “right place at the right time,” that he saved the life of a man and his dog on January 6, 2020.
Rutherford read the certificate to the group of firefighters at the station before the presentation.
“Shortly before midnight, 37-year-old Firefighter Dickson and his wife Michelle, were travelling County Road 23 or Lyle Street north of Grafton Ontario, and had just passed Academy Hill Road, when they spotted a vehicle in the ditch.
Firefighter Dickison went to see if the driver needed assistance and immediately noted that the accelerator of the car in the ditch was at full throttle. In his words, “You could hear the stones flying off our car.”
Approaching the vehicle Firefighter Dickson saw an unresponsive male in the driver’s seat. The doors were locked, but the window was open enough to allow him to reach in and unlock the door.
He had just entered the vehicle but had not begun to extract the driver when the vehicle caught fire. Running back to his won car, he instructed Michelle to call 911 and returned to extract the driver. Back at the victim’s car, he had just managed to get the driver up right and unbuckled when the whole car caught fire.
Firefighter Dickson realized the situation required even faster action as he struggled with the driver’s 180 pounds of dead weight. The cold air helped bring the driver partially around and at that point the driver indicated that there was also a dog in the car.
Entering the car yet one more time, Firefighter Dickson rescued a small Husky dog from the back. At this point the car fire was “fully involved.”
Given the time of night and how few vehicles were on that road there is no doubt that Firefighter Matt Dickson saved the driver and dog from death or critical injury. It should also be noted that Firefighter Dickison had only been an Alnwick/Haldimand Township firefighter for just over a year.
It’s with pride that we acknowledge the recipient of the Firefighters Association of Ontario Medal of Merit – Matt Dickison.
The mission of the FFAO is to provide representation, resources, and education to firefighters across the whole diverse province of Ontario. The membership includes both volunteer and career firefighters.
The Medal of Merit was created in partnership with OMIA in 1983 and may be awarded to any firefighter in the province of Ontario for meritorious service above and beyond the call of duty. The first recipient was Firefighter Gary Mugford of Toronto in 1984.
Over the years OMIA and the FFAO have been proud to honor members of the fire services who have performed heroically in saving and protecting the lives of others.
FFAO and OMIA have been unable to recognize winners as our events were derailed by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
