The Danbury Exchange Club will honor its Firefighter of the Year Thursday. This year's recipient of the Exchange Club Firefighter of the Year is Captain Joe Halas. He joined the Danbury Fire Department in 1999 after serving in the Greenwich and Stratford Fire Departments.
Halas has a bachelor's degree in Justice and Law Administration from West Conn. He holds a number of Fire Service Certifications and is working on a degree in Fire Science. Halas has earned several unit citations and awards of merit for rescues and life savings actions.
The Fire Department says Captain Halas has led efforts to refinish areas of Fire Headquarters. He has also shown tremendous initiative in completing a department-wide turnout gear study and replacement program. He is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee on research and development for firefighter turnout gear for one of the leading manufacturers.
His father, Danbury Firefighter Joseph Halas was killed in the line of duty in 1982.
Joe Halas is a youth baseball coach, a member of the Mohawk Mountain Ski Patrol, organizes the Union's children's Christmas party and the annual children's fishing derbies. He will be recognized by the Exchange Club Thursday at 6:30pm at Anthony's Lake Club.
