Kids & Family

Hampton Fire Among 'Night of Heroes' Winners

At least one member, if not multiple members, of the Hampton Fire Department will receive special recognition next week as part of the inaugural Chief Michael Maloney Night of Heroes.

Dawn Sawyer, a sergeant in the Greenland Police Department and the secretary of the Chief Michael Maloney Memorial Fund, confirmed Friday that the Hampton Fire Department will in some capacity receive either one of the four Hero in Action or one the two Career Excellence awards handed out on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

The ceremony is designed as a way to recognize exceptional acts in the line of duty as well extraordinary service over a career by a group of individuals that don't receive or seek out praise, much like the late Maloney, a North Hampton resident who was killed in the line of duty while serving as Greenland's police chief.

"They are those people who always have gone above and beyond," Sawyer has previously told Patch. "They're the ones in the community always going the extra mile.

"For me personally, when I reviewed the nominations, it's kind of like that selflessness like Chief Maloney [displayed during the April 2012 drug raid that claimed his life]. He went up on that deck and pulled people out to safety to get them to hospitals."

Maloney was gunned down after a drug dealer opened fire when Maloney and other officers attempted to serve a search warrant at a home on Post Road in Greenland on April 12, 2012. 

Maloney rushed to aid another officer who had been shot, dying while getting that individual to safety.

Sawyer, who worked with Maloney in both the North Hampton and Greenland police departments, has said that the Night of Heroes winners were chosen after fund representatives reached out to police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other public safety personnel throughout Southern New Hampshire and Southern Maine for nominations for individuals who have been heroic in various parts of their duty.

Among the many heroic things that Hampton Fire Department members have done recently is help save the life of local teen Bryce Parker after Parker was severely burned preventing a house fire.

The Greenland Fire Department, Dover Fire Department,
Newburyport Police and Fire Departments, and the Rockingham County Sheriff's
Department will also be among the award recipients during the Night of Heroes, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 at The Community Oven in Hampton. 

"It's not necessarily someone saving a life," said Sawyer. "It's that kind of attitude — that, 'If I die while I'm trying to save somebody, I'm doing my job and I'm happy doing my job. I'm here to save lives and if that's what it takes, that's what I'm going to do.'"

Sawyer has said the Night of Heroes is invite-only because the memorial fund is also using the night to thank key supporters, sponsors and individuals who have helped them raise roughly $145,000 since Maloney's death.

"We want to bring them together and say, 'These are the heroes you're supporting because if one of them gets injured, you're supporting them,'" said Sawyer, who also said one of the recent recipients of the fund's money was the family of Sean Collier, the MIT police officer slain in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Sawyer has said Maloney would probably tell everyone organizing the Night of Heroes in his memory to "knock it off" if he were alive, although Sawyer said Maloney would be one of the first to thank the night's honorees if he could be present on Nov. 13.

"He was always very much recognizing," said Sawyer. "He was always the one to give you a pat on your back and give you a commendation in your file… but he was one who never wanted that. I think it’s important [to do this] to let everyone know what this is all about.

"We want to get out there that we're trying to do good by his name and not let people forget him."


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