VBFD honored for second year in a row

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The Virginia Beach Fire Department received the Governor’s Fire Service Award for “Outstanding Fire Response.”

A special ceremony was held in Virginia Beach Saturday to kick off the Virginia Fire Chiefs Association Expo and Symposium. The award recognizes the department’s response to last April’s Navy jet crash at the Mayfair Mews apartment complex.

Some in Virginia Beach call that day the “Good Friday Miracle” because no one perished or was seriously injured, including the crew in the jet.

“When the plane fell out of the sky, we reacted and refocused and went straight to our mission,” Deputy Fire Chief William R. Journigan said. “We train in that regard, we prepare ourselves for delivering the service when called upon and that’s exactly what we did.”

This is the second year in a row the department has been honored with the award. In 2012, the department was recognized for rescuing a 12-year-old girl impaled on a boat propeller in the Chesapeake Bay.