Battalion Chief Charles LePre, who last year celebrated his 50th anniversary with the Fire Department, was honored during last week’s LaSalle-George Washington game at the university’s Gola Center. Also honored during a game timeout were two Philadelphia police officers and a paramedic.
LePre, Officer Ed Davies, Officer Michael Gwynn and Paramedic Lawrence Bloomfield were presented with game balls and named honorary coaches during a brief center-court ceremony attended by police officers and firefighters who had been invited to the game, sponsored by All Risk Property Damage Experts.
The battalion chief, who became a fireman when he was 23, is a Northeast resident and was featured in a Northeast Times feature on Aug. 7. (http://www.bsmphilly.com/2013/aug/7/golden-years2/#.UtRVvdJDu94)
Davies was seriously wounded during a confrontation with a suspect inside a Feltonville grocery store last year. In November 2012 after a routine arrest in Logan, Gwynn suffered cardiac arrest and was assisted by other officers, who attended last Thursday’s game, and recovered. Bloomfield is a 15-year Fire Department veteran and over the years has worked around the country on special task forces to assist in the recovery after natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. ••
