Palm Coast – Palm Coast Fire Driver Engineer Jeffrey Nunziato been awarded the 2021 Fire Service Medal & Certificate by the Flagler Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution for his coordination and leadership of the Driver Engineer Field Training program for the Palm Coast Fire Department.

SAR President Charles Hayes and Awards Chairmen David Kelsey and Randall Morris presented the award to Nunziato, a career Palm Coast Firefighter since 2006. Nunziato’s wife, children and several colleagues, including Fire Chief Jerry Forte and Captain James Neuenfeldt, attended the awards presentation at Fire Station 24.

Kelsey said the Sons of the American Revolution were pleased that this year’s award recipient is a leader for training. “We realize that fire safety and service as a firefighter has become a very skilled profession – it’s very technical, and it requires a lot of training,” Kelsey said. “You need to have a plan.”

“It’s always a privilege for our Chapter to recognize a distinguished firefighter from the City of Palm Coast,” added SAR President Hayes.

Nunziato expressed his appreciation for this recognition. “I am deeply honored to be considered for this recognition,” Nunziato said. “It’s truly an honor every day to educate our future Driver Engineers and be a part of a great organization”.

The Sons of the American Revolution conducts its awards program annually. The organization is a historical, educational, and patriotic non-profit organization. The Flagler Chapter was organized in 1984 and the members are descendants of those early Americans who served in the Revolutionary War and established the United States. Its main goals are to maintain and preserve the institutions of American freedom, to promote patriotism and to provide recognition for outstanding public service.

Forte said the City of Palm Coast is fortunate to have Nunziato with his experience. He describes Nunziato as a role model to many of the Driver Engineers, by providing them strong mentorship in developing the future drivers of the department.  “Driver Engineer Nunziato has made significant contributions to developing our Driver Engineer Field Training Program,” Forte said.  “As someone who is consistently steady in all that he does, he has been an instrumental part in developing future generations of Driver Engineers.”

Nunziato joined the Palm Coast Fire Department in 1992 as a volunteer firefighter.  He completed his Fire Training for Firefighting and EMT at Daytona State College.  He transitioned to being a career firefighter in Palm Coast in 2006. He was promoted to Driver Engineer in 2017; most recently he successfully passed the Lieutenant promotional assessment.  He is scheduled to be formally promoted to Lieutenant in January 2022. He and his wife Julie have three children.

You can obtain more photos from the Palm Coast Fire Department Facebook Page. For more updates, follow @PalmCoastFire Twitter.

NEWS RELEASE – City of Palm Coast

Written by: Patrick J. Juliano, Fire Public Information Officer

PHOTO: Flagler Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution President Charles Hayes presents the 2021 Fire Service Medal & Certificate to Palm Coast Fire Driver Engineer Jeffrey Nunziato. Included in the photo is Captain James Neuenfeldt and Fire Chief Jerry Forte