Saturday, March 08, 2025
35.0°F

Hoston earns firefighter honors

BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months, 2 weeks AGO
by BILL BULEY
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | March 29, 2024 1:07 AM

COEUR d'ALENE — Josh Hoston earned two top honors during the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department's annual awards banquet Saturday.

The engineer received both the Employee of the Year and the Union Service Award.

Hoston was described as a caring professional who cares deeply for his family, the fire department and the community.

“He only knows friends that he hasn’t met yet,"  said Capt. Jake Beiker. "His smile and laugh light up a room. He is a true brother to fellow firefighters."

A few hundred people attended the annual event at the Hagadone Event Center and there was much to celebrate. The Coeur d'Alene Fire Department responded to a record 10,022 emergency service calls in 2023.

Thomas Greif reflected on his second year as the department's fire chief and said he looks forward to fostering and building a premier fire department.

He laid out plans for completing a strategic plan using input from both the members of the department and partners in the community.

Other awards:

Ironman (individual with the most calls for service): Firefighter-Paramedic Morgan Zajicek

1,000 Club (responded to more than 1, 000 calls for service): Firefighter-Paramedic Morgan Zajicek and Firefighter-Paramedic Trenton Fleury

Award of Commendation: Capt. Matt Tosi, Firefighter-Paramedic Cody Moore, Firefighter-Paramedic Chad Matchell

Unit Citation: Battalion Chief Lee Holbrook, Capt. Joe Lind, Engineer Erik Loney, Firefighter Keith Benz, Firefighter-Paramedic Travis Georgius, Firefighter-Paramedic Lavoryn Nguyen, Capt. Chris Kieres, Engineer Jeff Butcher, Firefighter-Paramedic Mike Bowlin, Firefighter Chad Tortorelli, Firefighter-Paramedic Nick Pozzesi, Engineer Bill Dodd, Firefighter-Paramedic Cory Miles, Capt. Matt Tosi, Engineer Josh Hoston, Capt. Matt Sowa, Engineer Ben Hector, Firefighter Greg Thaxton, Firefighter-Paramedic James LaVille, Firefighter-Paramedic Sean Liebelt, Firefighter Blaine Porter, Engineer Kelan McKeirnan, Capt. Eric Paul, Capt. Tom Hiltenbrand, Engineer Matt Church, Capt. Nate Hyder, Engineer Dave Tysdal, Firefighter Matt Glenn, Firefighter-Paramedic Trenton Fleury, EMSO Steve Jones

MORE FRONT-PAGE-SLIDER STORIES

They do more than fight fires
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 10 months, 3 weeks ago
Coeur d'Alene firefighters honored
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 3 weeks, 2 days ago
Leading by example
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 3 years, 11 months ago

ARTICLES BY BILL BULEY

Kootenai, Shoshone housing prices continue to rise
March 8, 2025 1:07 a.m.

Kootenai, Shoshone housing prices continue to rise

Median price, sales, listings all up

According to the Coeur d'Alene Regional Realtors, the median single-family home price in Kootenai County was $549,620, a 10% increase over one year ago.

The favorite child debate lives on
March 8, 2025 1 a.m.

The favorite child debate lives on

Rumor has it that my mom, the youngest of 10 raised in the Highwood Mountains in Montana, was the favored one of her parents. For sure, a relative told me, the most spoiled one. Got whatever she wanted. I’m sure she deserved it.

I-90, U.S. 95 interchange design gets mixed reviews
March 6, 2025 1:09 a.m.

I-90, U.S. 95 interchange design gets mixed reviews

I-90, U.S. 95 interchange design gets mixed reviews

Schramm was among a steady stream of visitors to the open house at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn to get public feedback on its top design for a Single-Point Urban Interchange at the congested area.