Crime & Safety
Fairfax County Names Career Firefighter of the Year
A 16-year veteran of the department takes the 2011 honor
With an outpouring of affection from his friends and family members, Lieutenant Marc S. Davidson was named 2011’s Career Firefighter of the Year at a special ceremony Wednesday at the Public Safety Center in Fairfax.
Davidson currently works as a Basic Training Compliance Officer at the Fire and Rescue Academy. He’s also worked at Stations 29, 13, and 10 in Tyson’s Corner, Dunn Loring and Bailey’s Crossroads, respectively.
Davidson is a 16-year veteran of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, but also served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He spoke about the similarities between military life and firefighting at the ceremony.
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“It truly is a family and a job that has a lot in common with the military,” he said.
Davidson said being a fire fighter is all about giving back.
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“It is public service, I’ve done 25 years of public service,” he said. “It’s about helping people and there’s a lot of reward in doing that. But don’t think for a second I did this on my own.”
Davidson, and many of his colleagues, took special care to thank Davidson’s wife Denise, daughter Victoria and son Marc Daniel. All three of them were bursting with pride when Davidson accepted his award.
“My dad is definitely out of his element,” said 14 year-old Victoria. “He doesn’t like a lot of attention, but this is definitely the kind of attention he deserves.”
“I’m happy for him, he deserves it,” said 12 year-old Marc Daniel. “He works really hard every day.”
Davidson lives in Howard County, Maryland and his children explained that he gets up at 3 a.m. each day and doesn’t return home until after 8 p.m.
Captain I Chester Waters, Davidson’s immediate supervisor, had this to say about him.
“He’s a naturally gifted instructor and more importantly, he’s a good man,” Waters said. “I nicknamed him ‘Marctopus’ because it seems like he has eight arms, he’s involved with everything.
More than 100 people gathered to honor Davidson Wednesday, including some of his family members from across the country. The Career Firefighter of the Year Award was established in 1985.
