EAST PROVIDENCE — Members of the East Providence Fire Department as well as their counterparts from the police department were presented with an outstanding commitment to Community Service Award by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company at the city council meeting held Tuesday night, Jan. 17.

The EPFD was recognized for its involvement in a “crash car demonstration” given to East Providence High School students and sponsored by Liberty Mutual during prom season in the spring of 2016.

Liberty Mutual representative Jen Bergeron gave the award to EPFD Chief Oscar Elmasian along with Battalion Chiefs David Rave and Michael Carey.

She also acknowledged the efforts of EPHS principal Shani Wallace and Sara Duarte, a member of the school's Health Education Department, for helping coordinate the event.

Ms. Bergeron termed the EPFD crash demonstration performance “wonderful,” adding effusively, “it was an orchestrated dance of skilled professionals.” Fire personnel offered students a simulated response to the potential calamity created by an automobile emergency. “It truly impacted the prom event” by reenacting “a real life accident scene," she continued.

Said Chief Elmasian of his personnel who participated, “At times we take criticism for what we do, but I have to give these men and women great credit. They are the ones who respond no matter the time of day or the circumstances.”

— Photos by Mackenzie Corey