By FireRescue1 Staff
INDIANAPOLIS — Deputy District Chief (ret.) Steve Chikerotis of the Chicago Fire Department was honored as the 2024 Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award during FDIC’s Opening Ceremony on Thursday.
Before presenting the award, Fire Engineering Editor-in-Chief David Rhodes explained that former FDIC Education Director Bobby Halton had informed Chief Chikerotis about his selection for the award last year. However, just months later, Halton passed away and the decision was made to present the 2023 award posthumously to Halton — a decision fully supported by Chief Chikerotis.
Now, one year later, upon receiving the award, Chief Chikerotis noted how humbling it is to be honored with an award previously awarded to some of “the greatest fire service educators of my lifetime.” He added that he felt Halton and the award’s namesake, Brennan, with him.
During his 44-year fire service career, Chikerotis served as a chief officer for 19 years and a fire officer for 28 years. His primary home was the Chicago Fire Department where he worked for 36 years, overseeing operations of seven battalions and 30 firehouses in the city’s busiest fire companies, battalions and districts.
Chikerotis has been a fire service instructor for more than 35 years, including four years as director of training for the CFD. He’s been a staff instructor at the Chicago Fire Academy, Illinois Fire Service Institute, Harold Washington College, and RICO Fire Rescue. He has delivered classes and keynote addresses at conferences throughout the nation.
