Local Hero Honored with Branford's First Citizen's Citation Award

On March 24, 2011, off Killams Point. Bob Reinwald, the caretaker of Killams Point Conference Center, called in the incident to 911, then risked capsize himself by taking his canoe out to help the victims. When Branford's Marine Unit 5 arrived on the scene, one victim was in Reinwald's canoe and the other had grabbed onto the side. , and Reinwald was honored by the Fire Department on June 23 for his service beyond the call of duty.

Fire Department Deputy Chief John Masci retold the story of the rescue as he introduced Reinwald. He noted that the award given to Reinwald was the first of its kind. "In my 34 years in the Fire Department, I can't ever remember the Fire Department honoring a civilian for going above and beyond," said Masci, who also credited communications officer Andy Ballard and Donald Henessey of Marine Company 5 as vital to the rescue operation.

Masci explained that when the Fire Department gets emergency calls about events on the water, there are usually several calls about each event. In the case of the two men Reinwald rescued, the only call the Fire Department received was Reinwald's. "Had he not seen them, had he not called," said Masci, "we probably would have been doing a recovery, because nobody else had seen these guys in the water." 

Branford First Selectman Anthony "Unk" DaRos, in his presentation of the award, noted the difficulty that rescue boats often have finding people in the water when calls have come in from land. Given the temperatures that day, every minute was critical. He stated that Reinwald could have called 911, and that would have been doing his duty as a civilian. "But he went above and beyond," said DaRos, "and I'll tell you this: I doubt those fire boats would have found those people in time.... I would say, without any reservation, that this man saved those two people's lives."

Reinwald remained humble at the reception of the award. He thanked the Fire Department and his daughter, Amber, for being there during the rescue. At the insistence of friends and community members at the ceremony, he posed for a number of photos. But after the ceremony, Reinwald was eager to change the subject back to other projects, including the Take a Veteran Fishing Program. Reinwald serves on the board of the community service project, which had an event earlier this week, and it's clear that this quieter form of serving others is a far more comfortable form of heroism for this local hero.