
Tamarac Fire Rescue Fire Inspector Sheila Doblas, Emergency Management Coordinator Van Schoen, and Assistant Fire Marshal Rebecca Geimer. {Tamarac Fire Rescue}
By Kevin Deutsch
Three Tamarac Fire Rescue members were named winners of prestigious awards last week.
The Fire Inspectors Association of Broward County (FIABC) on Nov. 13 named Tamarac Fire Rescue Assistant Fire Marshal Rebecca Geimer the recipient of the 2023 Fire Plans Examiner of the Year Award, according to the fire department. Geimer has served more than 23 years with the department.
Officials said the association also named Tamarac Fire Rescue Fire Inspector Sheila Doblas, the recipient of the FIABC 2023 Beth Martins Fire & Life Safety Educator of the Year Award. Doblas has eight years of service with the fire department.
Separately, the Fire Chiefs Association of Broward County (FCABC) announced on Nov. 13 that Tamarac Fire Rescue Emergency Management Coordinator Van Schoen is the recipient of the inaugural 2023 Emergency Manager of the Year Award, officials said. Schoen has served more than 23 years with the department.
“These individuals are consummate professionals who have worked hard to provide outstanding customer service and go above and beyond their normal day-to-day duties,” the fire department said in a Facebook post.
All three award recipients are members of the department’s Community Risk Reduction Division, which provides fire and life safety code inspections, public education programs, and emergency management for Tamarac.
“They are our unsung heroes,” Tamarac Fire Rescue Division Chief/Fire Marshal Tommy Demopoulos said of the trio. “They truly are the best of the best.”
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Author Profile

- Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning journalist and author of two nonfiction books. He covers general assignment news and Jewish community issues for Talk Media. He has also worked as a staff writer at The Miami Times, the Rio Grande SUN, the New York Daily News, Newsday, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, The Riverdale Press, and Bronx Justice News.
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