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<p><strong>From staff reports</strong></p>
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<p>Burton Fire District has promoted Engineer/Paramedic Danielle Van Dam to Lieutenant. She will assume the duties as the District’s medical training officer where she will be responsible for the medical training and certifications for 50 operational personnel.</p>
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<p>Van Dam’s promotion came as a result of the retirement of Assistant Chief Brian Wagner.</p>
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<p>“Our citizens depend on us to provide the best medical services available to us,” Burton Fire Chief Harry Rountree said in a release. “We all strongly feel that Lieutenant Van Dam is the right person to take us into what appears to be a very challenging future, and no doubt she is up to that challenge.”</p>
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<p>In 2020, the Burton Fire District, who provides both basic and advanced emergency medical services, responded to 1,713 medical emergencies and 112 motor vehicle collisions involving injuries.</p>
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<p>Since Van Dam’s hiring at the District in 2018, she has had a dynamic career which also matches her personal achievements.</p>
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<p>Van Dam, a former MMA fighter, is a wife and mother of two young children. In 2020, she completed a 16-month Paramedic program while also promoting up to the rank of Engineer, becoming a CPR instructor, and assuming duties as an Infection Control Officer for the fire district, where she helped lead and protect Burton firefighters during the pandemic.</p>
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<p>In 2020, she was selected by her peers as Burton’s Firefighter of the Year, is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Health Sciences, and is a trainer in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, powerlifting, and bodybuilding.</p>
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