MPD officer, 3 firefighters honored at city council meeting

The Middlesboro City Council took time at their meeting on Tuesday for the recognition of a Middlesboro Police Officer and three Middlesboro Firefighters for going above and beyond in their efforts to keep the community safe.

Bucky Harris, the president of the Cumberland Gap chapter of the Sons of The American Revolution, presented a law enforcement commendation medal to Officer Preston Saylor and fire safety commendation awards to MFD firefighters Christopher Scott Earls, Adam Hatfield and Jeromy Killion.

“Our whole chapter took the information from these men and what they did for our community and we wanted to present them with our national law enforcement commendation and national fire safety commendation awards,” Harris said.

Officer Preston Saylor was recognized for his investigative work in locating the suspects involved in an ATM theft at First State Bank of the Southeast last year. His efforts laid the groundwork for investigators to make arrests in the case.

“This was a 2-year police officer, not a guy who had been on the department for a long time when this took place,” Harris said.

After getting an alarm, officers went to the scene where they noticed that an ATM had been ripped out of the ground and there was blood everywhere. Saylor went back to the station and got a blood kit. He took blood samples from a truck, the ground and the ATM.

Saylor then went to the Cumberland Gap Tunnel’s main office and had them review all of their cameras to see when the suspect vehicle came through the tunnel. He was was able to use the Park Service computer to access the tunnel’s license plate reading camera, then had dispatch run the license plate and found it was from a rental company. After finding the location of the rental company, Saylor called several hospitals in the area to see if anyone had come in matching the description of the suspects. He found that a person matching that description checked into a hospital with injuries consistent with a video from the incident.

“This was turned over to an investigation unit who made the arrest,” Harris said. “But without this 2-year police officer doing that detective work it could have been weeks,  months, who knows how long before they figured out who did this.”

Harris also recognized the three firefighters for their heroism in responding to a residential fare with entrapment on October 17, 2020. Christopher Scott Earls, Adam Hatfield and Jeromy Killion were able to rescue a 61-year-old woman and a 5-year-old child from the burning structure.

He read an account of what happened at the scene:

Upon arrival crews found fire coming from the B and C corner with heavy smoke on the A side. The father advised the fire department that his son was still inside and that he had broken out a window to try and get to him. Just a few moments later as many other tasks were being performed by other personnel, firefighters Scott Earl and Jeromy Killion exited the structure with a 61-year-old female.

Almost immediately afterword, Adam Hatfield and another firefighter came out with a 5-year-old male. Medical treatment was given to the victims and fire suppression was continued until completed. The efforts of all involved made for a successful rescue and recovery.

“From initial rescue from the structure to care on-scene to the flight to other facilities, by their selfless acts these men brought great credit upon themselves, the Middlesboro Fire Department and the City of Middlesboro,” Harris said. “So we would like, as the Cumberland Gap chapter, to recognize them with our fire safety commendation award.”

Mayor Boone Bowling thanked Harris and the Sons of the American Revolution for recognizing the group of Middlesboro first responders.

The council approved advertising for bids for blacktop for paving and for milling city streets.

Bowling said that Street Department Superintendent Travis Heck will be inspecting all of the city’s streets to determine which ones are most in need of repaving. Anyone is welcome to contact the Street Department to let them know of roads that need to be paved.

Josh Campbell reported to the council that an old gearbox had been put into service on one of the clarifiers at the sewer plant for the last three weeks. A new gear box has been ordered and the contractor is waiting on new parts to be completed so it can be installed. The new gearbox should be installed within four to six weeks.

Council member Lucas Carter mentioned that pickleball was the fastest growing sport in the country and proposed putting  pickleball courts in one of the city parks or at the site of old tennis courts off of 30th Street.

Bowling said he thought that it was a great idea to have pickleball courts somewhere in the city and that there might be enough money in the Parks and Recreation budget for such a project. The Parks & Rec Committee will be looking into the best location for the courts and what the exact cost will be.

Also on Tuesday, the council:

• Approved the Municipal Road Aid Cooperative Program Agreement for fiscal year 2025 and a resolution related to the program.
• Appointed Bo Green to fill a position on the Board of Zoning Adjustment (Variance) with his term ending on July 31, 2028.
• Appointed Felicia Akers Brock to fill a position on the Municipal Housing Board left vacant by Nikki Griffin with her term expiring on November 30, 2026.

The next council work session will be on Tuesday, August 13 with the next regular council meeting on Tuesday, August 20.

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