8th Annual Rochester Area NFFF Golf Tournament a Great Success

By Randy Jensen,
NFFF NYS Golf Tournament Coordinator

On Sunday and Monday, June 8-9, 2014, the Ridge Road Fire District hosted the 8th Annual National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Golf Tournament at the Deerfield Country Club, in Brockport, N.Y.

Ridge Road Fire District Fire Chief Harold Phillips, also a NYSAFC director and the executive chairman of the Rochester Area NFFF Golf Tournament, is proud to announce that 308 golfers participated in this year’s tournament that raised over $28,000 for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, making it one of the largest of the 30 tournaments held in the United States each year.

"All proceeds from the tournament will go directly to help and support survivors of fallen firefighters, along with immediate assistance to fire departments after the loss of a firefighter. The foundation launched the golf tournament as a way of paying tribute to firefighters who die in the line of duty and to raise funds to continue the foundation’s outreach programs," said Phillips.

This year’s tournament was dedicated to two fallen heroes. The first was Waterloo Fire Department Fire Police Captain Bernard Pete Scannell, who suffered a heart attack and went off the road while driving a rescue truck to a reported vehicle fire on September 21, 2000. Despite the valiant efforts of other firefighters at the scene, Scannell succumbed to this debilitating attack at the hospital. Scannell’s grandson is Chief Jason Elliotto of the Chili Fire Department in Monroe County.

The second fallen hero remembered was Captain Matthew Porcari of Owego Fire Department Co. #3. On January 22, 2013, while advancing on the fire during an interior fire attack in Newark Valley, N.Y., the floor collapsed beneath Porcari and a second firefighter. The other firefighter was able to free himself. Despite the crew’s best efforts, Porcari succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival at the hospital. Porcari’s widow, Christina, was escorted by West Webster Chief James Deisenroth during the ceremony. She is very appreciative of the foundation and all it does for the survivors of our fallen heroes.

A total of 11 survivor families were in attendance during the two-day tournament.