Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Presenting the Mahoning County Firefighter of the Year Award to Gio Melia, center, is Vindicator General Manager Ted Snyder, left, with award sponsor SERVPRO’s marketing manager, Jim Standohar of Girard.

CANFIELD — Gio Melia was supported by family as he was honored by The Vindicator on Tuesday as Mahoning County 2021 Firefighter of the Year.

“This is our second annual Firefighter of the Year” presentation, Vindicator General Manager Ted Snyder said. “And all this family support is an important thing to have.”

The etched glass award presented at Cardinal Joint Fire District Station 2 on Herbert Road is a testament to Melia’s strong work ethic.

“Gio deserves this,” CJFD fire Chief Don Hutchison said. “He is a firefighter who will do everything you ask — and more.”

Melia’s father, Antonio Melia Sr., said he is proud of his son and what he has accomplished.

Antonio grew up on a farm in Italy and had to sell four cows in 1976 to make the trip to America and a new life. He settled in the Brownlee Woods area in Youngstown and raised two sons, Antonio Jr. and Gio, and a daughter Domenica Latouf.

Brother and sister also were in attendance for the award presentation.

Melia attended Boardman schools and as a sophomore, he took an interest in medicine.

“I played sports and suffered a knee injury,” he said. “After that I took an interest in the medical side of sports and became a trainer at the high school.”

In 2004, he joined the Poland Fire Department’s cadet program. “Being part of that sparked my interest even more,” Melia said.

He graduated in 2005 from Boardman and went on to a firefighter course at Stark State College, finishing in 2008. He continued his firefighter training and received his Emergency Medical Technician accreditation from Youngstown State University. Earlier this year, he completed a Firefighter II program he began in the late 2000s at the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center.

While keeping his dream of full time fire service in his sights, Melia did other jobs to bring in funds. His father and family also supported him.

“I worked two jobs to make sure he could go after his dreams,” Antonio Sr. said.

In 2013, Melia became employed as a freight conductor on the CSX railroad. He said the money was great, but it wasn’t what he felt called to do.

He left the railroad and started getting positions with Valley fire departments. He now serves as a volunteer with the Western Reserve Joint Fire District (Poland), and is part-time at fire departments in Cortland, Sharon, Pa., and the Cardinal Joint Fire District (Canfield). He is also a part time EMT with Lane LifeTrans.

He’s finishing his paramedic training and will soon be taking his final test. Once he becomes a paramedic, he said his dream of being a full-time firefighter-paramedic will be easier to achieve.

“That is where area fire departments are at. They need full time paramedics,” Melia said. “My goal is to be full time and I am at the top of the hill once this test is done.”

Presenting the award were Snyder and Jim Standohar from SERVPRO, who sponsored the Firefighter of the Year awards in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

“We were approached by the Tribune / Vindicator to support the Firefighter of the Year,” Standohar said. “Our business is fire and water restoration. We come in behind the firefighters and handle the restoration. We have great respect for what fire departments do. When asked to sponsor the award, we jumped on the opportunity.”

Over the last decade, Melia has earned many honors, saved lives and answered the call for help. “I just love being out there,” he said. “Helping the community is a good feeling and every day is a rush. No two days are the same. There is always something new happening.”