Staff photo / Dan Pompili From left, Austintown police Chief Valorie Delmont stands with dispatchers Christie Zimmer-Rozzi and Kerri Humphreys, along with Mahoning County Emergency Planning and E-911 Administrator Connor O’Halloran. The dispatchers were named 2025 Mahoning County Dispatcher of the Year.

YOUNGSTOWN — Shortly before 1 p.m. Nov. 22, Austintown dispatchers Kerri Humphreys and Christie Zimmer-Rozzi started receiving calls about a building on fire and people trapped in their apartments. It would be the beginning of a much longer day than they expected when they clocked in.

On Thursday, at a meeting of Mahoning County commissioners, their day started much differently. They were recognized for their efforts dealing with the explosion at the Phoenix House senior high-rise on Meridian Road and were named Mahoning County Dispatchers of the Year for 2025.

The honor comes during National Public Safety Telecommunication Week, and commissioners passed a resolution submitted by Emergency Planning and E911 Administrator Connor O’Halloran recognizing this week as Dispatcher Appreciation Week.

“Every day, our dispatchers answer calls that can range from life-altering and, in literal seconds, nonlife-altering calls. Within a 911 call, they absorb fear, panic, uncertainty. With another, they are screamed at with pure anger, and then with another, they’re asking what time the parade started,” O’Halloran said. “Through all of this, they respond with clarity, compassion, unwavering, calm, professionalism. They are the ones who ask the right questions when moments matter most, while simultaneously coordinating emergency responders. They are the ones who provide reassurance before help arrives.”

O’Halloran played recordings of the first calls that came in on the day of the blast that killed one man and drove all of the building’s 140-plus residents from their homes. He said 13 patients were transported to the hospital and 82 residents relocated to a shelter quickly set up at Austintown Elementary School using school and Western Reserve Transit Authority buses.

“None of this could have been accomplished without the diligent work of these two dispatchers and the entire network that they have, and ultimately they ended up, instead of their 8-hour day, working a 16-plus-hour day,” he said.

Before a room filled with county officials, visitors and a strong contingent from Austintown Township, O’Halloran — a firefighter by trade himself — argued that while police, fire and EMS professionals are considered first responders, dispatchers respond first.

“They are the ones who coach a 7-year-old how to do chest compressions on their grandmother and save her life. Ultimately, they are the ones who stay on the line until the danger has passed,” he said. “While all of this happens behind the scenes, the results are felt everywhere. Lives are saved because dispatchers stayed calm, gave critical instructions. Families are comforted because the dispatcher offered steady words in moments of crisis. Initial arriving emergency responders are safer because dispatchers gathered critical information and guided them to the scene and notified them of an apparent threat.”

The building remains in a state of flux, and it is unclear when contractors hired by owner and property manager Austintown Studio Apartments will be able to close off the exposed portions of the building and begin renovations. Professionals who have evaluated Phoenix House say it is structurally sound and can be salvaged.

For now, many residents have found new homes at other apartments or with friends and family, while The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley continue to support many still living at the Baymont Hotel in Boardman.

Commissioners also lavished their thanks and praise upon the dispatchers, those in the room and their colleagues.

“I’m proud to recognize these men and women who serve in the county,” said Commissioner Geno DiFabio. “I mean, the stress and how they have to operate under that stress and what they do, it’s amazing. I couldn’t imagine, because I know what every one of us needs to have on the other end of the line. … And we’re proud of all of you, and we’re proud of the job you’re doing.”

Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti praised not only the dispatchers but the leadership at the county’s two primary dispatch centers in Boardman and Austintown.

“The dedication from both areas for the county, I don’t think people really realize what you guys do. Austintown and Boardman, you are phenomenal,” she said. “It took many years to get to this point, and you’re doing a fantastic job. Through all the state changes … and you managed to work it. Your chiefs have put together great leaders in those two departments. So keep up the good work.”

Rimedio-Righetti said she has personally had to call 911 on multiple occasions in recent years, for medical issues her family has faced.

Commissioner Anthony Traficanti, too, had to rely on emergency responders this year when he suffered a serious cardiac episode.

“And believe me, when that panic sets in and you go for that phone, the first thing, please answer. And you’ve always answered the call,” he said.

” I want to thank all of you for saving our lives. If it wasn’t for your quick action and your ability to react, most people would not make it to the hospital. It just doesn’t happen. And I think more people should understand just how hard all of you work daily trying to protect this community and be there when we’re at our time of peril. So I personally want to say thank you and keep answering those calls.”