photo by: Joselyn King

Wheeling Assistant Fire Chief Eric Cianelli, left, and firefighters Courtney Engle, Robert Heldreth and Matt Beiter attend the “Salute To Heroes” service Sunday at Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in North Wheeling.

WHEELING — Bethlehem Apostolic Temple wants the public to know “heroes don’t always wear capes.” The church hosted its annual “Salute To Heroes” service on Sunday, and invited local first responders to participate.

“We’re very, very grateful to them, but sometimes in an emergency we don’t get a chance to recognize them,” Bishop Darrell Cummings said. “The truth is, we should be recognizing them every day.”

Some members of the Wheeling Fire Department present actually got a call during the service, and had to run out to respond.

Among the items presented to the first-responders was a pin stating, “Heroes don’t always wear capes.” They also received a cross with the American flag attached, as well a coin containing the Bible verse Isaiah 6:8. In the verse, God asks, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah responds, “Here am I. Send me.”

Much of the event made note of an incident on Oct. 19 on GP&C Road during which Ohio County deputies and emergency personnel from the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department ran back into a gas-filled basement to bring out a man who had collapsed there from the fumes.

It was later determined the fumes were a combination of sewer gas and carbon monoxide, and the gentleman would later die at the hospital, according to Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft.

Croft spoke Sunday on behalf of deputies Aidan Zamborsky and Brenda Lesnett, who were evaluated at Wheeling Hospital for effects of gas inhalation following the incident and returned to duty the next day.

“It didn’t hit me until I was driving to the hospital … I almost lost two of my kids, and two of my best friends in the fire department,” he said. “Thank God, he protected them.”

Ed Wolf and his daughter Elizabeth were the emergency volunteers who responded from the West Liberty VFD.

Ed Wolf explained why they made the decision to venture into the basement knowing there were potentially deadly gases there.

“If there was any chance of saving his life, we had to do that,” he said.

Cummings said last year the church received a letter asking if 911 dispatchers also could be included when honoring first responders, as their service in taking the call is vital in an emergency.

He said the church “has not been successful yet” in finding out how to get 911 dispatchers represented at the event, and members will continue to reach out to invite them to future events.