The Southfield Fire Department is pleased to announce the creation of the very first citizen awards. The first recipient of the award was presented to Cora Bisono on Monday, February 13 at 6:00 p.m. in the Southfield City Council chambers by Fire Chief Menifee.  What makes this award recipient unique is that Cora is only 4 years old.  She is being honored for her early detection and alerting of her mother to a fire in her apartment complex at 42 West Apartments at 18248 W. 12 Mile Rd. on December 20, 2022.

Upon noticing a fire on a second-floor balcony across the courtyard from her apartment, Cora began to scream "Fire, everyone get out!!”  Her mother promptly called the fire department which allowed the Fire department to respond quickly and cut off the high probability of extension of this fire, which would have resulted in significantly more damage as well as threat to human life.

As a result of Cora’s action, a major crisis was averted; damage to the building was minimal and nobody was injured or killed. This was due in large part to Cora’s early detection and notification to her mother, prompting the call to 911.

On Friday February 10, the Southfield Fire Department held a breakfast in honor of Cora and devoted the morning to honoring her at the Southfield Fire Department headquarters.  She was introduced to the Chief who had put together and presented Cora with special gift bags.Cora was then announced into the day room to 24 firefighters applauding her as they formed a human tunnel for her to walk through, from which she emerged to be greeted by Sparky the Fire Dog. After the pancake breakfast prepared by the firefighters with Firefighter Joe Nothdurft at the helm in the kitchen, Cora, her mother Katerine and her special guest enjoyed pictures with the firefighters, a cake with ice cream, and a ride on the new fire ladder truck.