DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Decatur native and Bellmont High graduate Brian Hakes has been named Pike Township’s Firefighter of the Year for 2024.
Hakes, 31, was honored Saturday at the department’s annual ceremony to recognize firefighters and civilians for notable achievements and milestones in 2024. A large crowd attended at an Indianapolis Colts facility.
The Pike fire department has five stations with 166 professional firefighters and medics supporting a township of over 83,000 residents on the northwest side of Indianapolis. The department protects over 42 square miles.
Hakes has been with the department six years, hired in April of 2019 after being head of security at Von Maur in Indy.
A 2012 graduate and a standout in sports at Bellmont, Hakes was a member of Sectional championship teams in football, baseball and wrestling. Accepting a baseball scholarship at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, he earned first-team NAIA All-American status as a catcher his senior year.
He also was an all-city hockey player in Fort Wayne and a member of several travel teams.
He is the son of Greg and Jill Hakes of Decatur, the grandson of Donna and Bob Shraluka of Decatur and the late IV and Carolyn Hakes.
Brian and his family – wife, Bobbi; daughter Blakely (7), and son Beau (almost 2) – reside in Fishers.
Beginning this week, Hakes is serving as an instructor at Pike’s Fire Academy.
Another Bellmont grad, Caleb Hankenson, is also a member of the Pike Fire Department.
In 2017, Pike Fire achieved ISO Class 1 rating, being the first department in the state of Indiana to achieve this status.
The department made 14,055 runs in 2023, mostly fire and EMS calls.
