Livermore Falls Fire Captain Nixon Ortiz is a very active volunteer in the community. Submitted photo.

LIVERMORE FALLS — Nixon Ortiz was promoted to Captain at the Livermore Falls Fire Department on July 10.

A Facebook post by the fire department read that Ortiz has been serving the town since 2005 and that he “has been a leader and a mentor to his fellow firefighters.” In January of 2019, Ortiz won the 2018 Firefighter of the Year Award.

When he isn’t saving lives and putting out fires, Ortiz can be found volunteering his time with children as the Area Youth Sports [AYS] vice president. The nonprofit organization serves the towns of Jay, Livermore, Livermore Falls and Fayette bringing sports programs for grades pre-kindergarten to eighth grade to participate in. Its goal is to “create an atmosphere for children which is accepting, challenging, friendly, fun and safe, where kids can learn & grow into respectful individuals.”

Fire Captain Nixon Ortiz teaches fire prevention Oct. 7 at Spruce Mountain Primary School in Livermore. Rebecca Richard/Franklin Journal file

While fulfilling his duties as vice president, Ortiz is a volunteer coach as well. He coaches multiple teams per year including basketball and softball.

Ortiz said that when he was growing up in a big city near Boston, his father modeled a similar passion for volunteering. He said that he taught him  to be involved in his community saying, “if you have time, spend it helping other people in the community.”

Ortiz said that there are children who need help in the community and that with three of his own, he enjoys working with kids.

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Bobby Cummins, a coworker and long time friend of Ortiz, said that he is hard worker.

Community member Jason Foley said “I’ve known Nixon for a year and a half. In that short time, I’ve seen how much of his spare time he devotes to the fire department and Area Youth Sports.” Foley also said that Ortiz has fostered and adopted children, he cooks for the local youth football games, and that he acts as a first aid medic at games as well.

Ortiz also works as a maintenance specialist with Volunteers of America and he served on the Livermore Falls Select Board for four years from 2017 to 2021.

“He’s a local hero in my opinion,” said Foley.

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