Matthew Chiaverotti

With his experience as a college firefighter, Chiaverotti found that fire service satisfied his need to express his great amount of energy in a helpful way. He loved serving his community and working alongside hard-working firefighters. He also loved to visit schools to teach about fire safety and inspire new generations to join the fire service. In addition to serving his community, Chiaverotti served as a Search Manager on the National US&R Response System, VATF2 FEMA team for several years. His main goals were to learn how to serve and protect his community and be an active part of a brotherhood, where he could learn and grow mentally, professionally, and physically. Upon being promoted to Captain, Chiaverotti poured his heart and soul into guiding, teaching, and leading his crews. Throughout his career, he earned the Medal of Honor and the Life Saving Award, each on three different occasions. He also earned the Commendation Award, Meritorious Conduct Award, and four Good Conduct Awards. He earned Team Recognition Ribbons from the FEMA Team and Technical Rescue Team. After being diagnosed with Anaplastic Thyroid Metastatic Carcinoma due to his career, Chiaverotti was asked if he had any regrets and his response was, “I would do it all over again.” He served an honorable 20 years. Matt was a selfless human being who lived his life at a ten. He was an incredibly loving and empathic husband and father. He never met a stranger; his smile was welcoming and he was always willing to help anyone. One night, after putting out a fire in which all of a homeless man’s belongings were destroyed, Chiaverotti gave the man his personal belongings to replace those that had been lost. His legacy lives on in his beautiful son.