- Age-
- OccupationHelicopter Pilot, Aviation Team & Maintenance Technician, Aviation Team (respectively)
- CompanyCenturyLink
- LocationEnglewood, Colo.
Raging floodwaters had already chewed through roads and turned the town of Drake, Colo., into a patchwork of islands as CenturyLink’s aviation team scanned Big Thompson Canyon for damage to the company’s fiber-optic lines this past September. Arriving on the scene before even the National Guard, helicopter pilot Jim Bohman (above, left, with Mike Centola) and his aviation teammates proved to be a lifeline for stranded residents, including two elderly persons in desperate need of oxygen supplies. (A neighbor of theirs, smartly, had painted “Need O2” on a rooftop.) In all, CenturyLink’s two helicopter crews ferried 16 people and 10 pets to safety that day.