It was intended to be a surprise, but there was no escaping the odor of hot wieners Tuesday in Fire Station 1. Mayor Frank Picozzi had planned the wieners along with a citation recognizing the life saving actions of Battalion Chief Michael Mernick, who, while on off-duty for an evening with his wife in Providence, saw a commotion and realized a house was on fire. Merrnick rushed into the building and with the assistance of two policemen got all eight family members, including two children who were asleep on a third floor, to safety. Last week, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi stopped by the Apponaug Fire Station to thank Mernick for his heroic actions, and presented him with a citation of commendation from the House. On Tuesday Picozzi upped it a notch with hot wieners. Since Mernick’s rescue work had taken him away from dinner, he would deliver lunch. As Mernick recounted after spotting the fire he told his wife “I’ll be right back.” It wasn’t quite that fast. As for his city job, Mernick said it was “an honor to serve the great City of Warwick.” Pictured with Mernick and his second hot wiener of the day is the mayor and Michael Penta, co-owner of Gel’s Kitchen who provided enough wieners and fries to feed those gathered in the emergency operations center for the event. (Photos courtesy of Emily Martineau and the Warwick Beacon)