Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-Lillington, who represents southern Vance County in Congress, receives the National Fire Protection Association’s Legislator of the Year Award from John Biechman, the group’s vice president of government affairs, in a photo released by Etheridge’s office Wednesday. Etheridge was honored for his work in sponsoring and passing the Hometown Heroes Survivor Benefits Act, which extends federal survivor benefits to the families of firefighters, police officers and emergency workers who die of heart attack or stroke while in the line of duty, and for his advocacy on behalf of first responders. This is the first year that the association presented the award.