While neither video is certainly “professional grade,” they are both good reminders of what made each of us come to the fire service as Run-to-the-Curb kids and hopefully serve to motivate us to keep doing what we love to do.

I’m sure there are plenty more videos just like this out there on the web. Do you have a photo or video of your future firefighter gearing up to be a Run-to-the-Curb kid? We’d love to share it here.

Twins:

Gear Up:

Tonight’s Firefighter Storytellers show has been rescheduled to Thursday night 11/10/11 at 9pm.

We’ve been preempted by a live show from the National Fire Academy with the ever popular Dr. Burton & Carolyn Clark at 9pm EST.

Please listen in to their timely show on Firefighter Netcast as we mourn the loss of fire service and journalism legend Hal Bruno, Executive Director-Emeritus of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation – www.firehero.org.

Firefighter, Journalist Hal Bruno

Today, as we mourn the loss of fire service and journalistic leader Hal Bruno, it’s important to remember what an important part he was of our fire service, our communities and our world.

His depiction of the 1958 Our Lady of the Angels School fire that claimed 95 innocent lives is a classic example of his impact on our industry and the news world.

Rest in peace fine sir. You will be sorely missed but your contributions live on.

• Eyewitness to Tragedy: 50 Years Ago, A Nation Mourned Its Children:
  http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4760/is_200812/ai_n32311141/?tag=content;col1
• National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Statement on the loss of Hal Bruno: http://www.firehero.org/news/2011/bruno.html
• Hal Bruno talks about the mission of the NFFF:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4i85RVUtU

We’ll be joined by a few very special guests who are veterans of both the armed forces and the fire service — my favorite kind of two-hatter — including Vince Pupo Jr., a Marine, Fire Investigator and retired Fire Chief and Sheriffs Department Detective.

In addition to being a well-known fire service “character” – Vince has written and shared his experiences of his military service during the Vietnam War and now writes short stories and poems related to military life and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affecting veterans.

Tribute to Soldier/Volunteer Firefighter: SSG Matthew Kreiger

The show will be dedicated to Matt Kreiger, a fine young man from my volunteer fire company (Evans Center) who is recovering from being shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan earlier this year. We will also recognize the efforts of WNYHeroes.org — a local organization dedicated to elevating the status of our veterans from desperate back to decorated.

Please help us spread the news of this very special show by downloading, printing and distributing the show flyer and/or sharing a link on your Facebook page or other social network. We hope that you can join us.

Here’s a link to last year’s Veterans Day Special with Citizen-Soldier-Firefighgter Dan Frontera.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Join Tiger Schmittendorf at 9pm EDT tonight (8/10/11) with his special guest: Firefighter and Author Gary Ryman on the next installment of his Firefighter Storytellers radio show on the FirefighterNetcast network. 

Gary is the author of “Fire-Men” – a newly released autobiography of three generations of firefighters in the Ryman family, a tradition that started with Gary’s father and continues today in Gary’s son Michael.

Listen in as Gary and Tiger share their adventures and their stories of life in the fire service.

Tiger will also be introducing a new and exciting relationship with Fireman’s Fund Insurance and their renowned Heritage Program which has awarded more than $28 million to fire departments for needed equipment, firefighter training and community education programs.

Tiger will be giving away copies of the video DVD titled: “Into the Fire” to selected guests who call into the show to share their story.

Produced by Firemen’s Fund Insurance and just like Tiger’s site Run-to-the-Curb.com and his Firefighter Storytellers radio show – “Into the Fire” shares the stories of firefighters across America and what brought them to the fire service.

So, sit around the firehouse and listen in to this exciting show and in the meantime, be sure to tell us your story.

Here’s Gary’s take on his recent writing success story —

My book Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family was recently released by Tribute Books. The book tells the stories and experiences of three generations of firefighters of which I am the second or the middle of the Oreo. It relates the good, bad, ugly, and funny aspects of firefighting and how those experiences affect us. Being both the son and father of firefighters gives me an unusual perspective.

In stories ranging from the bedroom communities of upstate New York to fast paced suburbs of Washington D.C. and finally the rural hills of northeastern Pennsylvania, the constants of the business remained the same.

Anyone who has more than a couple years in this business has enough stories to fill a book of their own. The challenge was getting it all down on paper and then the revision process to get it to the point where a publisher would like it. The almost five years between first putting pen to paper publication were a fun and challenging journey, but holding the first printed copy made the ride worth while.

Some comments on the book include:

“I think the book shows the true meaning of learning, sharing, devotion and motivation. I really think it should be on every probies list, as it shows the good, the bad and the ugly of what emergency responders go through, and like anything, we remember the good times and the good friendships more than the bad. What I liked best was remembering a lot of those incidents, by either the war stories shortly afterward or seeing it on the news. A lot of those were back in the Good Days, when men were men and probies understood they didn’t know everything. All in all, it tops my lists of the many fire books I have read over the years.”

- Dave CHICO Richard, PA State Fire Instructor Emeritus

“As someone who also comes from a multi-generation fire service family, I appreciate how well Gary Ryman captures his family’s dedication and commitment to their fire department and community. Fire service families everywhere will relate to Gary’s stories.”

- Gary Keith, Vice President of Field Operations, National Fire Protection Association

“From the first page, Ryman hits the nail on the head. He provides a riveting look at the fire service as a whole, and the evolution of the business over the last three decades. Every fire fighter should read this. Old ones to reminisce, young ones to appreciate where we came from.”

-Fred Bales, CFPS, CFI, Pennsylvania Senior Fire and Public Safety Instructor & Past Chief, Greenfield Fire Company, Greenfield, PA

LINK: Watch the “Fire Men” video trailer :

I read with great interest this related tale of two foreign firefighters who recently came to “The States” to learn more about our fire service culture while hoping to raise some much needed funds for their pet projects across the pond.

Read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Fire Service” by my friend Janet Wilmoth, editorial director for Fire Chief Magazine and stop back here to finish the journey.

INSERT LONG PAUSE HERE………………………………………………….

Welcome back from your side trip. What did you take away from her story?

I was intrigued not only by the firefighters’ journey itself, but also by Janet’s comment on how she was so enthralled by their stories. There’s that word again: STORIES!

I wasn’t surprised by Janet’s reaction as she is who I credit with planting a seed and inspiring me to create this story-sharing site. It’s our stories that link us across the fire service, across the states and even across ‘a pond.”

Then, what really excited me was the lesson she shared in effective leadership as demonstrated by Chief Frank Trout of the Westmont IL Fire Department who talked about turning their organization on its head.

That got the other half of my brain thinking (the part that dreams about effective organizational leadership all day). It reminded me of an idea that I had a few years ago to implement a platoon program in our firehouse, promoting the concept that while we operate in a top-down chain-of-command on the incident scene— operating as a bottom-up organizational model back in the firehouse empowers the people at the bottom (now at the top when we flip our pyramid) to build their own successful organization.

It also frees up the leadership to do what we elected them to do: LEAD!

What a concept…

Related Content:

• A New Pyramid Scheme for Your Volunteer Fire Department
• The Platoon Program Concept
• Passport to Better Understanding
• Planting a Seed
• Westmont Fire Department

As a young boy, I always ran out to the street to see where the fire trucks were going and always waved as they drove by. I later befriended a firefighter in the city fire department and would stop by on his shift to say hi and visit. His friendliness and willingness to take a few minutes to talk to me impressed me greatly. Unfortunately we had to move out of the city and my weekly visits to the fire station ended.

After we moved we lived near a lake. I learned to love to fish and swim. I loved being outdoors every chance I could. Then one afternoon while about five of us friends were swimming, we heard sirens coming up the road. We hurriedly dressed, then went to check out where the fire truck was going and what the excitement was about.

The excitement was at a large farm house that burned the day before, from a lightning strike. It was again on fire. So we followed the fire truck up the road to the house. There was a small amount of smoke showing from the second floor window and the hole in the roof.

At first there were only three firefighters and us kids at the fire scene. Two firefighters were taking a portable pump to the lake to draft water. We stood around watching what was taking place.

The Fire Chief, a neighbor, asked me (I being the oldest), to grab a pack pump and follow him…{wrong in today’s world}…..so I did. I had NO GEAR, SCBA, or PPE. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!!! I was young and hey this man, “The Fire Chief” asked me to help. Oh yeah, what kid wouldn’t want to help. “I’ll help you”, I said. When this man asked me for help, my chest filled up with pride and full of excitement. Not knowing any better or the dangers that lay before me, we put that pack pump on my strong young back and off I went in to my first fire. It was heavier than I thought and I was dying by the time I reached the second floor.

There wasn’t much smoke or fire only a few beams and roof material burning. So I sprayed the water where I was told, kicked smoking ashes around wetting them down and I was hooked. I had wanted to be a firefighter since a much younger age but this did it. I helped reload the truck and before the Chief left, he patted me on the back and thanked me for my help. I was a very proud young man that day and have been since. 

I joined the US Navy in Jan.1975. Attended Shipboard Damage Control, (fire fighting and damage control) classes in April 1975. IServed aboard the USS Preble DLG -15 (later re-classified as DDG-46), in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I was assigned to the damage control central (similar to a dispatch center), during emergencies. Responsibilities were to plot damage and fires, dispatch appropriate firefighting and damage control crews, monitor progress, suppression and damage control. I later went to a helicopter firefighting rescue class in Hawaii after being assigned to the helicopter recovery team as a firefighter.

One of my shipmates, the late William “Bill” Capretti, was a fire fighter in Youngwood, Pennsylvania. During our time in the service we’d always discuss firefighting and how much he loved the fire service. He kept telling me that once I leave the service I should join my local fire department. While going home with him (and to spend the weekends with my now darling wife), I got to hang out at the fire house and with his firefighter brothers. We went to the surrounding fire stations to visit. Again, my passion and desire for being a fire fighter was rekindled. 

I left the Navy in 1980 moving back to Vermont. With the desire and passion to be a volunteer firefighter I joined the Clarendon Fire Association in May 1980. My late buddy Bill was ecstatic over the fact I had joined my local fire department. But the desire and passion did not stop there. In May of 1981 I joined the Vermont Air National Guard (US Air Force), as a Fire Protection Specialist out of Burlington International Airport, Burlington, Vermont. Since Clarendon had the state airport in the community why not get additional training and serve my country as well. 

I left the Air Guard in May 1988 as an Air Force Fire Protection Specialist Seven Level Fire Fighter, due to family and work commitments. Having three young sons growing up, who were very active in sports, scouting, etc., working second shift, and a few other things I took a leave of absence from the fire service in May of 1993. Working second shift limited my department training and interactive working skills with my fellow members. I felt that if I couldn’t give and participate 100% then I needed a break. 

In 1999 I was approached by a long time friend to rejoin the fire service. In May of 1999 I was re-instated as a member of the Clarendon Fire Association. Since that time I have been a member of the Board of Trustees, Vice-President to the Association, Training Officer, Captain, Second Assistant and Assistant Chief and since 2006 serving as Chief Officer.

When I took over as the new Chief, I informed the membership that as with every new administrative change, comes new additional challenges and changes. I am looking forward to working with you to meet each challenge and change. I know this will be no easy task, and as with everything we must take small steps. I will continue work and improve on where Chief Brian Morgan left off. Together “WE” {you and I} can take the Clarendon Fire Association forward.

I will not ask of you to do any more than I would myself or anyone else. We are all here for the same reason “We’re volunteering because we want to”.  In order for all of us to work together we must continue to be a team. This works from the top down. All of us have a role to play no matter how big or small. We {that’s all of US……YOU AND ME}, must strive to make our jobs easier and successful.  I don’t ever want you to feel that your membership and role in the Clarendon Fire Association is not important. Each and every one of you is a very important asset to this organization.

My goal as Chief has been to further work with each of the surrounding fire departments on improving and enhancing inter-department training. By bringing many departments together we can share training ideas, share knowledge, interact with each others members and improve our team working skills. It’s easier to train to learn what will and will not work under controlled conditions rather than under a real incident scene. 

I’m always looking for ways to further improve and enhance our operational skills, training and overall knowledge. This profession is a job that requires never ending and continuous training. When we fail to train and we fail to learn, we fail to serve ourselves, our fellow firefighters and our communities, effectively and readily to the best of our ability and in a professional manner.

I’m very proud and happy with the dedicated members that support me and make the Clarendon Fire Association a success. Without their outstanding help, support and dedication I couldn’t do my job. To my members I say, “Thank You for all you do and for giving of your time. It’s through your sacrifice, dedication, compassion, caring and professionalism that makes us successful!!” I’d like to thank you for caring enough to give of your time to unselfishly serve the community. It’s through your dedication and caring that allows us to function at the professional level in which we do.

Always remember, “You are the greatest investment this Fire Department has ever made“.

To the member’s families, I especially want to say, “Thank you for being so supportive of your husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, son/daughter and significant other and allowing them to give of their time and for missing some special moments in your lives to be a valued member of the Clarendon Fire Association. Your outstanding support is greatly appreciated I will never be able to thank you enough.”

I am very proud of what I have done in the fire service throughout the years. I have two sons who have followed me in my desire to be a volunteer firefighter and serve our community. Both are currently Fire Fighter Level 1. One son is a Lieutenant and recently received Fire Fighter Level 2. It’s young people like my sons that are the future of this and every fire department. We must encourage them to reach for every level of training possible in order to be proficient, successful and professional.

I want to take our fire association to a much higher level, leave it in a much better state and set goals for the future and when I leave, I hope that I have impressed a few young men or women like that Chief did me many years ago.

Stay safe, train often and share knowledge.

About the young boy in the photos……..

He has a firefighter costume complete with boots, helmet, pants and coat. To complete his costume I gave him a broken pager for his gear. Giving him that pager made his day. He had a smile that warmed my heart and expressed great love. He grabbed me with a big hug and said, “Thanks Grandpa, I love you, now I can go to fire calls”. 

He also loves to fish and be outdoors. I’m glad he’s taking an interest in the outdoors (just like grandpa, dad, mom & his uncles) and not wanting to sit in the house. He’s a very active young man who is always on the go. 

He’s also had his photo in the local newspaper while in the driver’s seat checking out the new support truck. Who knows may be one day he too will be a firefighter.

Norman E. Flanders is the Fire Chief of the Clarendon VT Volunteer Fire Department. He has three sons and two grandsons. His first grandson: Preston E. Flanders is pictured above. Connect with him on FirefighterNation.com: http://my.firefighternation.com/profile/NormanEFlanders

Firefighter/Author Will Wyatt

Will Wyatt is a funny guy, but looks aren’t everything…

Seriously folks, I had a great time interviewing Will on my Firefighter Storytellers show with my partner-in-crime and new co-host: Chief Tom Merrill from the Snyder Fire District here in Erie County NY.

The show airs at May 12, 2011 – 9pm EDT on the FirefighterNetcast Radio Network.

Will is a firefighter in The Village Fire Department near Houston TX and is the author of the great read: “And a Paycheck Too!”

Before I share Will’s Run-to-the-Curb story, I’ll share a story he sent me the day after we taped his show:

Had we only waited one day.

I was working in the “less attractive” part of our response area today and we were dispatched to a non emergency assist the citizen call.

We arrived and found three women in the front yard crying. Their eyes are wide with fear. I don’t even have to ask what’s going on because I know exactly what the problem is. I walk into the front yard and they all begin talking at once telling about the snake in the kitchen. I ask the one who speaks English: “How big and what color?” She describes a water moccasin and extends her arms as far as she can reach.

The local animal control arrives and basically laughs and says “I’m not going in there.” He begins getting us numbers for a snake-man. Meanwhile, the owner — who is diabetic — starts shaking and says she needs her diabetic medicine, which is in the bedroom. Armed with an orange box-light and a pike pole, I enter and retrieve the Walmart bag on her bed.

No sign of the serpent.

Oh well….

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And now we return to our regularly scheduled program: Here’s Will’s Run-to-the-Curb Story —

I was introduced to the fire service at a young age. I grew up in Gibbstown, New Jersey which is a suburb of Philadelphia. The fire station was one block from us. In those days the volunteer companies had an air raid siren thing on the roof that alerted the fire fighters to a fire. Gibbstown had an air horn type of thing. It was so loud there was literally no escaping it. The air horn system was interfaced with the Gamewell box system and naturally I learned the box numbers at an early age.  I knew the difference in a telephone alarm or a pulled box.

My earliest memory of fire trucks was an open cab Mack Gibbstown had. When you say open cab now, younger fire fighters think of jump seats with a roof overhead. No, this thing had no roof. That to me is an open cab.

In 1968, and I believe in 1972, Gibbstown bought new Ward laFrances. They were the biggest fire trucks I had ever seen. Ironically, we took delivery of a new Pierce PUC a year or two ago and it would dwarf the old Ward LaFrances. It is a two story pumper; it has a ladder to get into the hose bed. The dashboard looks like an airplane cockpit. There are TV screens, computer displays and all sorts of stuff. The first fire truck I drove was a Ward La France similar to Gibbstown’s pumpers with a 5 speed manual transmission double clutch and the air horn was operated by some weed eater string hanging down from the ceiling.

One of my fondest memories was when an outfit got a new truck in the Northeast back in those days, there was always a housing. I don’t know if they still do that or not but back in those days housing made for an hour long fire truck parade. I ran and sat on the curb for sure on those Saturdays. There would be fire trucks from all overNew Jerseyand other states too. I of course had a few favorites like the open cab Maxim ladder truck that Almonneson Lake, NJ ran.  I have always been a fire truck person. I just like them. I am always looking at pictures on the net.

Also the Fire Fighters in the State of New Jerseyhad a yearly convention in Wildwood. The culmination of which was a ginormous fire truck parade. I got to go to that a couple of times. I don’t know if they still do that or not.

I got into the fire service in 1985. I knew the fire service was what I wanted to do. However, in New Jersey most of the fire departments were volunteer. Philadelphia was closing fire stations and laying off firefighters. I am originally from New Orleans and had family in Texas so that’s where I ended up. I attended the Lamar University Fire Academy to receive my state certification in 1984. I was hired at the Village Fire Dept as a dispatcher in 1985.

I have been at the Village Fire Dept. the majority of my career. I worked a couple of years at the Rosenberg, TX Fire Dept. as a full time training officer before returning to the Village Fire Dept. and fire suppression. During my time at the Village I worked for 14 years on a part time basis at the Jacinto City Fire Dept. While in Jacinto City I worked as fire marshal and Deputy Chief.  I now work on a part time basis at the Cloverleaf Fire Dept. and North Channel EMS.

My earliest influence in the fire service was from the Chief of the Gibbstown Fire Dept. Ray Williams. He always took time to talk to me about the equipment and tactics when I was hanging around the station.

My closest call actually ocurred this past Father’s Day. A house fire came in one night while I was working at Cloverleaf. We arrived and the situation was marginal. Flames were coming out of every opening of this house. I could see rafters in part of the roof through the flames but I felt like we could still do some good.

There was a hydrant in the front yard but of course it didn’t work. The next nearest hydrant had been conveniently removed by the water department. At the height of the crisis a car port constructed of steel I-beams dislodged from the house and hit me in the head. I was knocked out briefly and under some metal. I spent the night in the hospital with a mild concussion. I don’t know if that was my darkest moment but it was the most embarrassing. Before that I got lost in a house one night in a fire. I got out but the experience scared the daylights out of me.

I guess you never want to say that you’ve seen it all, because the minute you do, you’ll regret it.

I have not seen it all, but I’ve seen enough.

Editor’s Notes:

• Download and listen to Will Wyatt on www.firefighterstorytellers.com here at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/firefighternetcast/2011/05/13/firefighter-storytellers-w-will-wyatt
• Be sure to read Will’s book: “And a Paycheck Too!” — It’s full of humorous but poignant insight into the world of firefighting. I highly recommend it.
• Photos related to Will’s Run-to-the-Curb Story: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tigerschmittendorf/sets/72157626569020691/

PGFD Division Chief Donald "Doc" Moltrup

I first became interested in the fire service when I was three or four years old. We had a very good family friend near our home town of Beaver Falls, PA, who was the Chief of the Chippewa Township (PA) Volunteer Fire Department. We visited them often and I also looked forward to going to the fire station with him.

He also gave me all of his old issues of “Fireman” magazine, then the official magazine of the NFPA (and probably the only real fire service journal in that era). I poured through these magazines and even traced pictures of fire apparatus in advertisements in them and made up my own fictitious fire department with them.

Although my Dad was never in the fire service, he was kind of a fire buff so I went to fires with him often. I lived in State College (PA) for several of my pre-school years and a volunteer with the Alpha Fire Company in State College lived across from our house. I always saw him rushing off to fire calls and wished I could go too.

My family moved to Landover Hills in Prince George’s County (MD) when I was 6 and the local fire station was at the bottom of a big hill from our house. When the siren blew, I would run to the curb at the corner from our house to watch the apparatus go by (it always took them awhile to struggle up that hill, so I usually had plenty of time). The fire station was pretty much the center of community activity there back then. My Cub Scout Pack met there and there were other community activities that gave me a reason to go to the fire house.

Also, my Dad was a longtime ham radio operator and obtained a military surplus tank radio that he converted to receive the PG County dispatch frequency, so we would know where the calls were. My family moved to Hyattsville when I was 14 but I my folks wouldn’t let me join the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department (HVFD) until I was 18 and had graduated from high school.

When I joined HVFD in June of 1962, Hyattsville actually had a municipal fire department with a paid chief and 17 city career firefighters. There were also volunteers (including the city career firefighters who were required to live in the city and remain as active volunteers). All apparatus (except for the ambulances) and the two fire stations were city owned.

So when I joined, I had no thought of ever becoming the fire chief as a volunteer member. I spent a good bit of time at the fire station while I was going to college at the nearby University of Maryland but, other than drill and meeting nights, there were seldom members around other than the on-duty one or two career firefighters (HVFD relied on home response). I learned a lot from several of those career firefighters as well as many of the volunteers when they were there.

Another great mentor to me was Jackson Gerhardt. Jack was a volunteer deputy chief at HVFD in the mid 60’s and a DC firefighter (DCFD Engine 17’s station was recently dedicated to Jack after renovation – Jack died in the line of duty in PA after his retirement from DCFD). As soon as I completed my Advanced First Aid training (there was no EMT then) and started riding the ambulance, I delivered three babies in my first few weeks. One of the city captains gave me the nickname of “Doc” because of that and it has stuck ever since.

I completed the Maryland Fire Rescue Institute (MFRI) basic firefighter training as soon as I could at the nearby Riverdale Fire Dept. but much of the initial “training” was OJT (On the Job Training). I soon became the department secretary and attained the rank of Fire Sergeant. Upon becoming an apparatus driver, I worked as a part-time firefighter/driver for the City of Hyattsville.

In 1967, Prince George’s County hired the first county firefighters and assigned two to each fire station. It quickly became a difficult situation having both city and county firefighters working together in the same station. The City of Hyattsville decided to get out of the business of running a fire department and turned over all department assets to the volunteer fire department. It was quite a culture shock for that department that had been used to a municipal operation with a paid chief to suddenly become a primarily volunteer department. I was elected to the rank of Captain in 1968 and Asst. Chief in 1969. I rose to the rank of Chief in 1970 and held that position until my retirement at the end of 2005.

Soon after becoming Fire Chief, I spoke to Professor John Bryan of the University of Maryland who headed their excellent Fire Protection Engineer Program about initiating a student live-in program at HVFD. The nearby College Park VFD located on the UofM campus had been the sole live-in station for students in that program and there were more applicants than they could accommodate. We initiated the program with referrals coming from Professor Bryan. Eventually, we opened the live-in program to students from other colleges and programs.

We always maintained fairly rigorous standards to qualify for the program (e.g. prior training and experience) and requirements for participation (i.e. minimum number of nights per week on duty, weekend duties, etc.). Many of our former live-in members have remained very active as volunteers in the department long after their tenure as live-ins. The current Fire Chief, Dave Hang, was a former HVFD live-in as are many of the current line officers.

During my tenure at HVFD, I also held a number of volunteer positions with the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department. I was among a group of volunteer chiefs who initiated the first volunteer battalion chief (BC) program in the county during the early 1970s to ensure having a senior command officer at all significant incidents. I continued acting as a volunteer BC until my retirement. I also served as one of the first Volunteer Division Chiefs in the county (we initially had a North and South Division).

Finally, I was selected as the first (and only) Volunteer Deputy Chief of PGFD. I “retired” form that position after about a year to devote most of my time and attention to HVFD. I believe that I maintained an excellent working relationship between volunteer and career personnel I worked with throughout my tenure.

The first working high-rise fire I commanded was in 1978 and involved a 10 story condo building in our first due area. Fire was leapfrogging up the side of the building and also extending down the hall from the unit of origin to and past the elevator lobby. It was one of the few instances where a simultaneous exterior and interior attack was warranted. We actually used a portable monitor in the hallway to stop the fire from spreading further inside and hand lines on the outside to keep the fire from extending up to other floors.

Unfortunately, we had one fatality of a woman trapped in the hallway who was located in an exit stairway after she had received fatal injuries. We held an extraordinary critique after this fire the included Frank Brannigan discussing building construction issues, fire investigators discussing cause and origin, autopsy data on the deceased individual as well as the more typical fire ground operational assessment.

Along the way I also was greatly influenced by Jim Estep, who served as the PGFD chief for a number of years, and by my good friend and fellow fire chief (of the Bladensburg VFD in PG County), Tom Moore. Tom was a lawyer and former judge and a fellow PGFD Division Chief. I often sought his advice on handling administrative, disciplinary and operational concerns.

Click to view slideshow.

A Family Affair:

My younger brother, David, joined HVFD when he was old enough to do so; primarily due to my influence (he had shown no interest in the fire service before I got involved in it). He went on to be a career firefighter in Montgomery County (MD) and retired at the end of 2005 as a Captain with 38 years of service there. He is also a Life Member of HVFD.

My Son, Dale, was also a member of HVFD for a number of years and is a Life Member.

My oldest grandson Patrick, who is currently on his second deployment in Afghanistan with the U.S. Marines, is a member of HVFD and plans to become a live-in there when he gets out of the service. He was previously a member at Odenton (MD) VFD and a live-in at Lower Allen Township (PA).

I met my wife, Carole, through the fire department. Her son, Dale, was a young volunteer member and had been disciplined with a suspension by the career officer at the station. She came to the station and complained to me about her son’s suspension. I told her that, regardless of the merit of the disciplinary action, her son was an adult and didn’t need his Mother coming up to intercede. She thought I was the most arrogant SOB she had ever met! Apparently I made a good impression in spite of telling her off, however.

She started riding the ambulance and later served as Secretary and Asst. Treasurer of the department. She’s now a life member of HVFD.

I am an honorary member of two of Hyattsville VFD’s sister fire companies in Pennsylvania: New Franklin and Waynesboro. I have also served the Maryland State Firemen’s Association (MSFA) as chairman of the Board of Review that acted on requests for state grants from volunteer fire departments that needed assistance to maintain minimum state standards. I am a Life Member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the Maryland Fire Chiefs Association and a member of SPAAMFAA.

My family has always been very supportive of my fire service activities, in part because they (my wife and son) were also involved in the service. Since I met my wife in the fire department, she was well aware of my commitment to the fire service prior to our marriage.

Balancing Family and the Firehouse:

This was always a difficult issue. My wife knew about my involvement in the fire service when we met (although she often felt she was “competing” with the fire service for my time). However, her involvement in the fire service as well as that of my Son and Grandson made it generally a family affair.

While I tried to generally not let the fire service interfere greatly with family activities, it always seemed that I was the on-duty Battalion Chief or Division Chief on important holidays and other family occasions. My family was very understanding when I had to leave the dinner table or family celebration to go on a call.

Dark Times:

The darkest and saddest moment of my career was being notified of the line-of-duty death of one of my volunteer members, Alan P. Sondej, in 1988. Al was a 36-year old student live-in member who was close to getting his PhD from U of M.

In January of that year, Al was part of the crew on our ladder truck responding in the early morning hours as first due truck on a house fire to a neighboring town.

Al was conducting a search in the well-involved house when he was caught in a flashover and severely burned. Although his burns were severe and he had been in the burn center for a long time, we all believed that Al, who was a big and very strong guy, would survive. However, on March 16th, I received word that he had passed away from complications related to the burns. This was a devastating blow to me and the department. Our current ladder truck is dedicated to Al.

On Brotherhood:

I made a number of officially sanctioned ride-along visits in the 1970s to the fire departments in Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles (City). The hospitality was fantastic at all of these visits. On my first visit to Chicago, for example, then Chief Fire Marshal Curt Volkamer personally met me and the others in my group at the Chicago Fire Academy on a Sunday afternoon when we arrived there.

On the Boston trip, we spent nearly a week in a busy Boston fire station and weren’t allowed to spend a penny for meals or even drinks in some local pubs. On another arranged visit to the Tokyo (Japan) Fire Department, the World’s largest, I had a personal meeting with the Fire Chief and he presented me with a beautiful plaque with a figure of an ancient Japanese firefighter.

I’ve been blessed to be on the receiving end of fire service brotherhood a few other times too. Once I was having my roof redone on my house and one night we left it with only tar paper on it until shingles could be applied the next day. A severe storm came up and the wind blew off all of the tar paper in a few seconds. I called the fire house and the crew immediately came to my aid and spread tarps on the roof before any significant damage was done.

On another occasion, my Grandson, Mason, who has severe Spina Bifida and is paralyzed below the waist, was granted a wish by the Make-A-Wish foundation to go to Disney World with his family. He also needed funds to purchase a light weight wheelchair that Medicaid would not cover. HVFD did a boot drive to aid Mason and raised enough money to buy the wheelchair as well as provide some extra money for the kids to use on their Disney trip.

Fortunately, we’ve had the opportunity to repay that brotherhood too. Immediately after 9/11, we received word from a former HVFD live-in who was an FDNY firefighter that his company had lost their apparatus and virtually all small tools and equipment.

While they had a reserve rig, they didn’t have equipment for it. HVFD rounded up all the spare small tools and equipment we could and took it to New York so this company could have tools to work with until they could be replaced. Once they received new tools from their department, we got all of the loaned tools and equipment items back in good condition.

Proudest Moments:

I had many proud moments during my career, including my election as fire chief of HVFD at age 26 in 1970. Perhaps the proudest moment, however, was at the “Doc-a-Palooza” event put on by the department to celebrate my retirement after 35 years as chief.

However, I was very proud to lead the department every day of those 35 years and I remain proud of what they are doing today. I’m also very proud of the many members and alumni who passed through HVFD and have become leaders in the fire service and other fields.

Among these are Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Bill Carey, Dennis Rubin (past chief of Atlanta and DC fire departments).

Bill Barnard is currently the State Fire Marshal of Maryland and Mark Smith is fire marshal of Alachua County Florida. Other alumni include: Tom Kean (former New Jersey state senator and republican nominee for U.S. senate, and son of 911 Commission Chairman Tom Kean), J. Gordon Routley, Andy Levy (past HVFD live-in and Asst. Chief and currently Coordinator of the MFRI North Central Region) and Dr. David Icove (professor at University of Tennessee and acknowledged leading expert in the field of arson pattern recognition); to name a few. I would like to believe that their experiences at HVFD had an impact on their successes.

Fully Involved:

Although I have been “retired” from the fire service for 5 years now, I still stay involved at HVFD (even though I live in Florida now). I am on the apparatus committee and visit the station just about every month when I am traveling to the DC area for my engineering consulting work. I really enjoy the camaraderie of the people at HVFD and I am proud of my service to HVFD and the fire service and feel good about where the department has come.

What I enjoy most during my frequent visits is interacting with the younger members and telling stories about how the department and the fire service have evolved. I think they appreciate hearing about the legacy they have inherited and the many lessons to be learned from past experiences. I also really enjoy the attending the annual HVFD holiday party/reunion when I get to see and talk with many of our alumni, both volunteer and career, as well the current members.

The Importance of Storytelling:

I believe that storytelling is a very important opportunity for older and more experienced members to relate to the newer members the importance of the legacy of their fire department and the fire service as well as relating experiences that may prove valuable to those with less experience in the fire service.

It is important to capture many of these stories as is being done with your Firefighter Storytellers radio show. Without this, much of the history of fire departments and the fire service will be lost along with the experiences that could be very valuable to these newer members.

Speaking of storytelling, if I could tell the next generation anything about the fire service is that it requires a great deal of commitment. If you don’t have a passion for it, then perhaps it isn’t for you. But if you do have that passion, then you are entering into a lifelong brotherhood that will be very rewarding and satisfying.

You should take every opportunity to learn from those that have more experience in the service and take as much training as you can get. Your life, and that of your fire service brothers, depends greatly on your training, skill and experience and you can’t let yourself, your family or your brother firefighters down in this regard.

Every department has well experienced members and retirees who have a great deal of valuable knowledge to pass on – take advantage of it while you can.

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About the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department (www.hvfd.com): The department is located in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. HVFD operates as acombination volunteer and career fire station with approximately 60 active volunteer members of the department and four County career personnel (including one officer) who work daytime on weekdays only. The department responds to nearly 6,000 emergency calls annually. Operationally, the department is led by a Fire Chief and two Deputy Chiefs along with a number of Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants. All line officers, other than the Fire Chief, are appointed. All members and officers must meet minimum standards for that office established by Prince George’s County. Administratively, the tax-exempt corporation is led by a Board of Directors and an appointed President. Apparatus includes two engines (new engine on order), a tractor-drawn aerial, a heavy duty rescue squad and two BLS ambulances, along with several support vehicles.

HVFD has hosted live-in student members since the early 1970’s. This type of program can be a great asset to many fire departments but requires some stringent guidelines and selection criteria to be in place to ensure success. One of the major considerations with such a program is to maintain a good relationship between the “live-ins” and local members so that neither group feels that the other isn’t “pulling their weight” in the department. HVFD was recently awarded a $244,000 SAFER grant to fund our Tuition Reimbursement program for a period of four years. For more information about firehouse live-in programs, check out www.fdlivein.com and www.firerecuiter.com.

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Editor’s Note: Donald “Doc” Moltrup was a guest on Tiger Schmittendorf’s Firefighter Storytellers Internet Radio Show on the FirefighterNetcast Podcast & Radio Network which premiered at 9pm EST on April 13, 2011. The show was taped on March 25, 2011 at the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis IN.