Mon, 01/23/2017 - 20:44

Bill Packard

I've been out of the fire service for a while and you can leave the fire service, but the fire service never leaves you. Some recent news stories got me thinking about those days and I thought I'd share some information that people outside the fire service probably never thought of.

Like all the other volunteers, I'm just a regular guy, or gal. I've received all sorts of training for fighting fire and cutting up cars to free trapped occupants, but I never got any training on how to deal with the human side of things. It's not just firefighting. I served a time on the ambulance as well. I remember a gentleman that used some sort of flammable liquid to start his kitchen wood stove early one morning and it blew up in his face. He was certainly in distress when we dropped him off at the hospital, but when he died a few days later, it brought up lots of questions about whether we could have done more.

Before I was am assistant fire chief, I just responded to the fires and did what I was expected to do as a firefighter, but after I assumed that title, things changed. When we had big fires, I struggled with the end result. Most of the time, when you see news coverage of a big fire, the end was determined before the fire department ever knew there was a fire, but it's tough when your job is to save lives and property and you don't do it.

One cold winter night a fire broke out in an empty barn. The crews did an awesome job and made a great stop. There was not a lot of value in the building before the fire and after the fire the building was torn down. Great save. Building torn down. The toughest part of the job by far, was taking homeowners into their home after a fire. They are completely devastated. Their whole lives have been destroyed and they get to view the evidence. Even though your department stopped the fire, it's still a very uncomfortable experience.

One fire occurred in a neighboring town and the chief was out of town and I happened to be working in the town. Our department was called for mutual aid. The fire was in the attack and it was ripping pretty good. I had a couple of eager, young firefighters who went up in the attic and knocked the fire down with a super effort. The house ended up being torn down. However, when the homeowners rebuilt, many things that they saved went into the new house and the chief and I were invited to their housewarming. I can't describe the feeling as they led us to item after item that was saved from the fire that now had a prominent place in their new home.

Then, there were the big ones. The Common Market. The Masonic Hall. When the Masonic Hall burned, I was in Cleveland. The chief's sister called me and I told her that if he needed me, I'd be there in 14 hours. Of course he was fine because we had gone over that scenario night after night and day after day since the Common Market fire. We talked about every possible thing we thought could go wrong and how we would deal with it. Night after night. Call after call. You see. When you're the chief or assistant chief, if it's your fire, it's your responsibility. You always question yourself. There's not a lot of time to have discussions about what might be a good idea and what might be a bad one when there's a fire going on, but there's always a lot of looking back and questioning. So we had a plan that had developed from previous fires and lots of discussion.

One of my former firefighters is a chief in a nearby town and his town has been plagued by several large fires. I private messaged him with something that I always had to remind myself. "You didn't start any of those fires." This deal is tough on volunteers. The higher up the ladder you are, the harder it is.

While I've seen my share of bodies, I never saw one in one of my fires. Thank God for that. But it happens and it's tragic. It's tragic for the family and the community. It's also tragic for the firefighters and especially the chief officers. If you see one in your community, shake their hand. Better yet, give them a hug. They could use it.

Bill Packard lives in Union and is the founder of BPackard.com. He is a speaker, author, small business coach and consultant.