2016 Firehouse Thomas Carr Community Service Award

Starting this year, Firehouse’s Community Service Award program is named after Thomas Carr, the late fire chief who once held the top position at the Charleston, SC, and Montgomery County, MD, fire departments. The Firehouse Thomas Carr Community Service Award is designed to encourage fire departments to not only get involved in community service activities, but to engage in activities that truly give back and elevate a community in a way that can change lives. It is therefore only fitting that the award be named after Chief Carr, a man who took the concept of community service to a higher level when he revamped the Charleston Fire Department by focusing on leadership, customer service and safety, all for the greater good of the community.

Firehouse is proud to honor the following departments and individuals for their commitment to community.

1. Streator, IL, Fire Department

Streator is a community deeply affected by the downsizing of industrial America. With an above-average structural fire rate and civilian fire fatality rate, the Streator Fire Department—a career department with 16 members under the leadership of Fire Chief Gary Bird—developed several projects to build a safer community:

Commercial business fire inspections: Streator implemented a process for conducting life safety inspections of commercial businesses with the goal of preventing fires due to dangerous conditions. In the process, the firefighters are becoming better acquainted with the structure and business owners.
Citywide smoke detectors: Firefighters canvass neighborhoods, starting with those with the highest fire rate. One life has already been saved. A man was able to evacuate his burning home just one week after the smoke detector was installed.
EMS service: All EMS was previously provided by a private ambulance service that had an extended response time. Streator partnered with the ambulance company to train all firefighters as first responders. Now firefighters are responding to EMS calls, providing quicker response times and additional staffing.
Training opportunities: There were not many training resources for firefighters located close to Streator or its surrounding communities. The fire department worked with a local business owner who donated property for a fire department training center. Another local business owner has donated money to build a classroom for training purposes. Construction on the facility has started, and the facility will ultimately result in better trained firefighters for a safer community.
Vial of Life: The fire department partnered with community businesses to offer a Vial of Life project for members of the community, greatly improving the firefighters’ access to vital medical information during an emergency. In short, patients are encouraged to store in their refrigerator a clear plastic bottle that contains an information sheet with the patient’s emergency contact information, past medical history, current medications, allergies, date of birth, current doctor and hospital.

The Streator Fire Department does not have a large budget, and each project has been completed with no increased funding to the fire department. The dedication of these firefighters, in conjunction with strong community partners, has made the community of Streator a safer place.

2. Paul (“Pete”) Martin

Ramsey, IN, Volunteer Fire Department

Over his 56 years in the fire service, Paul (“Pete”) Martin has made a significant impact on the Ramsey Volunteer Fire Department and Harrison County, IN. He previously served as a chief and an assistant chief, and is considered the father of EMS in Harrison County.

Martin was one of the “founding fathers” of the Ramsey Volunteer Fire Department in 1961. After witnessing a home burn that resulted in the death of a woman as they waited for a fire engine from a town eight miles away, Martin and others began holding fundraisers to establish a fire department. They bought a used truck chassis and built their first fire truck. The department grew from covering the town of Ramsey to covering the townships of Jackson, Spencer and Blue River, an area of 113 square miles, out of four stations, with approximately 40 volunteers, 14 fire vehicles and two ambulances.

Martin and some other members of the department were in one of the first EMT classes in Indiana. After obtaining their EMT certification, they went to work to improve service in their area. They started the first state-certified ambulance service in the county in 1976, and served as the first-out ambulance in the area until 1996. Martin then led the movement to start Harrison County Hospital’s EMS system in 1977. He got the county to implement an EMS tax to operate the service, which remains in effect today.

Martin initiated efforts to get 9-1-1 phone services in the county, and later led the efforts for enhanced 9-1-1 phone services.

He was also on the hospital board and pushed for paramedic-level care to be implemented in 1996.

Martin is now a fire department board member, working with the three township trustees to organize a fire territory that will cover the townships they serve. This will allow the trustees in this area to implement a fire tax to increase fire department funding to enhance its service to the community they serve.

3. Wellington Jackson—BAY EMT

Alameda County, CA, Fire Department

Wellington Jackson is a founding member of the Bay Area Youth EMT Program (BAY EMT) and its current executive director.

BAY EMT is a community organization designed to provide scholarships and career development to students. Created in 2002 in Oakland, CA, the program was originally designed to teach the EMT curriculum to Oakland high school students. The current recruitment efforts have expanded to include young adults from the inner cities of all neighboring Bay Area communities.

The concept for BAY EMT was envisioned while the two founders were attending the Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute, a chief officer training program for firefighters. Planning for the program was formulated during the conference, and the first BAY EMT session was held six months later.

The mission of the program is to increase diversity in the first responder profession by instructing inner-city youth in the EMT and fire curriculum. The goals are to create civic-minded EMTs and firefighters who will apply their newly learned skills to community-based programs as well as in local EMS and fire agencies. BAY EMT is able to offer these programs through a collaborative effort with Merritt Community College.

The instruction is designed with an emphasis on improving study habits, test-taking abilities and community awareness. The curriculum also includes basic information on U.S. history, politics, government and current events. All students are required to participate in volunteer events that are scheduled by the program. BAY EMT partners with local nonprofits, churches and community organizations to provide these volunteer opportunities.

4. Thomas Wolff—Knock4Life

Brunswick, GA, Fire Department

The City of Brunswick had experienced several fire deaths leading up to 2016. Then on Feb. 4, 2016, there was a structure fire that resulted in a civilian casualty. Upon further investigation, it was found that the home was not equipped with smoke alarms. The department had been offering free smoke alarms to the public for years; however, many Brunswick residents were simply not aware of this fact. Inspector Thomas Wolff and Brunswick Fire Department members decided it was time to be proactive, so they started the Knock4Life program to ensure that citizens had working smoke alarms in their homes.

It first began with firefighters going door to door, a few blocks in each direction, every time there was a house fire. It was discovered that more than 90 percent of homes that were approached either did not have smoke alarms or the ones that were present were not functional.

Wolff realized that covering a few streets here and there was not going to be enough. At this point, a bold decision was made to knock on the door of every residence in Brunswick to offer to donate and install smoke alarms. Through dedication and a strong drive to protect and save lives, Wolff and members of the fire department successfully knocked on every residence in Brunswick within six months of beginning the Knock4Life program. Wolff even took the initiative to venture into mutual-aid zones outside of the city limits to make sure those residents had smoke alarms as well.

On Nov. 11, 2016, the Brunswick Fire Department shattered the City of Atlanta’s record for the most smoke alarms installed with the Red Cross in a single day by successfully installing 462 smoke alarms in various homes throughout the city.

It has been over a year since the Knock4Life program began, and the City of Brunswick has experienced several house fires with no civilian casualties.