Every nomination for 2024 Emergency Vehicle Technician of the Year includes a letter of support and explain why their nomination deserves to win the award. The seven judges had the difficult decision of narrowing down 43 nominations to the finalists and the winner.
The 2024 Emergency Vehicle Technician of the Year is Lamar Sauder, emergency vehicle master technician with Manheim Township Fire Rescue (MTFR) in Lancaster, PA.
Sauder is a second-generation firefighter with 50 years of volunteering with one fire department. He was a teenager when he started working in his father’s fire maintenance shop. Sauder said his dad, Bob Sauder, was his mentor and he quickly realized being a mechanic was what he wanted to be.
“I worked side by side with my dad,” he said. "You can have an EVT work on cars, but you can’t have an auto mechanic work on emergency vehicles.”
When Sauder started in the late 1970s, maintaining apparatus was less complicated. Rigs were standard mechanical parts and required hands-on maintenance. Over four decades, apparatus has evolved into complex electronics and integrated systems can be daunting.
“I think the biggest thing is electronics and the new safety features and the emissions,” Sauder said. Despite his long career and experience with evolving apparatus, Lamar shared he’s watching and waiting to hear more about electric vehicles in the fire service.
During the early 1990s, the role of fire department mechanics began to change.
The creation of the National Association of Emergency Vehicle Technicians, the Fire Department Safety Officer Associations’ Apparatus Symposium and the Emergency Vehicle Certification Commission (EVTCC) with a focus on educating fire mechanics, evolved to the professional term emergency vehicle technician (EVT). Sauder was part of the testing sites for the development of the Emergency Vehicle Certification (EVTC) program.
Dave Glick and Bob Sauder started the Glick Fire Equipment Company, a dealer and distributor in Pennsylvania. The company partnered with Pierce to provide and maintain their apparatus. It was during a time when Pierce had developed their own Master Technician program, based on the same classes as EVTC. Lamar became a Master Technician in the Pierce program and then was certified by the EVTCC for ambulances, driver operator inspections, fire pumps and accessories
In Fire Chief Scott R. Little’s nomination letter, he shared that Sauder annually executes over 240 vehicle inspections to meet all applicable fire apparatus standards and regulations. Lamar has also solidified relationships with fire apparatus dealerships around the region while consistently demonstrating first-class service and superb technical knowledge during on-site vehicle inspections with MTFR staff and actively assisting other organizations outside of MTFR. Municipal assets are valued at $10 million.
Little’s letter also recognized “Lamar’s contributions to help build the team and improve esprit-de-corps.” He mentors new MTFR employees and volunteers alike and willingly shares his knowledge to increase each member’s learning foundation. In addition, Lamar annually trains over 100 career and volunteer members each year in EVOC including setting up an off-road course for the proper use and handling of UTV.
The nomination continued, "Always attuned to the needs of firefighters and police, during COVID, Lamar created a spray system to sanitize fire apparatus and police cruisers each day to ensure the safety of first responders working on the frontlines."
Chief Little added, “I have worked with Lamar on various projects from apparatus scheduling to setting up annual proficiency programs for both career and volunteer. His ability to provide for collaboration was evident in his design and implementation of a new tracking process in which the on-duty shift captain could easily document and report issues throughout the 24-hour shift.”
When asked, based on his experiences, what advice Lamar would give new or young emergency vehicle technicians joining apparatus maintenance, he replied, "The biggest thing is to train, train, train." "We’re all going to be held to a higher standard and always remember there is no room for down fire apparatus; it has to leave the bay at 100%."
The following nominees were also awarded:
First Place: Doug Proulx - Fire Apparatus Technician Oklahoma City, OK, Fire Department
Second Place: Scott Kaelin - Lead Technician, Specialty Truck Repair, Wilder, KY
Third Place: William Pisani - Master Emergency Vehicle Technician, Tucson, AZ, Fire Department Fleet Management
Fourth Place: Miles Miller, Chief Mechanic, South Adams County Fire Department, Commerce City, CO
The 2024 Emergency Vehicle Technician of the Year Award, sponsored by Spartan Chassis will be presented to Lamar Sauder, at the Fire Truck Training Conference, on Oct. 2, in Lansing, MI.
Janet A. Wilmoth | Special Projects Director
Janet Wilmoth grew up in a family of firefighters in a suburb of Chicago. Wilmoth, who is owner of Wilmoth Associates, worked with Fire Chief magazine for 27 years until it closed in 2013. She currently is the project director for Firehouse, overseeing the Station Design Conference.
