40th Anniversary: Honoring the Fire Service on Canvas

How often have you attended an event and received a chotchke or gift from the host organization? A pen, a notepad, a stress ball, a lapel pin, a coffee mug—these are the types of gifts that you often find in the goodie bag. But quite often, they never find their way back to your home or office.

When the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) hosted the First Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner in 1989, it wanted to present something special to the attendees—a keepsake that would not only remind the guests of the event but would also capture the pride and tradition of the fire service. So CFSI commissioned a painter to honor the fire service on canvas.

Chas Fagan is a self-taught artist from Pennsylvania (he has since moved to North Carolina). His first painting for CFSI in 1991 was rather simple. It showed a firefighter’s gear hanging on a hook and a bag of EMS equipment sitting on a nearby stool. The title of the painting was “Back in the Firehouse.” Fagan himself would tell you he was still in the process of honing his skills as a painter.

Since then, Fagan has become a nationally (if not internationally) known artist. His work is on display in the U.S. Capitol, the National Cathedral, the White House, presidential libraries and art galleries throughout the nation. In 1999, C-SPAN commissioned Fagan to paint portraits of every U.S. president for a special TV series on our presidents. He has since added portraits of George W. Bush and Barack Obama to the collection.

In 1998, the American fire service celebrated its 350^th anniversary. That year, CFSI commissioned Fagan to do a painting commemorating this anniversary. He asked me if I had a firefighter in mind who could serve as the primary figure in the painting. I selected Mike Vogt, a firefighter from Casper, WY. I first met Mike when he competed in the Firefighter Combat Challenge and I was the project manager of the competition. Mike had all the many outstanding attributes you would find in our nation’s first responders: dedicated, determined, loyal and unselfish. He had also fought a battle against cancer—and won! Selecting Mike was a no-brainer. I’ve seen many paintings of firefighters, but this has inspired me the most—that is, until 2001.

Shortly after the horrific events on September 11, I spoke to Fagan about doing another painting—a painting that would pay tribute to all firefighters throughout the nation called into service following 9/11, including career and volunteer, chiefs and those serving in both rural and urban communities. Once again, Fagan asked me to select the firefighters. With the help of a few associates, I chose Lt. David Michaels, City of York, PA; Lt. Mike Cacciola, FDNY; Firefighter Tommi Rucker, District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department; Firefighter James Kirsch, Bergenfield, NJ, Fire Department; Battalion Chief Ben Barksdale, Arlington County, VA, Fire Department; and Chief Steve Kavanaugh, Aetna Hose and Hook, DE.

CFSI was honored when Firehouse Magazine asked to use these two paintings on their front covers (Vogt in 1998 and the 9/11 tribute in 2002). The actual paintings remain on display in our office. To this day, I always like to show them to our office guests and explain what they represent and mean to our organization. The detail of Fagan's work is quite impressive; however, it's his ability to capture the expressions of these seven firefighters on canvas that demonstrates his incredible talents.

If you are interested in purchasing either of these prints, CFSI is selling them for a special Firehouse 40^th Anniversary discount price of $5. Please visit our website at www.cfsi.org and click the merchandise page to place your orders.

Congratulations to Firehouse Magazine on the occasion of its 40^th anniversary.