If you’re the chief officer at a fire, probably the most important thing you want is people who know their jobs. There is complete chaos at most fire scenes and while you’re trying to bring order to the chaos, the last thing you need is players who don’t know their job. 

One night we responded to a fully involved attached garage in the dead of winter, but we had a pretty good chance to make a good stop and keep the fire out of the house because we had 3,000 gallons of water in a tanker while the crew was creating constant water supply.

The person operating the tanker called me to ask how to put the pump in gear. Having no patience at all and being up to my ass in alligators on the fire ground I replied that I was busy and he would have to figure it out for himself. That was not Bob.

Bob is a very soft spoken man who rarely moves quickly, but always moves deliberately.  He’s been a firefighter forever and can always be counted on. That’s the kind of person you need in a volunteer department. Bob’s not a showy guy.  He doesn’t care much for the limelight.  He’s way more comfortable in the background doing his dependable thing.  That’s how things were in the department for a long time.  Bob’s engine after we had officers was Engine 4, the water supply engine. 

He had a bond with that engine and knew every little thing about it. Even though it was very old, Bob made sure everything was in working order and that his engine could supply dependable water.

Our town was faced with a fairly serious fiscal situation. That older engine needed to be replaced and there was not enough money saved up. A new engine was a very big nut to crack for the town, so we started looking for alternatives. 

We found a used engine in New York State for the amount of money the town had on hand.  I visited the fire department in New York, looked the engine all over and felt it was a great opportunity, but I had to sell it back home. 

After several meetings, it was decided that a handful of members would travel to New York, look the engine all over and if they determined it was a good deal, buy it and return home.

Things worked out fine and we were headed back to Maine with a Seagraves pumper.  It was yellow.  I believe fire engines should be red.  I also believe they should have white on top.  That’s just me.  All red is fine.  Red and black is OK, but yellow?  Let me just say that lime green never worked for me.

The yellow engine with the white top grew on me and by the time we were almost back in Maine the chief and I had an idea.  We had my wife contact Bob to see if he was going to be home. He was.  Instead of taking the engine to the station, we drove it to Bob’s house.  Lights and sirens, we drove right in his dooryard and announced that he was the new Lt. of Engine 1.

We had a department where everything was voted on and all issues were vetted, but this just seemed like the right thing to do. 

Bob still talks about it today, so I guess it was OK. There was one little issue that had to be dealt with.  Engine 1 would be the attack engine and be at the front line at all fires and Bob didn’t like the limelight.  He was much more comfortable doing his dependable thing in the background. 

Here’s another example of balancing department needs and keeping members happy. If you’re the chief officer at a scene you want the most dependable person supplying the water for your firefighters. Bob was that guy without a doubt. He didn’t think he was good enough, when, in fact, he was  better than good enough, he was the best.

Bob would “steal “ water.

When water was being pumped into his engine, he was always taking a little water to keep his tank full. Bob always knew where he stood with water. He knew if he had enough, too much or needed more.  Very few words were ever needed on the fire ground regarding water.  Bob took care of it.

It’s important to understand that at a working fire an officer is going to send people into a building on fire with their only protection being their water supply. 

That protection, if applied appropriately to the fire is their best protection, but that can only happen if there’s a dependable water supply.  In rural fire departments, dependable can sometimes be a challenge. Not if Bob is on the pump.  I never knew where he got it from nor how, but when we had a working fire, Bob always had the water.

I don’t know that there’s any such thing as peace of mind on the fire ground, but having Bob on the pump was about as close as it gets.

More Bill Packard

Volunteer firefighting is one of the most rewarding, fun things anyone can do if they’re on a department with the right culture.  My hope is that these stories can create enough interest in even one person to join a local department and feel the satisfaction that comes from being a firefighter and understand what makes it so special.

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

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