Fairmount Fire Department, April 21, 22; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Camillus Fire Department, April 21, 22; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Marcellus Fire Department, April 21; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Fire departments: To see your department’s events added to our calendar, email Amanda Seef at [email protected].
It was a routine medical call. An elderly man — not breathing, unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics did all they could and were bringing the man from his home, with the man’s wife by his side. She leaned down and whispered, “I’ll meet you there. I love you.”
A smile spread across the man’s face, responsive only to the love of his life.
“It was the most obvious smile,” said Erich Nägeli, a Fairmount volunteer firefighter and EMT. “Here’s this guy, with no pulse, completely unresponsive to us. And he smiles. When that guy smiled for his wife, I broke down crying.”
Calls like that stick with emergency crews, Nägeli said, and have been a concrete reason why many men and women continue to volunteer their time for their local fire departments.
The public will soon get a chance to find out what the local departments are doing, and why they volunteer their time. The state-wide recruitment drive, Recruit NY, will be held April 21 and 22 at the tail end of National Firefighter Week. Nearly all departments will open their doors to anyone interested in learning more about how the departments operate or how to apply to be a member. The program aims to bring fresh faces to the departments and to showcase what local departments are doing.
The majority of fire departments in Onondaga County are 100 percent volunteer, said George Davenport, a Manlius resident and chairman of the recruitment committee for the Fireman’s Association of the State of New York. Davenport first started Recruit NY in Onondaga County, where 52 of the 57 departments in the county participated. FASNY has since taken the drive statewide.
“If there weren’t people willing to volunteer their time, who is going to do it?”
— Patrick Rothery
Each volunteer on the fire protection or EMT side saves municipalities thousands of dollars — nationally, volunteers save the nation about $37.2 billion in costs that would have to be paid to career staff.
“People volunteering are saving millions of dollars,” Davenport said. “If you didn’t have the volunteers, you would have to be paying them.”
Locally, nearly all departments in the county are volunteer. The departments are typically contracted through the village or town, assigned to a fire protection district.
“If there weren’t people willing to volunteer their time, who is going to do it?” said Patrick Rothery, a Marcellus firefighter.
Community service
Volunteering your time in some capacity is an important role of any community member, said Bob Zysk, who has volunteered with the Fairmount Fire Department since 1975.
“That person we’re helping could be my neighbor, my mother, my brother,” he said. “I’ve lived here all my life.”
The reason anyone walks through the doors at the department is constantly changing, but the reason they stay is the same — community service.
“I love the feeling of being there for someone when they need you the most,” said Fairmount Fire Department bunk-in Ian Herford, 20, of Aurora. He’s living at the fire department as part of the bunk-in program at Onondaga Community College. The program brings students studying fire prevention technology to the fire houses, offering free room and board in exchange for volunteers at the station when fire calls come in.
While the majority of fire calls aren’t structure fires, being there for the community during a vulnerable time is the root of the service, Nageli said.
“We never get called to somebody’s birthday party. We get called to people’s worst situations at the worst possible time,” he said.
“And you get to go and be the person to help them through that,” said Rothery.
It’s in their blood
Rothery’s family knows fire service. His grandfathers and father were all chiefs. He grew up around the calls, and he knew what he was getting himself into.
“I’d hear the pager go off and watch my dad run out the door,” said Patrick Rothery. “I said, ‘I want to do that.’”
So when he moved to Marcellus, he joined the town’s department. He always enjoyed seeing the fire service in action growing up, knowing what deep connections fire departments have with the communities.
“We’re going out to help people,” he said.
Rothery’s is one of many “legend” families, where generation-to-generation, the family joins the department. Each department has them — the last name well-connected to the department.
Jim Rossiter’s parents were both involved throughout his childhood — his father, a firefighter. His mother, in the auxiliary. His brother, John, is the current chief, a role Jim has also held.
“It’s like a hobby. I don’t know what I would do without it. I’ve done it for so long, since I was 16. It’s my desire to do this, it’s in my blood,” Rossiter said.
A new brotherhood
Not that it’s necessary to come from a long line of firemen to join the service. In fact, there is hardly a “typical” firefighter. The rise of females involved in fire service has increased in recent years, composing about 5 percent of all volunteers, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
“It may look like there are not a lot of women in the fire service, but there are more than there ever was,” said Michelle Popps, a volunteer firefighter and president of the Fairmount Fire Department Association. She started as a firefighter at 37 — something she says proves you don’t have to be young, or a man, to get involved.
“You don’t have to be 18 or 19 years old. You don’t have to be a man. There’s a job for everyone. It’s not just about running into a burning building,” she said.
Women are taking active roles in all parts of the department, said Christina Groesbeck, a volunteer firefighter and EMT at Camillus.
“There are so many opportunities within the fire department and EMS,” she said. “Don’t assume anything. There are so many different roles for different talents. Every person can absolutely find their niche. I would hate for a woman to feel she can’t do it or she shouldn’t do it.”
“I forgot to walk into the house as an EMT and I walked in as a mom. It wasn’t even horrible, but you make a personal connection with these people. They expect you to come in and know what you’re doing. I didn’t forget what to do but I did forget what hat to wear.”
— Christina Groesbeck
Groesbeck remembers going on a call for a little girl who fell off a bicycle and was covered in scratches and bruises.
“I forgot to walk into the house as an EMT and I walked in as a mom,” said Groesbeck. “It wasn’t even horrible, but you make a personal connection with these people. They expect you to come in and know what you’re doing. I didn’t forget what to do but I did forget what hat to wear.”
Proving ability in a traditionally male-dominated field has been a challenge for many women in the service.
“I was like, ‘do I have to prove these guys wrong?’ Just because I’m not a man doesn’t mean I can’t do what the men can do. It’s not about who you are, it’s about what you do in the fire department,” said Lisa Schreyer, a Camillus firefighter.
Cassidy Tiska, 18, a bunk-in at Fairmount Fire Department, said that she has found nothing but support from the male-dominated team.
“The majority of men are going to give you a pat on the back,” she said. “You’re trying. You’re putting yourself in a profession or volunteer situation and you’re giving it your best shot.”
Expecting the unexpected
When that alarm sounds, the beeper goes off or the text messages arrive, it’s an instant switch into firefighter mode.
“You don’t think about it. We go on with our lives and at that very moment, your mindset changes from whatever you were doing and goes into that firefighter mode. You’re thinking about what’s the best way to help these individuals,” said Chris Isgar, deputy chief of the Fairmount Fire Department.
“When the beeper goes off, something triggers and you know you’ve got to go,” said Scott Binns, a past chief and current assistant chief of the Camillus fire department.
Adrenaline junkies flock to the department, looking to catch a thrill through helping in emergency situations. Keeping your mind straight and your training in the forefront is part of that adrenaline, Rossiter said.
“The adrenaline takes over. There’s a life that needs to be rescued. That’s what we’re here for, for life and safety,” he said. “When the pager goes off, nine times out of ten, someone needs help and we’re on our way.”
Supporting the family
Fire departments have become increasingly family-friendly, offering programs for the whole family to get involved. Social events, be it a summer picnic or heading to a baseball game, allow for the camaraderie to continue.
“You meet a lot of great friends,” Isgar said. “We do so much together as a group, and as individuals.”
That group mentality comes in handy during most calls — first responders are on the receiving end of a lot of tough situations, working to put back together the puzzle as the pieces continue to fall. But when the day is through, and the responders return to the station, the family that’s waiting makes it all worth it, they say.
“It’s a true brotherhood. At any given time, I can call up any of these men or women here and they would be available,” Isgar said.
“It’s a noble calling and that’s what I think it should be. Something that still stands for some good in the world.”
— Scott Binns
The trust of a family also comes into play, particularly on high-stress or high-intensity calls. Pushing each other for better training, more learning and increased awareness is a never-ending opportunity in the department, said Camillus firefighter Bill Vivenzio.
“We hold each other to a pretty high standard because our lives are in each other’s hands,” he said. “We all need to come home safe.”
In the good times, and the bad, the fire departments stick together. They celebrate the successes, and mourn the calls that don’t work out in a happy light. But talking about it, and knowing they’re a family is pivotal, said Scott Binns, a former chief and current assistant chief in Camillus.
“It’s a noble calling and that’s what I think it should be,” said Binns. “Something that still stands for some good in the world.”
Fire departments: To see your department’s events added to our calendar, email Amanda Seef at [email protected].
Amanda Seef is an editor/reporter at Eagle Newspapers. She can be reached at [email protected], at 434-8889×334 or on Twitter, @AmandaSeef.
