Type of Organization

Other Response Agency Type

Job Function

Administrative Staff / Team Member

Years in Fire/EMS:

10

Primary Fire/EMS Department:

Mitchell Fire Company

Other Past or Current Departments and Organizations

Champaign Fire Department
Tolono Fire Protection District

My Training:

Illinois certified Firefighter III, with several other courses in emergency management, fire prevention and public education. Currently pursuing a Master's in Public Administration, concentrating in disaster management.

Relationship Status:

Single

Why I Joined Fire/EMS

Mitchell Fire Company is being founded in response to an important need--fire prevention and public education--in the underserved rural communities in east central Illinois. For many volunteer departments, a basic structural firefighting response is difficult to impossible, leaving them no capability for agressive and proactive fire prevention. In small towns, where stations are not staffed and most department members work in a city, by the time a fire is discovered it is usually too late to save a structure. This fact mandates the future emphasis on prevention in rural communities, especially since most volunteer departments are seeing a decline in membership. The best fire is the one the fire department never has to respond to.