I've had alot of chiefs in my time in the first service. Never served under my uncle who was our 2nd chief and served for 25 years. I asked him once why he stepped down. He said it was time and the company needed new leadership. I missed by a year serving under his successor who passed away of a heart attack before I joined. I didn't even know the first chief who later became a very good chief and one of my best friends.
He along with another chief got us to run with other companies. Being a small minority company we had to prove ourselves. Many a time a chief would call fireboard and ask why we weren't on a run or didn't get called. Chief Trotter and Saunders got us on cover ups which lead to more runs once people got to know us. I wrote before about us having covered over 35 different companies in DEL, MD, NJ and PA. Some for parades alot for actual fires. I think we're at 38 right now.
We've had bad chiefs who basically just walked around with a radio. One chief was so unrespected that other chiefs would only go to the deputy or myself (capt at the time) for issues in the fire coimpany.
Some wanted to be chief because we were getting a new engine and wanted to take credit.
Chief Aiken took us to another level. More training and better equipment. It was good to get on the engine and not worry about who was on. Many volunteers know the feeling. I got 5 FF's but can only depend on 2 or 3 to REALLY get the job done. We were hanging out everyday, having BBQ's on the weekends. It felt good to get 2 engines out with full crews when many companies had trouble getting one out.
What does your chief do for the fire company? What should your chief do for your fire company? What do you look for in a chief?
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