The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Who Influenced You?
Who has been an influence on your career as a firefighter?
Did they influence you to join?
Did they influence after you became a firefighter?
Who has had an impact on you as a firefighter?
I have many, but the ONE who stands out is a gentleman by the name of Dale Moore. Dale was a retired chief who was an instructor with the Illinois Fire Service Institute. Dale put on many of the classes that I took early in my career.
But, my father was a major influence in terms of personality. Firefighters like Tyke Jordan, Mike Whitson, Tom Freeman, Rick Lasky, Mark Wessel, Jim Blessman and many more all added dynamics as I sought to become a good firefighter and chief.
TCSS.
Art
Did they influence you to join?
Did they influence after you became a firefighter?
Who has had an impact on you as a firefighter?
I have many, but the ONE who stands out is a gentleman by the name of Dale Moore. Dale was a retired chief who was an instructor with the Illinois Fire Service Institute. Dale put on many of the classes that I took early in my career.
But, my father was a major influence in terms of personality. Firefighters like Tyke Jordan, Mike Whitson, Tom Freeman, Rick Lasky, Mark Wessel, Jim Blessman and many more all added dynamics as I sought to become a good firefighter and chief.
TCSS.
Art
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by DUST on
-
I love listening to Rick Lasky if he doesn't motivate you I don't think anyone will...
I had a friend who volunteered for years and then got hired with a paid dept. He came to visit me and told me firefighting was the greatest job in the world, talked of the comraderie, the schedule, and how much he loved it and said I should consider it. His enthusiasim was contagious but just before he left though he told me that it doesn't happen often but that when he has a bad day as a firefighter he has a very bad day... It's that last bit that I have remembered and I've told the same thing to the new guys. I had a bad day Saturday and am still thinking of it tonight, replaying the call, and wondering if I did everything the way I should have...Oh well it's been 10 years and were both still in.
-
Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
-
I don't think anyone influenced me to become a firefighter, I always seemed to have that drive since I was a kid. My brother and I would watch EMERGENCY and then would pretened we were firefighters...I had to be Johnny though. Then in Middle school we did one of these personality tests which would determine what type of job you would be good at and firefighter was one for me. Not long after I got a letter from the Boy Scouts about an Explorer post. I went to the meeting and joined up. I learned the job, did ride alongs, hung out with the crews, I fell in love with the profession and did what I could to get on.
Who has had an impact on you as a firefighter?
Tom DeMeuse of Shorewood Hills, I interviewed with him and awaited a call and got the position. I learned later that this was a chief that didn't cave to pressures of the governing body. When I applied for the internship, there were several other applicants as well, one being a female. I had entry-level FF already which meant I could be used immediately as a FF in WI. The village board wanted the female for diversity reasons and the chief went to bat, told them if they ordered him, that is what he would do, but said they would be making a mistake. I got the position.
Tom was a hell of a chief, despite being a volly dept, I learned much from him which has stuck with me into a career. He was a FT chief and did a lot of the maintainence and so forth. As interns we took time to learn from him and helped on projects like outfitting class A foam on the pumps, pump testing, driving, and what not. He is very knowledgable, great sense of humor with a quick wit and I never saw him angry. My first day acting as an engineer for GB, we had a large apartment complex on fire and I was driving the first in pump. I had so much spagetti out, but because of the time I spent learning and the time Tom took to teach, everything went well. I interviewed for a career dept while I was still interning and one of the questions was "what is one thing you dislike about your current supervisor?" I honestly could not answer the question.
-
Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on
-
my father did it i blame him lol
-
Permalink Reply by blair4630 on
-
No one person got me into it, I actually got interested by interacting with the two volunteer departments my first EMS service dealt with, one of which was my hometown dept. I just got to know the guys from both, and finally put my application in one day.
-
Permalink Reply by Timothy D. Stone Jr on
-
Well our current Chief used to be my boss a few years before I joined. I would sit and listen to his pager my shifts at work and would want to go. And then the FD had a sign out front talking about training (this was a few years later) and my dad and I were driving by and he said "That would be good for you son, free training and it would look good later on" And well that restarted the wheels. So the tuesday after that I was driving by the hall and saw they were all they I stopped in and signed up.
-
Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
-
AMAZING!
Over 41,000 members here and only SIX of us were influenced by someone else before, during and after we joined the fire service.
If only I could have figured out how to fit the vollie/career component into this discussion.
Anyway, I didn't figure that you all just had an epiphany.
Toodles.
Art
-
-
lol heres one way
out of 41000 members how many started off vollie
-
-
Loyd:
I recognize ALL pedigrees except one.:-)
I guess I joined a group of "quiet types".
My name is Art and I like discussions.
TCSS.
Art
-
Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
-
I really didn't have anybody to influence me to join. My wife supported my decision and I joined the local VFD shortly after we moved into our town house.
There are probably three people who have influenced me after I joined. Chief Victor Size (RIP). Vic was always willing to teach you everything he knew about fire fighting, rescue, hazmat, etc. All you had to do was show an interest and be willing to listen. Assistant/Deputy Chief Mike Krakowski, some may have viewed him as a man with a bit of an attitude but he was my first EMT partner and got me through it. Assistant/Deputy Chief James Busi, though he might not know it or admit it, he is one reason why I stayed in as long as I did.
Unfortunely I did loose touch with Mike and James and now I just sit on the side lines.
-
-
Bill:
On a related note, I think many of us have missed the opportunity to tell our influential people how much they did for us and how much they meant to us.
Dale Moore was a major part of my formative years and although we talked alot, I never once told him how much he did for me.
Oh, I thanked him whenever I had a session with him, but I didn't tell him of the value of his teaching to me.
Am I the only one with regrets?
TCSS.
Art
-
-
I don't know Art, regrets is a pretty strong concept to have to live with. Many people have an influence in other people's lives, some do have those who influenced them strongly tell them so. But to me the fire service and anywhere for that matter, is like a father watching his son grow. Do you really need to say you appreciate everything they have done for you for it to have an impact? Or, is it like a good father who watches their son become a man and sees his son put those values instilled in them to use? The father knows he made an impact.
In my case, my former chief influenced many people, some may have told him some may not have, but I know he was quite happy and proud when any of us looking to a career dept was hired by one. He could see the knowledge and skills being utilized on the fireground. Being able to sit back and watch someone you memtored utilize those skills and knowledge speaks much more volume than coming up and say how much one appreciates it. Recognition always helps, but my dad, my chief, my coach, would have told me the same thing, that they are just happy that they could help. I think passing that knowledge on to others and see someone else grow means you never have to live with regret.
-
Permalink Reply by Sam Cooper on
-
I had a friend who talked me into joining with him. So i joined and now I love it i can't imagine doing anything else.
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
