Members of the Oneida KY Fire Department pose with their new friends in front of their new engine donated by Newstead NY Volunteer Fire Company
By: TIGER SCHMITTENDORF
This article appeared in the December edition of FASNY’s The Volunteer Firefighter magazine.
I recently created a recruitment campaign for a local fire company based around the theme: “Life’s an Adventure.” We know that being a real firefighter is about so much more than just fighting fires and saving lives. And, certainly we can agree that life in the fire service is always an adventure.
Well, let me take you on a little adventure I was recently in the middle of.
Almost a year ago, I received an e-mail from my good friend and mentor Billy Goldfeder, leader of FirefighterCloseCalls.com. He was passing on an e-mail from a neighboring fire chief who had received the same message from yet another fire chief in the Southern Ohio area.
With me so far? The originator of the e-mail was a Mr. Doug Carmack from Tipp City, Ohio. Now, Doug’s not a firefighter and has no relationship to the fire service but I can testify that Doug, amongst other fine qualities, is truly a friend of the fire service. Actually, Doug’s a friend to any one in need.
Doug is the leader of a group from the First Baptist Church of Vandalia near Dayton, OH. His e-mail detailed the plight of a small volunteer fire department that his church group had worked with in distributing clothing to some less fortunate people in one of the poorest counties in the United States.
By the time the e-mail reached BillyG, he replied with “I’ve got a friend up in Buffalo who helps fire departments just like this.” He was referring to me and my connection to Hancock Hope.
Answering calls for help is what fire departments do every day. Answering fire departments’ calls for help is what a group called Hancock Hope does every day.
The non-profit Hancock Hope was created out of a need to support fire departments devastated by Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Since then they’ve expanded to help any fire department in need, regardless of their situation.
Such was the case recently when we learned of the plight of this volunteer fire department in Oneida, a small town in the heart of Clay County, Kentucky – the second poorest county in the country, with a total population of 20,000 people.
In certain ways, it’s the land that time forgot. The women work and the men hunt and fish for food to feed their families. Yeah, you read that right.
Their means are somewhat primitive while their needs have caught up to the modern world. Up until about 10 years ago, they were still tilling the land using plow horses. The median individual income is $9,000 per year.
The total fire department budget is about $8,000 annually. Some funding comes from state support based on responses and training performed (there’s a novel concept); and the rest comes from donations and $25 per household subscriptions for fire protection.
The fire department was formed in 1978. They were still operating their first fire truck: a 1979 Ford/American Fire Apparatus with a 750-gallon tank that leaked more than 200 gallons of water before they could get it to the fire. They have to raise the hood at every call to prevent it from overheating.
The fire department protects a 34-square mile section (not including elevation) of the Daniel Boone National Forest and target hazards include a natural gas distribution center, plenty of logging and mining; the Oneida Baptist Institute and miles of winding roads and expansive farms, all of which provide plenty of practice at extricating accident victims. The closest hospital is 30 miles away. So is the closest ambulance.
Can’t picture where I’m talking about? Let me put it in perspective for you. The next county over is Hazard County. That’s right, as in… “The Dukes of Hazard.” This is Hatfield and McCoy country, Boy.
But you know what? It’s the darnedest thing, despite their seemingly old world ways they still need fire, rescue and emergency services just like the rest of us. Isn’t it a small world?
This small fire department was bordering on destitute due to a general lack of public and private support. Their gear was sub-standard; their only pumper was unreliable and unsafe; their equipment was dilapidated. And to top it all off, a former leader had allegedly run off with grant money that was earmarked to buy new equipment a few years back.
What they were left with was a group of spirited, dedicated, hard working individuals who were committed to doing whatever it took to regroup and rebound from their hardships; a group of people dedicated to doing the right thing for their small community.
A series of e-mail communications triggered a response that connected Oneida, KY to Dayton, OH to Buffalo NY and points in between – in a bond to do the right thing: To help a fire department that was desperately in need of some outside intervention.
I immediately contacted Hancock Hope President Dan Macakanja, and relayed the call for help. They responded immediately by sending used turn out gear and equipment to Oneida. Dan connected with Doug Carmack and developed a comprehensive list of their needs.
Fast forward about nine months and another team of angel investors appeared on the horizon. Scott Zitzka, past chief of the Newstead Volunteer Fire Company in Erie County, contacted me to offer a gift, if we could find a fire department in need of it. Newstead had just replaced a 1986 Ford/Young Fire Equipment fire engine.
Based on a flooded market of used fire apparatus, this small rural fire company, fortunate enough to be blessed with a new fire engine, decided that the old engine didn’t owe them anything and that it would benefit everyone if they could pay it forward.
Hancock Hope began to connect the dots. On September 9, 2008 four members of the First Baptist Church of Vandalia drove to Buffalo to pick up the fire engine and for the first time, meet their benefactors.
Macakanja made another connection on behalf of the Oneida Fire Department. He found a used ambulance in Mississippi that was up for adoption by a family in need. Guess who was donating the ambulance? The West Hancock Fire-Rescue Department that had been all but wiped out by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Thanks to the Hancock Hope organization and others, their needs were satisfied and they jumped at the opportunity to do the right thing as so many others had done for them.
The church group cleaned and polished the two pieces of apparatus and the equipment on board before setting an elaborate scheme into motion.
They contacted the Oneida Fire Department and asked them to set up for another community-wide clothing distribution at their fire station on Saturday-October 12. Scott Zitzka and I, along with fellow Newstead firefighters Mike Logel and Mike Mutter drove nine hours to Oneida, arriving just before dinner on Friday night.
Prior to our arrival, the church group had snuck the fire engine and ambulance through Oneida (as best you can sneak a fire engine and an ambulance through a town with only one way in and one way out.) Very cleverly though, they didn’t letter the vehicles until they got to their final destination.
The fire department did their job and invited all of the town’s people to the fire station to pore through the boxes and boxes of clothing and footwear that the church group had brought for them.
With everyone waiting outside the fire station, the team from Newstead, New York; Hancock Hope and Dayton, Ohio rolled into town – lights flashing and sirens and air horns blaring.
The firefighters and citizens stood in amazement as we pulled up. You see, they had no idea that the apparatus was coming for them. It was a complete surprise.
There in front of them was parked a new fire engine and a rescue with the Oneida Fire Department name, their fire department name, lettered on both sides of each vehicle. They were speechless and tears filled their eyes. The visitors welled up too as they explained to their new southern friends that these new tools were for them and they were free, no questions asked.
Words can’t describe the looks on their faces as they struggled to convey their deep sense of appreciation for these unsolicited gifts. They couldn’t believe that anyone, let alone complete strangers from hundreds of miles away, would do something like this for them. It was a tremendously humbling experience for everyone.
We spent most of the day together with our new friends, getting to know each other and sharing stories of how the fire service is about doing the right thing. We shared the kind of camaraderie that only comes with earning the title of firefighter.
Christmas had come early for the Oneida Volunteer Fire Department. Chief Davidson choked up as he tried to relate their gratitude for the apparatus donations, “Two years ago, the state told us we didn’t exist as a fire department. They gave us five years to re-build. Now our volunteers are trained and proud to respond.”
“With that old engine, we never knew if we were going to get to the fire - or if we were going to get home alive. What you folks have given us; what you have done for us, is truly amazing.”
We only asked for one thing in return. We made the chief promise that they would take the old engine out of service. We left the following morning with more than we had left behind. We left the Oneida Fire Department better prepared to serve their community safely, but were better off because of it.
Just like Oneida, the Town of Newstead, Erie County and the great State of New York are blessed with a group of spirited, dedicated, hard working individuals who are committed to doing the right thing for their community.
On the way home, we stopped and had lunch at Billy Goldfeder’s house. We tried our best to put our new experience into perspective.
Here’s my concern. I know that there are more fire departments out there who would love to do the right thing but are bogged down by only being able to do things right.
Their bylaws, district rules, attitudes or just perceptions allow them to throw perfectly good but used equipment in the dumpster – but don’t permit them to give it to a fellow fire department in need. While I understand it, I just don’t get it. It bothers me deeply.
Certainly, the fire service has always been about doing things the right way, but more importantly, it was built on the foundation of doing the right thing for our neighbors, our fellow citizens and our brother firefighters.
Expand your horizons and make your world smaller all at the same time. Do the right thing and get involved in supporting Hancock Hope. Volunteer with your time and talents – or with your checkbook or other resources.
There’s a print that hangs on the wall of Oneida’s fire station that I think best sums up this team effort. It reads: “I am my Brother’s Keeper.”
Hancock Hope is brotherhood proven. Prove you’re a real firefighter. Do the right thing.
As they say on the Blue Collar Tour: “There’s your sign.” Merry Christmas!
For more information about Hancock Hope and how you can help, visit www.hancockhope.com. Contact Dan Macakanja at 716-341-2870 or hancockhope@gmail.com; or Tiger Schmittendorf at 716-601-3020 or tiger@tigerschmittendorf.com.
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Tiger Schmittendorf is a proud FASNY member and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator and created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980. He can be reached by e-mail at tiger@tigerschmittendorf.com.