Van Wert Fire Chief Jim Steele to retire

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert Fire Chief Jim Steele says firefighters today are better trained, but also face bigger challenges, than he did when he began as a volunteer firefighter more than four decades ago.

Steele, who grew up in the small Hardin County community of Dunkirk, has firefighting in his blood. His father, a physics teacher, was also a volunteer firefighter.

“I was a ‘firehouse rat’, there’s no doubt about it,” the longtime local fire chief said.

Chief Steele came to Van Wert in 1979, a time of economic recession, a time of lines at the gas station and unemployment, when firefighting/EMS jobs were hard to find.

After taking civil service tests for a number of departments, Steele was hired by then-Fire Chief Paul Baer on December 10, 1979.

Chief Steele had nothing but good words for the late fire chief, noting that Baer “had a real caring attitude” and was always willing to help, even providing advice to Steele when he took over as chief.

Chief Steele said the department in 1979 was a veteran group, most of whom had served in the military at sometime.

“They were a very seasoned crew, a lot of guys with burr haircuts who usually spoke in three-word sentences and I understood everything they said, usually followed by ‘yes, sir’,” Steele said, and provided an example: “’Get the ladder’ … ‘yes, sir’.

“I think every captain I had up here was a military veteran,” he added, noting that military veterans are often attracted to fire and police work.

The fire chief said the past 40 years have gone by “in the blink of an eye” and added that he doesn’t feel like he has “worked” too many of those days, since firefighting has been more pleasure than work to him.

There have been a number of changes in the department since he began in 1979, though.

“There’s a lot more science into it now,” Chief Steele said, adding that fires have also changed over the years.

“Back in my youth, fires were a lot of natural materials and big timbers, and they burned at a set rate … you kind of got used to it,” the fire chief said. “Over the years, a lot of hydrocarbons were added to (fires), so now fires burn hotter, they burn faster, and with a lot more energy.”

Chief Steele said that, 40 years ago when he started, a pound of house fire generated 8,000 BTUs (British Thermal Units) and a gallon of water absorbed 8,000 BTUs. Today, a pound of house fire generates 18,000 BTUs, the chief noted, making them harder to extinguish.

That doesn’t mean residents can’t make a big difference in how quickly a fire is extinguished, the veteran fire chief added, noting that the old adage of shutting windows and doors, if possible, when leaving a burning house, helps even more with today’s fires, which need more oxygen to burn.

Technology and training are two of the biggest factors in today’s professional firefighting organization, Chief Steele said, noting that the self-contained breathing apparatus, as well as monitors that sound when firefighters haven’t moved for 30 seconds and help locate them, have been a big help in keeping firefighters safe.

“We used to have air packs with no bells, so when you ran of air it was a bit of a sudden surprise,” Chief Steele said with a smile.

Training is also much more rigorous and encompassing than it was four decades ago, the fire chief added,

“The schooling that it takes to get in the game, and stay in the game, is far more sophisticated, far more detailed, and far more invasive than when I started,” Chief Steele said.

Unfortunately, the training is needed, because firefighters today face more challenges, and are asked to do more things, than ever before.

In addition to fires and EMS runs, firefighters also undergo hazardous materials training, as well as high-angle rope drills, and confined space, water, and ice rescue.

Confined space rescue, for example, is important, the chief said, because the last city firefighter killed was in a confined space situation at the time.

Haz-mat training is also valuable, especially with the many different kinds of materials being trucked through Van Wert each day.

“Everything is coming through town: radioactive materials is coming through town, acids …  all of it,” Chief Steele said, noting that an average of 3,000 to 4,000 trucks roll through the city on a daily basis.

Steele, who became chief on June 3, 1997, said he is proud of what the department has accomplished over the past 20 years, with two of the biggest things he has helped accomplish being the implementation of a fitness and wellness program for firefighters, as well as the .22-safety capital income tax. Noting that firefighting takes a toll on the body, along with the increased number of chemicals firemen breathe in that has made firefighting even more dangerous than it used to be.

“Studies show that one in three firefighters will develop cancer,” Chief Steele said, while also noting that just the physical aspects of the job can be taxing on a firefighter’s body.

The department has partnered with Van Wert County Hospital for a number of years on health issues, and firefighters also work out at Gen-X Fitness.

“That was a huge deal, and one of the hardest things we worked to get through,” the fire chief said of the wellness and fitness regimen, adding that he hopes the program keeps city firefighters healthy until they retire. “I hope that everybody can get out of here with their mind and body intact so they can enjoy their retirement.”

The extra emphasis on health and fitness is needed, though, because today’s firefighter/ET is doing more than ever before.

Chief Steele noted that, while fire runs have stayed fairly constant at around 250 runs a year, EMS runs have exploded, going from 2-3 runs back in 1979, to an average of 7-8 daily runs — sometimes up to 12 or more — today.

Chief Steele said that EMS runs are up 30 percent in just the last three years, with 2016 averaging 160 runs a month, while there were 124 runs in the first 19 days of January alone.

EMS runs have also come a long way in the last 30 years, starting as transport made by funeral home operators with rudimentary Red Cross first aid training to today’s paramedic, who can do minor surgical procedures and administer some drugs while en route to a hospital.

The fire chief said he expects EMS to evolve ever faster in the next few years, noting that it is a relatively new service, with only 30 years of history, compared to 225 years for firefighting.

The .22-percent safety capital income tax has also been important in providing city police and fire with needed equipment, the chief said.

Chief Steele noted that when he became fire chief in 1997, the department had some vehicles that were 50 years old.

“Fire trucks are still basically handmade pieces of equipment, and because of that, are expensive,” he explained. “There was just no revenue stream (at the time) adequate enough to take care of those big capital needs.”

The tax was a byproduct of a discussion between Chief Steele and then-safety-service director Derek Allen in 1999, with then-police chief Brent Dubach later joining the planning talks. The plan they came up with was generated from strategic planning both departments were doing, with equipment purchases mapped out for 25 years.

The fire chief also supported the use of a portion of the tax during the recession that began in 2008, noting that, although fire equipment is important, the most important factor in firefighting is the firefighters themselves.

Even so, the fire department was cut back to 1950’s staffing levels before money from the .22 tax was able to be used to bring staffing back to today’s 19 employees — still only up to 1974 staffing levels. The fire chief said he’d like to see one more firefighter on each of the three shifts, but added the city is struggling to keep the staffing levels where they’re at.

One initiative that Chief Steele is also pleased to be involved with is countywide efforts by local fire chiefs to donate free smoke alarms to children in grades kindergarten through ninth grade. That initiative, which began with a $25,000 grant from Eaton Corporation, has provided smoke alarms with long-lasting batteries to local school children for several years now.

“A $15 device really does make a difference,” Chief Steele said of the smoke detectors, while also thanking his fellow fire chiefs and Van Wert Fire Equipment for making the program successful.

Chief Steele also spoke about his biggest challenge: the F-4 tornado that hit the county on November 9, 2002.

“The tornado was as big as it gets, as dangerous as it gets,” the fire chief said, noting that it took approximately eight hours just to get past the emergencies — gas leaks, structure damage, and people trapped and injured — generated by the storm.

Noting that natural disasters are different than most things firefighters handle, Chief Steele added that a large natural disaster such as the 2002 tornado is a huge problem in a rural area such as Van Wert because fire departments depend more on mutual aid than metro areas.

Fortunately, the VWFD had implemented a philosophy that every fire vehicle had to carry enough equipment to handle emergencies on a stand-alone basis.

“That idea proved to be very successful in dealing with the tornado,” Chief Steele noted, who also praised the cooperation between city departments, EMA, and county, state, and federal agencies during the tornado.

With retirement just days away, Chief Steele said he and his wife, Connie, plan to do some traveling, while also dealing with farmland both families still own in Hardin County.

He also plans to do some hunting, a pastime he said he loves.

Chief Steele said he’s not worried about the future of fire department.

“In the final analysis, your staff is the most important resource you have,” the fire chief said, noting that the VWFD has excellent people who are fully able to deal with the challenges of the future.