Volunteer firefighters deserve our help
Keith Martin, Governor Ed Rendell’s new Director of Homeland Security, recently testified before a house committee about an important subject – the need for more Pennsylvanians to serve as volunteer firefighters.
I’ll have more to say on that in a moment. But first, it was refreshing to find Keith Martin in the news for doing his job. Since his appointment in January a series of distracting controversies have swirled around Mr. Martin painting an unfair image of a man who has dedicated is life to public service.
I have known Keith Martin for many years, since he was a television anchorman in Lancaster and I worked for the Republican State Committee. I last saw him in October of 2001 – while he was serving as part of the National Guard contingent providing an extra level of protection at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. As I said, a man whose life has been dedicated to public service.
Shortly after his appointment an incident involving some public relations work he did years ago while moonlighting from his television job was dredged up. It seems the moonlighting violated WGAL’s company policy, and worse the company he did the part-time work for was subsequently found to have had some unsavory dealings with the Iraqi government. That proven embarrassing to Martin, but he did the right thing and resigned his television job, moving to a station in Wilkes-Barre where he continued his journalism career with distinction.
After serving in the military for 34 years, Keith Martin retired with the honorary rank of Brigadier general. When his appointment as Pennsylvania’s homeland security chief was announced, he wore the general’s stars. That turned out to be a violation of military protocol. In a highly unusual move for a politico, the Governor himself took the blame admitting he had asked Martin to wear the stars. Rendell deserves kudos for taking responsibility and not letting his appointee hang out to dry. Both Rendell and Martin said they didn’t know the wearing of stars was wrong, and apologized.
It is an apology all Pennsylvanian’s should accept. Like most capital cities, Harrisburg tends to grind up good people. That is why it is so difficult to convince the best and brightest to serve in government. Keith Martin is one of the best, perhaps one of the brightest, and certainly one of the most dedicated public servants in the commonwealth.
So when he appeared before the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee it was no surprise he made a pitch on behalf of the state’s volunteer firefighters.
In most Pennsylvania communities fire protection is provided by volunteers. They are usually the first responders to the scene of any fire or accident. Being the type of people they are, you also tend to see them helping out at just about every community or church function.
But volunteer firefighters are becoming an endangered species. Martin told the House committee the state once had almost 300,000 volunteer firefighters, now there are only 70,000.
In addition to long hours of training, volunteer firefighters often have to raise the money to pay for their firehouse, trucks, clothing, and equipment. After all that, they leave their families or their jobs on a second’s notice to risk their lives for people they don’t even know.
On September 11, 2001, when so many New York City firefighters died in the collapse of the World Trade Center, we all were reminded of the bravery of this extraordinary breed of men and women. But the job they do is done every day – and unfortunately all too many die performing selfless acts of heroism that go unreported outside their local areas.
“We ask everything in terms of training, commitment and risk, and offer too little in terms of recognition, respect, and support,” Martin said of our volunteer firefighters.
So the next time you get a letter from your volunteer fire department, or ambulance company asking for a financial contribution – make one. Better yet, call your local company and volunteer. You don’t even have to fight fires to help – every company needs volunteers to help around the station, raise money, or perform administrative tasks.
Thanks to our volunteer firefighters we all sleep a little bit safer at night. These brave men and women are real American heroes.