Fire Chief Joe Holomy reflects
He plans to retire from his duties in
"It was not my intention to retire yet, but this decision was made over several weeks," said Holomy, 60. "It was not known by anyone in the city until
He admits the 1970s show "Emergency" sparked an interest in becoming a firefighter.
Many calls he responded to across four decades still stick in his mind -- some a little comical, others tragic. Some calls for help were by the elderly or pregnant women. Sometimes the victim was an infant or a teenager. Some were strangers, but some he knew. Some were injured pets.
Holomy credits the men and women employed by the
He brought in ideas, but his team had to buy in, he said.
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A part of his leadership was to gain the talents of the crew and encouraged them to utilize their talents. For example, an ISO Class 2 rating, set by the insurance industry, came from the entire department, not just one person. Response time anywhere in the city is four minutes. Staff from time of the tone to they are out the door in 90 seconds or less -- even from a sound sleep.
"I gave guidance, but it is the crew that is making this happen," said Holomy.
The decision to retire was a difficult one, he said. He and his wife, Mary, will remain in
"I'm not ready to just lie down," said Holomy. "I still have things I can contribute, so I'm not done. I'm not going to stop. But, the
"You put your faith in the training and the skill level," said
She added that many times he has paid for meals and/or lodging out of his own pocket, when a family was stranded from an accident. Several Christmases ago, he helped out a young woman who couldn't pay for her Christmas layaway, so Joe paid it off. Another time he stepped up was when a family was treated and released from a hospital late at night following a wreck, but no taxis were running at that hour.
"Joe picked them up and took them to a restaurant and their family came down from
She said he's proud of all the community programs he helped start to get families and children interested in what goes on at a fire hall. Advanced Vet Care was brought on as an on-call clinic for injured pets; plus carrying special pet oxygen masks on the trucks. Trucks also carry pet collars and leashes for when one gets in a vehicle wreck -- when the first instinct is to run away.
Holomy didn't start out in fire protection work. He was employed by
While working at Harris, he joined a volunteer fire department. He became an EMT and later a paramedic. Since 1976, he's been either a paid firefighter, paramedic, engineer, lieutenant, shift officer, deputy chief, administrative chief and fire chief.
"The height of my career was being a paramedic. There was that instant gratification and you could see the outcome," said Holomy. "I let my paramedic license lapse before I came here and at times I regret that. But, to meet today's standards, it would have been difficult to be chief and a paramedic."
He was hired by the
Rural fire chiefs credit Holomy for the help he's given them. He helped establish MABAS 54 (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) which is a partnership response system for fire and EMS teams.
"He brought a lot of knowledge to the rural fire districts," said
MABAS gave rural districts more organized plan, said
Holomy made some changes, but also, his staff has bought into ideas he brought to the department. He added gear lockers so firefighters no longer had to carry their equipment in the trunks of their cars. Off duty firefighters now store their bunker gear in their assigned station.
He helped create an Emergency Operations Plan for
He believes in public education and community involvement. The department has things like essay contests, coloring contests, birthday parties, car seat program, for children; and smoke detector program, and open houses at the fire station for families. He also added a chaplain to the fire department to help families in crisis.
Holomy said he thinned down the excess number of vehicles; changed the schedule to 24 on, 48 off; and made each piece of equipment on the roads designed to pull up to a house fire, so not have to wait on another piece of equipment to arrive to do their jobs.
"Each truck in the department has hoses, water, pumps, air packs, thermal imaging cameras," said Holomy. "But, this all took time."
Another thing that took time was getting every crew, paid-on-call and full-time, to be state certified in one level or another, across the board.
"We have well trained crews," said Holomy. "There were some bumps and grinds along the way. But, I established a training committee. I started to get some buy in. They were setting the standards."
He said some resistance came when he updated fire protection codes for public buildings in
Holomy said the words on his office wall mean everything to him: loyalty, dedication, integrity and honor.
"If we as a department are successful, then we all get praise," said Holomy. "If one of us screws up, we are all bad."
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