You never know what to expect when you sign up to be a volunteer. I had the opportunity to serve as an Ambassador for the Firehouse Expo 2015 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. I was very fortunate to assist with setting up the inaugural Legends and Icons Event for the Firehouse Hall of Fame. This opportunity was one of the most memorable volunteer experiences in my fire service career.
I had the opportunity to serve as a chauffeur for the 2015 Firehouse Hall of Fame inductee, Chief Alan V. Brunacini, his family, and distinguished guests. Chief Brunacini is one of my valued mentors and someone who has inspired me throughout my fire service career. When I first started in the fire service, I read his book titled Essentials of Fire Department Customer Service from cover to cover. This book was one of the first books I purchased and studied when I became a firefighter in December of 2005. I had the opportunity to take classes from Chief Brunacini at the 2015 Firehouse World Conference in San Diego, California. When you attend a National conference, you have the chance to meet one of your mentors, take a class from them, and have the distinguished honor of driving them around Baltimore.
While at the Baltimore City Fire Department Training Academy, I assisted with the Hands-on Training (HOT) classes for the Firehouse Expo Conference. One of those classes was Burning Down the (Dolls) House with Fire Chief Ed Hartin. I had the opportunity to help him with the construction of the dollhouses for his class at the Firehouse Expo. Again, this was an amazing opportunity to work closely with one of the foremost experts in fire behavior. While building the dollhouses, I also had the opportunity to ask Chief Hartin questions regarding fire behavior and learn more than just how to glue particleboards together.
Another Hands-on Training (HOT) class I had the opportunity to volunteer as an ambassador was for Instructor Billy Leach from Big Rig Rescue and his course on Heavy Rescue: Overturns and Undersides at BA Products Co. in Columbia, Maryland. Again, this was another amazing experience to observe Instructor Billy Leach in action, particularly with the complex, heavy rescues scheduled for his class. The students in his course were challenged by complex vehicle extrication scenarios and utilized the full complement of heavy rescue tools provided by neighboring fire agencies and vendors.
During the Hands-on Training (HOT) classes for the Firehouse Expo conference, I assisted with logistical ground support for Lion Apparel in delivering turnouts for the event. This specific assignment was challenging because I was unfamiliar with the Baltimore area. I quickly learned my way around the local freeways and the rush hour traffic congestion. Lion Apparel provided a cleaning service to all the students attending the conference to clean their turnouts between the (HOT) class sessions to limit exposure to the harmful toxins that can cause cancer.
While at the Baltimore Convention Center, I served as a room monitor, assisting with student check-in, Instructor introductions, CEU requirements from Columbia Southern University, student checkouts, and addressing audiovisual-related questions for conference instructors. Overall, this was a great experience, meeting national-level instructors and having the opportunity to practice my public speaking skills in front of the classroom.
I would like to personally acknowledge and extend my gratitude to the staff from Firehouse Magazine, including Editor-in-Chief Tim Sendelbach, Vice President of Events Ed Nichols, and Conference Show Manager Brian Cassell, for this opportunity, which I will never forget. I am glad that I accepted the challenge of volunteering as an Ambassador for Firehouse Magazine. If you ever have the chance to volunteer for the Firehouse Ambassador program, I highly encourage you to accept this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
