News

Article by Tony Petrailia

Heartwarming story of a resolute, Volunteer Fireman

On occasion, a heartwarming story traverses my desk. At 70 years old not much seizes my attention, but this incident pulled at my heartstrings. Recently, the Millville Volunteer Fire Company responded to an alarm call. The occupant and owner of the home was an elderly widow that necessitates the usage of a walker due to a forthcoming surgery.

The fire crew established it was a faulty hard-wired smoke detector. Try to envision how frightened this elderly widowed lady must have been being disabled and hearing a smoke detector alarm signaling during the night. The fire officer in charge, Doug Scott, had one of his crew members respond to the rear crawl space to ensure there was no danger below the house. When the firefighter returned, he unknowingly had mud on his boots, and it soiled a portion of the carpeting. Once he realized what occurred, he hurriedly exited the dwelling.

This is the point whereby our volunteer firefighter, not the one with muddy boots jumped into action. Yesterday morning, he went to that house with an electric carpet cleaner and made certain there was no trace of mud remaining on her carpet. In addition, at his expense, he purchased a hard-wired smoke detector at Hocker’s Hardware to interchange the faulty detector to alleviate any apprehension harbored by the homeowner. I doubt I need to illustrate how the homeowner felt. In addition, the homeowner just returned from a doctor’s appointment and the volunteer firefighter sat with the lady while she ate and took her medication. She certainly enjoyed the company.

For privacy reasons, I have purposely neglected to name the owner, address, or even the date of the fire alarm. I will, however, name the member, Steve Hess.

Steve Hess retired from the Prince Georges County Fire Department on the western shore of Maryland. Steve was a high-ranking command officer. He also served as a chief officer at BWI Airport. Upon his second retirement, he and his family relocated to Millville, Delaware. Steve brings his experience and integrity to the citizens of Sussex County. Despite Mr. Hess’ transitory time in Millville VFC, he has already left his mark. Steve stated to me he is not looking for any accolades and, “I have a vision for the fire service and the number one goal is customer service”.

It is also imperative that it is noted that these types of instances do occur from time to time and the homeowners appreciate the circumstances causing dirt from the boots and will manage their own clean up.

Kudos to Steve Hess for such inspiration and integrity you bring and  to all the other volunteer Firefighters at Millville VFC and Sussex County.