Boots on the Ground

Get to know your fellow NVFC members! ryan daughton - east Franklin FIRE DEPARTMENT, NJ " Be the best you can be daily, and try to be better than you were the day before." That's one of several mantras that motivates Ryan Daughton, assistant fire chief at East Franklin Fire Department in central New Jersey. He has been volunteering for 20 years, but volunteering alone doesn't keep him active enough. Daughton spends his spare time working out, participating in Spartan and Tough Mudder races, and doing "basically anything athletic and adventurous to help charities out." How did you get involved in the fire service? My friend in high ...

Get to know your fellow NVFC members! TOM MERRILL - SNYDER FIRE DEPARTMENT, NY Tom Merrill serves as fire commissioner for the Snyder Fire District in upstate New York. You might recognize him from some of the trainings he has conducted for the NVFC, including a webinar on Professional Development for the Fire Officer .  How did you get involved in the fire service? When I was 19 years old and going to a local college, I worked at a supermarket. One day one of my co-workers who was the same age as me simply asked if I wanted to join the local volunteer fire department. He had joined at 16, and his father used to ...

Get to know your fellow NVFC members! JULES SCADDEN - DYSART AMBULANCE SERVICE, IA Jules Scadden is vice chair of the NVFC EMS/Rescue Section and the director of a rural ambulance company in Iowa. You might have attended her webinar on Volunteer EMS Recruitment, which is available in NVFC's Virtual Classroom. She spent several years volunteering for a local fire department prior to joining Dysart Ambulance Service. What came as the biggest surprise when you became a paramedic? The biggest surprise was how great I could feel when helping someone even a little bit and how bad I felt when I couldn't help.   Television ...

Get to know your fellow NVFC members! JOHN BORST III - SCHOHARIE (NY) FIRE DEPARTMENT John Borst III is the assistant fire chief for the Schoharie (NY) Fire Department. When friends in high school became active in the department, they convinced John to join. John's father previously served as chief for the department, so volunteering runs in the family. What came as the biggest surprise to you after you started volunteering? How many other volunteer firefighters (current or past) there are around the area, and how much we all have in common when we start talking about our own departments. How ...

Get to know your fellow NVFC members! MELANIE COLVIN - LEXINGTON (OK) FIRE DEPARTMENT Melanie Colvin serves as captain and training officer for the Lexington (OK) Fire Department. She also volunteers as Secretary/Treasurer for the Fire Service Instructors of Oklahoma and the training coordinator for the Cedar County Fire Protection District. In addition, Melanie serves on several committees for the Oklahoma State Firefighter's Association. She is the vice chair for the Benevolence Committee and the Safety and Health Committee and is a member of the Volunteer Fire Service Committee. Melanie, how did you get involved ...