Tuesdays With TimFor almost the last five years, Tim Hunt has been going in to Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory station No. 2 every Tuesday, wanting to learn about firefighting and become involved.
On Tuesday, the station’s firefighters presented him with a plaque for his dedication and for being a part of the team. They held a graduation ceremony for him at the department’s Christmas party last month.
While presenting the plaque, Captain Mike Brubaker told him, “You remember, a while back, when we all got together at the Christmas party, and we had the graduation party at the same time and you graduated? We had something else for you but we didn’t have it. We want to give it to you today. Because of all your hard work, we want to give you a plaque with the helmet front on it.”
Hunt responded, “Awww! You shouldn’t have done this, guys!” while all the firefighters gave him a round of applause.
Brubaker reminded Hunt he’s been coming to the fire station for five years this summer. “Oh yeah?” Hunt said. “Wow!”
“He’s always wanted to be a firefighter. He’s in his mid to late 60s, I believe. He kind of got connected to us. He kind of just came in to look at the trucks one day, so we started talking to him. And he decided he wanted to do more, he wanted to pursue (firefighting),” explained WWFT Public Information Officer Max Kinsey before the plaque presentation.
Brooke Carey, of Ferraro Behavioral Services, Fort Wayne, works with Hunt on social skills and boundaries when they’re at the fire department. She said Hunt’s disability is very mild, but “the reason we do this specifically is because he is getting older and has some dementia issues, and this place keeps his mind very, very active, and Max has done all kinds of things for training him, like paper training tests, and then also things out in the field.”
Kinsey said besides going out on calls with the department, Hunt has helped with Family Safety Day – including putting a prop fire out with a water can – and public education.
“This is his dream,” Carey said of Hunt being involved with the fire department. “His family has been involved with firefighting for years, and this was what he always wanted to do. And he never had the opportunity to come regularly, so this is one of the first things we did – I hooked (him) up with Max and station 2. It hasn’t just been station 2 though that’s kind of adopted Tim. Every station has taken him under their wing. He does things now without support from me, which is really cool.”
His cousin, Denny Fifer, was a firefighter with WWFT. Carey said when Hunt was younger and used to live in Warsaw, he would walk to station No. 1 and hang out. Now that Hunt lives in Winona Lake and is older, he can’t get to the fire stations on his own so Carey started taking him.
“It makes a big difference memory-wise when he’s here. He is sharp and he is on it, and whatever he is taught to do, he’s got it, which has really been a big help,” she said. Carey attributed that to firefighting being “his thing, he’s excited about it, he’s learning new things, he’s hanging out with the guys, he’s one of the guys. Because they hassle him just like they do each other. It’s really cool. It’s been really good.”
Station 2 told Hunt to come in whenever he wanted and they’d show him the tools and trucks. Like clockwork, Hunt started coming in on Tuesdays.
“He started coming in. He’d help us wash the trucks, and he’d help us go through the tools,” Kinsey said. “We started getting gear for him. He has his own coat. We got a couple of things for him. And he really just became part of us, he really did. He fits in really well with us, and he started going on some calls with us – the low-risk calls. He’d jump in the truck with us and we’d take him around.”
Hunt kept asking when his graduation was because he really wanted to be a firefighter. He knew to be a firefighter he had to go through training and “graduation and all that stuff,” Kinsey said.
The fire department started giving him testing and some physical tasks. They’d take him out to the training center, showing him how to force doors and other stuff firefighters need to know.
“He went through the whole process. He went through all the testing. We’d give him homework to do. He would bring it back, and he would do everything we asked him to do,” Kinsey said.
With the plaque they presented to him Tuesday, Kinsey said they were letting Hunt know he was “in.” All the guys from the department chipped in to pay for the plaque.
After the presentation, Hunt noted he hasn’t been to a real fire yet. Brubaker reminded him he’s been on multiple calls and gets to ride in the fire engine every now and then. Carey said he’s been in every truck.
“I’m looking forward to going to a fire,” Hunt said.
As for the firefighters at station No. 2, he said, “All these guys are doing really well.”
