Who Protects You?

Continuing in a series where I’d like you to get to know the volunteers and career personnel who protect Jasper County, next up is Ed Fritz.

Ed, who is also known as “Battalion 3” has served Jasper County for the past 20 years with his immediate territory being the city of Monticello. Originally from Torrington, CT and fresh from high school, Ed followed his high school sweetheart Valerie Salembier to Monticello when her family relocated here in 1988 and lived in what is now Reese Hall.

Ed and Valerie married in 1991 and established life-long roots here. Ed joined the volunteer fire department in 1997 while working full-time as an electrician for Excel Electrical Technologies. He has stayed with us for the past 30 years! While his dedication has never been questioned, he wishes the travel demands of his job didn’t affect his ability to respond as much as it does.

Ed says that as a young man he joined the fire department for the adventure of it all through the encouragement and neighborly prodding of Lewis Ozburn, also a long-time volunteer firefighter. Through his time here Ed has been trained as a Driver/Engineer, High Angle Rescue, Fire Responder, and is a NPQ II Firefighter which is a national certification in skilled firefighting.

No one can argue that firefighting in general is not a “young person’s” field. While there are jobs on the fire ground for people of all abilities, the nature of the work takes its toll on the body. While Ed is certainly ready for any task that needs to be completed, he concedes that his focus is now more on teaching the younger members of the department and sharing the knowledge he has gained over the years.

When I asked him about the changes he has witnessed in the last 20 years to this department and community, he mentions Fire and EMS now being combined and the benefits it brings to the county. He is hoping to see more volunteers join the department to get our membership back to what it used to be and strengthen our brotherhood.

Thank you Ed Fritz for your unwavering time and dedication to our citizens!!

As a reminder, www.tinyurl.com/JCFRcpr is available to sign up for CPR classes as well as reserve a time for a Child Seat safety check or install. Bookmark the site as other classes will be added soon! We’re on our way to having Jasper County 100% CPR trained!