Kevin Kamenetz
Baltimore County Fire Department Promotional and Commendations Ceremony
March 22, 2011
Good evening, and thank you, Chief Hohman, for those kind words. Let me begin by saying how honored I am to be here for the first time as County Executive and to convey my appreciation to every single member of the Fire Service for the work you do.
Our 25 career and 33 volunteer companies respond to about 115,000 calls each year, almost all of which – medical incidents, accidents, rescues and fires – never make headlines or end up being nominated for awards. But I want you to know that your efforts on these unheralded incidents are no less important to our citizens than the more celebrated ones. Every emergency medical technician who responds to a sick patient, every firefighter who protects a family’s home by putting out a chimney fire is a hero to someone. On behalf of the people of Baltimore County, I offer a sincere “thank you.”
Tonight, we congratulate 85 career members who successfully have achieved the milestone of promotion and a number of sworn personnel and civilians who have performed extraordinarily, often under duress. As I reviewed the highlights of tonight’s ceremony, I was struck by a consistent theme involving the question of risk and how we respond to it.
All of us, regardless of our vocation, face risks. We face risks when we decide how to invest our money, whether to take – or leave – a job, where to live, who to marry. Many of these risks we take knowingly, often after a lengthy consideration of the pros and cons.
The promotional candidates we honor tonight have taken this kind of risk. The safest course almost always involves maintaining the status quo. These 85 people have chosen the more difficult route. When we aspire to greater challenges and responsibility we hope for rewards – but the reality is that we also acknowledge the risk of failure. So, we pledge to work harder, learn more and dedicate ourselves even more fully to the job. I know that you, the promotional candidates, have done exactly this. Congratulations to all of you for being willing to take on the risks that come with striving to be better public servants
and especially to Jonathan Hart and Stephen Miller, who have achieved the rank of division chief, the Fire Department’s third-highest rank. Chief Miller has been a respected battalion chief for many years. And in 2008 Jon Hart became the Department’s first African American battalion chief. Tonight, we mark another milestone as he becomes the Baltimore County Fire Department’s highest-ranking African American ever. I am proud to see this latest step in our county’s movement toward increasingly diverse and talented leadership.
Of course, life sometimes brings risks that we do not have the luxury to contemplate. We go about our daily business, and suddenly circumstances ask us to do something out of the ordinary … something we are not used to doing … something that may cost us. Many of our award winners tonight are people who, without warning, faced a risk and responded with courage, intelligence and an instinctive reflex to do the right thing.
Firefighter/Paramedic Mark Falkenhan
Then we have Firefighter/Paramedic Mark Falkenhan.
On January 19, 2011, an apartment fire broke out at 30 Dowling Circle in Hillendale. Apartment fires are fairly common; firefighters deal with them all the time. This one unexpectedly turned deadly. Tonight, we honor a number of fire personnel who went above and beyond that night, including two from Fullerton’s Truck 8 who braved an inferno to rescue one of the residents. We are happy that they are here tonight. But Mark Falkenhan is not here because he gave his life fighting that fire.
Before Dowling Circle, 26 years had passed since our fire service lost someone in the course of firefighting operations. Countless dedicated fire personnel had taken the risks associated with their calling and gone home at the end of the day. When a fire department’s record is that good, one easily forgets how dangerous the job really is.
The Department has given Mark Falkenhan the “Medal of Honor,” the highest recognition a firefighter or EMS provider can receive. This is altogether fitting for one who made the ultimate sacrifice; for one who risked his life for others and ended up losing the gamble.
This evening, we grieve the loss of Mark Falkenhan. We pray for his family. We honor his service. And lastly, but not least, we resolve to follow his example when we encounter the challenges and risks that inevitably wait for us in the months and years ahead.
