Prospect Heights Fire Chief Drew Smith will take one last ride in the fire truck Friday, in a ceremonial farewell to the city — and fire protection district — where he has served his entire career. It promises to be an emotional trip. After all, it is the only job he ever wanted.
Fire Chief Drew Smith and the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District partnered with District 214 to start an internship program.
Having grown up in Prospect Heights, Smith knew when he was 10 years old that he wanted to be a firefighter, and the two years he spent in the Fire Cadet Program as a junior and senior at Prospect High School sealed the deal.
“In my 45 years as a member of the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, I have seen many changes,” Smith says, “and overwhelmingly they were good for the residents and firefighters alike.”
While the district started out as a volunteer organization, in 1944, it didn’t have a fire truck until 1946 and built its first firehouse in 1948. But more changes would come, with the district adapting to meet the needs of its residents.
This intern learns about the levers on the fire truck panel.
In 1985, the district began providing paramedic ambulance service, using part-time personnel. They were volunteers, Smith says, who typically worked full-time jobs outside the community, making their availability to answer calls limited. Coupled with increasing family obligations and training requirements, the ranks diminished, he says, and those who remained were unable to fulfill the demand. It was inevitable , then, that the demands of the 1990s would lead to full-time personnel.
“Almost all the new members were seeking full-time careers as firefighter paramedics and when opportunity came it was usually elsewhere. Consequently, it was a revolving door of new trainees,” Smith says. “Basic fire academy training takes about 350 hours, and paramedic school is well over 1,000 hours, making learning this job a full-time job itself.”
High school interns watch a fire progress.
Smith himself joined the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District in 1981 and within two years he was appointed EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Coordinator, before earning the rank of Lieutenant one year later, in 1984. Within five years, Smith was named District Chief and Training Officer, and by 2000, he was sworn in as Deputy Chief and in 2016 as Fire Chief.
Beyond rising up through the ranks, what Smith enjoyed the most, he says, was serving others.
“I have gotten to train more than 100 new firefighters and paramedics, and I thoroughly enjoyed that,” Smith says. “It makes me smile to see others reach the goal I too had as a young adult.
“Equally important, I have been able to help hundreds of people on the worst day of their life,” he adds. “By either providing them with care and service, or by preparing the firefighters, paramedics and fire department with training, equipment and resources, I have loved every minute.”
As Smith approaches his last day, he reflects on all the great memories, as well as the changes he has witnessed.
“The next generation takes it from here,” Smith says. “I have gotten to be a part of many things here, and the variety of tasks is something I will miss dearly.
“I know I have left things better than I found it,” he adds, “I could write volumes about what I have seen, done, been a part of, but what I will miss most is the people. They are what makes a fire department, and Prospect Heights has a great one.”
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