Normal Fire Department celebrates 50 years serving full-time

Posted on August 1, 2019
Members of the Normal Fire Department class of 1969 at a celebration held Thursday at the Hudson Town Hall. (Neil Doyle/WJBC)

 

By Neil Doyle

HUDSON – It was 50 years ago when the Town of Normal introduced its first full-time fire department.

August 1, 1969 at 8 a.m. was when the department officially went full-time.

“I can’t imagine for them 50 years ago it being 7:59 a.m. your a volunteer fire department, then literally one minute later it’s a paid department,” said current Normal Fire Chief Mick Humer. “This will always be a very special day for the department and we wanted to definitely celebrate what these guys did.”

The NFD and firefighters from other stations celebrated Thursday the 50th anniversary at the Hudson Town Hall.  Several members of the 1969 class attended the celebration, including Jerry Schwartz and Vance Emmert.

“It’s crazy to think all this time has gone by, but I’m surely glad I was part of it,” said Schwartz. “You get into this because you want to help people and I enjoyed the work.”

“The changes to the department are amazing, and even though it’s been 50 years, the changes to go from one station to now three and all the upgrades, it’s special,” Emmert said.

The class of 1969 had 10 firefighters.  Now, the NFD has 63 full-time staff.

The Normal Fire Department Class of 1969:

Chief Victor Slyvester Jr.
Chief George Cermak
Asst. Chief Chuck Smalley
Eng. Jerry Schwartz
Eng. Vance Emmert Jr.
Eng. Ron Lawson
Eng. Mel Harper
Lt. Dick Sutter
Eng. Bill Kerber
Capt. Ron Patterson

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]

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