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10/20/2021 08:30 AMEven in a town devoted to community service, the volunteers of the North Madison Volunteer Fire Company and their Fire Chief Mike Penders stand out. Many residents may not realize that the fire personnel in Madison are volunteers, but that doesn’t mean they’re unprepared.
These dedicated personnel may not be compensated, but they remain an integral and indispensable part of keeping Madison safe.
“That’s a question that many people ask me—’What’s the difference between volunteer and paid?’—and there is no difference between the training, the requirements or what is needed. It is all the same. Sometimes I think there is a misconception about the volunteer end. And in reality there is none,” says Mike. “Having gone through the training, there isn’t a different skill sheet for sign offs on proficiency. The amount of time of training, all of that is the same. Volunteer firefighting literally dates back to the Colonial period.”
Mike, his wife, and two children have now called Madison home for many years and his return was in keeping with his dedication to family and community. He is not only the fire chief for North Madison, but also works full-time as a fire marshal and as an emergency manager for Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Mike grew up in Madison and, after achieving a degree in criminal justice and certification as a paramedic, he spent several years working as a firefighter in Agawam, Massachusetts. It was there that Mike experienced one of the most impactful events of his career, one that helped bring home the realities of emergency service and of the communities that emergency personnel serve.
“Experience-wise, while working in Massachusetts we had a significant F3 tornado that struck. It was an unanticipated event, that was June 1, 2011 so I definitely remember it well,” he says.
“It was in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was a true tornado, just like you’d see in Missouri, just widespread destruction, and I think we ended up working for three days straight,” says Mike. “But seeing everybody come together and seeing what truly is important. We had people from Boston, from Connecticut, from Vermont, it was a multiple-state response and it really put it all in perspective. There was career and volunteer personnel there. And it brought it home for me how important the fire department is, especially when people don’t know what to do.”
When it comes to safety for the home, Mike says there are several things any resident can do that will assist emergency personnel and avoid emergencies and tragedies form even occurring. One is proper and clear numbering of your home and mailbox.
“One of the most important aspect for people to remember, especially where we live in a rural area if you’re in the North Madison district: Make sure your mailbox is marked with your street number,” Mike says. “We know the streets and we know the town, but there are a lot of homes and it’s crucial that we can find your address. Have a well-marked mailbox.
“We have homes with long driveways where you can’t see it from the street. Make sure we can find you in an emergency,” he adds. “The average person will never call an ambulance or call 911 and that is okay, but you are rolling the dice by chancing it without a mailbox number. It’s a hard lesson to learn if you don’t.”
The other is the oft-heard advice to make sure to have working smoke and CO2 detectors in your home. According to Mike, this simple task can save a life and avoid a tragedy before it happens.
“We hear the mantra, ‘change your clock-change your batteries.’ We hear that a lot, but it so important for people to recognize that,” Mike says. “It is critically important to have working smoke and CO2 detectors in your home. We can’t stress that enough.”
Mike says that his community service is something that he and all of the crew at North Madison Firehouse, some of whom have been volunteering for decades, consider to be an honor. Unlike other municipalities, which can sometimes find it difficult to not only attract, but to retain volunteer personnel, Madison has always enjoyed a long and important history of volunteerism at the firehouse.
“I was just having a discussion on this recently, and a lot of areas in the tri-state departments are really struggling for volunteers, but we in Madison really don’t have a recruitment issue or a retention issue for that matter. If you look at North Madison, we have people here who been volunteers for 50 years, 40 years, 30 years,” says Mike. “You have to put in thousands of hours of training and spending money on state courses, but we do a really good job of retaining people.
“We are fortunate—it’s not luck, it’s the goal and message of our department, to make it really worthwhile,” he adds. “You have to give up time and be away from your family. It’s an important note for everyone to keep in mind—all the things that these volunteers have to give up to keep us safe.”
Mike also adds that anyone is free to stop by or contact the firehouse for a tour or to get more information anytime. Whether to just see the trucks and the building or if they are interested in volunteering themselves, Mike encourages all residents to take a look at what their firehouse is all about.
“I am very fortunate to be able to be volunteer and fortunate to be able to volunteer in Madison. It is such a great community,” Mike says. “We are always available if anyone ever wants a tour of the firehouse. If we are there, stop by, if not, reach out by phone or email. If they want some public education, or want to volunteer or just want to see what the firehouse is. They are more than welcome. If they want or tour or just want to meet with someone to learn more about us, just let us know.”
For more information, contact the North Madison Volunteer Fire Company at contact@nmvfc.org or 203-245-2772.