St. Marys Fire Department has announced Jeff Sass as its Firefighter of the Month.
Sass joined the St. Marys Fire Department as a firefighter in 2001 and is the recipient of the 20-year fire services exemplary service medal.
Fire Chief Richard Anderson said Sass has consistently maintained one of the highest attendance percentages for both emergency responses and training sessions, amongst his peers.
St. Marys Fire Department responds to approximately 140 emergency responses per year. The rolling hills, multiple waterways and mix of residential, commercial, and rural properties in St. Marys leads to an array of incident types for Sass and his fellow firefighters, making his 21 years of service, not only rewarding, but interesting as well.
“You never know what the day or night might bring,” expressed Sass. “We might roll out to a structural fire, and on our way back to the station, we get redirected to a brush incident. So, we must be ready for whatever this area will throw at us.”
“I have a lot of good and not so good memories over my 21 years in the fire service”, said Sass. “I would like to think the good ones outweigh the bad.”
Sass said the one that stands out the most in his mind was the day he received the call about his selection as the newest member of the department.
“It was a real game changer.”
Sass was born in Aurora and his family moved back to St. Marys when he was 11 years of age. “When we lived in Aurora, our home was near the fire hall. I would see the firefighters and fire trucks on route to calls and that is when I was hooked.”
Over the years, Sass has seen some changes, including improvement in the design and technology of rescue tools and equipment.
“The only other thing that trumps that was the much-needed renovated fire hall. Not only did it address health and safety concerns of our team, it also improved our average yearly response time.”
In 2020, based out of the municipal operation centre during renovations, the average response time was 7.78 minutes. Today, Sass noted, it is 4.05 minutes.
Off duty, Sass dedicates his time to his wife Nancy and two children, Cooper, and Jovi.
“Sass is a firefighter you can always count on to get the job done no matter the task,” said Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Edwards. “The department thanks you for your years of service and for the sacrifices you make to keep our community safe.”
