1. What is your current title & your previous experience?
Currently I am Full–time Professor at a Community College, my previous experience in the Emergency Services, I was a volunteer firefighter, 911 dispatcher, moved into full time, became a First Class F, Firefighter (duties during my career were Rescue Truck, Pumper, Tanker, Ariel Truck,) after I retired that is when I conceptualized and brought the first Fire fighting training to our community college, creating partnerships with numerous with Local and Large Municipalities Fire departments, along with the Provincial Government as well as Federal Military and International Airport Firefighting and since trained hundreds of which I am very pleased are now full time firefighters, in addition supporting local departments with their volunteer fire training.

2. What is your favorite part of working for your department?
One of the areas that I reflect back upon is the feeling of pride in wearing the uniform, team environment and being able to be in a position to help others.

 3. How do you define success?
I believe success can be defined in a variety of different ways, a lot of people define success as monetary, but for me success is to have a
dream or a vision and the determination to follow it through, continue to pursue this, gaining little steps as you progress, engage all the diversity and criticism as a learning tool whether good or bad, but continue on, until you have reached the plateau level you were striving
for.

4. What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?
As a college professor I actually do this on a regular basis, because my students for the most are of the younger generation, one of the most important factors I try to relate to them is how important they are, and how proud I am of them because they have made it this far in their educational success.  Learn to embrace the past, learn from it, expand on it, and continue to move forward and to enjoy
life, respect themselves as well as others and finally using the cliché “when one door shuts another one opens”, so do not despair when someone says no because they will, look at it as an opportunity for improvement.

5. What is your favorite hobby? 
I love to fish, but I really love to play my guitar, sing  and create music.

6. Who has had the greatest influence on you?
There have been so many over the years from family members, friends to the great Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Merle Haggard in the music side of things to outstanding Heads of State in my mind such as President Kennedy. I like people that are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in, these are the people that I have learned from the most.

7. What will be your legacy? Is the world better because of you/your work/your influence?
I would very much like to believe like so many other Emergency Services Workers, Military Personnel, that due to being on the job at the right time in their lives that I had made a difference, and to all the students over the years saying something like “if it wasn’t for Don I would not of had the opportunity”.

8. What's the funniest work story/ event you remember?
There were so many, but one that stands out, we had this Rookie first time on the floor, we were on night shift, as you know up here in Canada our winters get a little nasty, so before we went to bed “yes sometimes we did” I opened all the windows, it was freezing in the room but nobody could get any rest but we pretended to, because I told the rookie the Captain liked lots of fresh air when he is sleeping, so under our blankets we laughed our heads off especially when snow was coming in the windows, the poor guy was shivering all night.  He stayed with it, he is a Platoon Chief today.

 9. Is there anything I haven't asked about that you would care to comment on?
Just a little on the song we wrote “don’t call me a hero” PSTD was not a common phrase when this happened to me, I am so glad the Industry for the most part has agreed upon the importance of dealing with this, verses our old days when our treatment was going our favorite bar and drowning the memoires for another night.

10. What is your favorite dinner & what do you drink with it?
My favorite dinner is a good old BBQ Steak, although my wife is for chicken or fish, and lots of green stuff she says is good for me, back in
the day a few beers would go good and the wife would enjoy her wine, now since we are as pure as the white driven snow lols, pop, and
coffee.

Mr. Donald Thomas Murdock, M.B.,  Medal of Bravery
Date of Instrument: September 29, 1986
Date of Presentation: December 5, 1986
Firefighter Donald Roy Ferguson, M.B.
Firefighter Donald Thomas Murdoch, M.B.
 
Shortly after midnight on 29 March 1985, the Whitby, Ontario, Fire Department was informed that two
children were trapped in a house fire. Within minutes, Firefighters Ferguson and Murdoch entered the burning building and, in zero visibility and intense heat, went in search of its occupants. When Firefighter Ferguson heard a child's cries
for help, he guided his steps through the long smoke-filled corridor by placing his hands on the wall. Concentrating on the young victim's voice, he located the ten-year-old girl in her bed. As he left the bedroom with the child, he met Firefighter Murdoch an proceeded towards the exit. The trio was crossing the kitchen area when a ball of flames suddenly knocked Firefighter Ferguson and the little girl to the floor. Firefighter Murdoch seized the child and carried her outside while Firefighter Ferguson exited on his own. Despite severely burned
hands, Firefighter Ferguson re-entered the house, found the other child in her crib and carried her out of the inferno.

1.  What is your current title & your previous experience?
 I retired from Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue, Florida in 2007 at the rank   of District Chief. I came into the service in 1976, joining Del-Trail Fire Control District  Nine in Palm Beach County, Florida. Del-Trail and other Fire Control departments  merged in 1984 to form Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. I worked my way through the ranks, first as a rookie firefighter, then as a driver operator, then
station officer as a lieutenant and captain, and finally district chief. I was also an EMT and
rode on a rescue truck in my early years.

 2.  What is your favorite part of working for your department?
I was fortunate to work with some of the best people in the business. That was the most satisfying aspect of my job. Working for a large department afforded me opportunities that may not have been as accessible if I had worked for a smaller department. For instance, I worked as a subject matter expert for a number of departments that were giving promotional exams including the City of Columbus,
Ohio and the District of Columbia Fire Department in Washington DC as well as many departments within the state of Florida. I was also able to pursue my education, including successfully completing the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy.
 
3.  How do you define success?
 The short answer is being able to successfully achieve personal and professional goals. I’m sure success can be defined differently for each individual, but for me success was being able give 100 percent to a demanding career, but not at the exclusion of family and friends.

 4.  What have you learned over your lifetime that you'd like to share with the younger generation?
Pursue your passion and be creative. Don’t relegate yourself to a life of punching a clock to pay the bills. To folks who are interested in a fire service profession, don’t ever forget that you are joining a brotherhood/sisterhood that demands professionalism and expertise at all levels. Never stop learning.

 5.  What is your favorite hobby? 
I have a number of interests, including beekeeping, cooking, gardening, reading, writing, long walks in the woods, and traveling. My wife and I love to cruise to different parts of the world and learn about cultures different from our own.

 6.  Who has had the greatest influence on you? At an early age, my parents, and as I grew older, a succession of great teachers, not only in an academic setting but within the fire service. 
 
7.  What will be your legacy? Is the world better because of you, your work, and your influence? 
I’m sure the fire department benefited in some way from my tenure. I spent a good deal of time teaching firefighters and mentoring young officers, and I hope that has a lasting effect on the future leaders of the department. Now, I work part-time at a local high school as a substitute teacher and this gives me an opportunity to interact with teenagers who sometimes need an adult who is non-judgmental. I know my day has been a success if I can challenge students to think, and act, beyond their normal frame of reference.

8.  What's the funniest work story/event you remember? 
There are many, some I can’t repeat, but one that comes to mind occurred at The Ott House Pub in Emmitsburg, MD. I was taking a class at the National Fire Academy and some of my classmates and I walked down to the pub one evening to get off campus and socialize. The pub was hosting a local high school reunion and there was a place to sign in and grab a name tag if you were part of that reunion. I dared one of my classmates to sign in and grab a name tag—she happened to be about the same age as the reunion folks. I suggested that she
approach a guy who looked like he was there alone and let him know that he was the long lost father of her teenage daughter. She did, and the guy almost fainted on the spot. Firefighters know how to have fun.

9.  Is there anything I haven't asked about that you would care to comment on?
 I came from a department where money was never an issue. We always had adequate staffing and equipment. I now volunteer as a firefighter in rural Tennessee which has given me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the constant struggle for funding volunteer companies deal with year in and year out. It’s my hope this forum will reach and better educate decision makers about
the need for adequate funding in communities that rely on volunteer firefighters. 

10.  What is your favorite dinner & what do you drink with it?
 I love all kinds of food, but I’m always happiest to sit down with my wife and a few close friends and eat pasta aglio e olio or some other rustic Italian dish with a salad, garlic bread, and red wine. Sharing food and good conversation with friends is one of life’s simple pleasures.

Short Blurb from Hot Zone
 ...required reading for anyone who ever wondered what it is like to leave a warm bed at three in the morning and, in the words of the author, "bring order out of chaos." From the foreword by Cortez Lawrence, JD, Ph.D

Christopher Teale Howes, Kit to his friends, grew up in Kennebunkport, Maine and moved to Delray Beach, Florida in the early 1970s. He entered the fire service in 1976, joining Del-Trail Fire Department. In 1984 Del-Trail and other district departments merged to form Palm Beach County  Fire-Rescue, a metro-size department that provides fire and emergency medical  service for the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, Florida as well as some of the cities, a service area of over 500 square miles with a population of over 1 million residents. Mr. Howes worked his way through the ranks from rookie firefighter, to driver engineer, lieutenant, captain, and retired in 2007 at the rank of district chief. During his tenure, he earned an Associate degree in Fire Science, a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resource Management and successfully completed the Executive Fire Officer program at the National Fire Academy. Upon retirement, Mr. Howes wrote a book about his experiences in the fire service. Hot Zone: Memoir of a Professional Firefighter was published in September, 2012 by McFarland Publishing, Inc. Mr. Howes and his wife, Candy, now live in Tennessee where he remains involved in the fire service, teaching and  volunteering with a local fire company.

www.kithowes.com <--- Check out the book here!