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Senior Profile: More than a firefighter

by Hilary delaBruere
Exchange Staff

    For Franklin Pierce Fire Company Chief Michael Kohutich and the other 32-growing volunteers, a week typically involves putting in eighty to one-hundred hours of service for one of the only complete, student-run fire programs in the country, according to Kohutich.

     "We take a great deal of pride in what we do," said Kohutich, a senior at Franklin Pierce.  "We do it to make sure everyone is safe."

     The program has grown from its original crew of the maintenance department, who at one time held off fires with fire extinguishers until the Rindge department came, to now operating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, partial to holiday and semester breaks. 

     To each volunteer it is their passion to help people.  "You gotta have passion," Kohutich said.

     For the past 34 years of the program's existence not only has each person put the hours in for certification, Sunday morning training, always being on-call, including the periodic three a.m. pages, or the allotted 24 hours a week and one weekend a month, the commitment is and always has been heavily balanced with academics, jobs, clubs, and other volunteer work, leaving little if any time for a personal or social life.  They are dynamic people whom identify with each other.  They are a family.  Next year will mark the 35^th year, where a big alumni reunion will be held.

     Walking into the basement of Granite, otherwise the fire house, to meet with Kohutich, a sci-fi reading, music major with a concentration in musical performance with hopes to get into a coral conducting program after graduation, I found he was eager to talk to me.  Frequently, people popped their heads in to check in or to simply say hi and hang out for a bit as I got started asking questions.  Kohutich never failed to introduce me.  "This is Janet, my administrative assistant," he said.

     "A typical day for me is well, busy," he said, when asked about his routine. 

     Kohutich is a humble yet serious trumpet player.  "They haven't kicked me out yet, so we'll go with that," he said in response to his performance.

     He puts in ten to fifteen hours a day for individual practice and lessons.  He is a part of three ensemble groups and practices voice and diction.  In one day he can have two to three rehearsals, still making time to provide for the Leadership Planning Committee where he organizes various events on campus, and then finding room for his head peer leader position.

     To make some money, Kohutich works four hours a week as a student dispatcher for campus safety, while also driving the shuttle.  Another five to ten hours a week Kohutich dedicates to volunteering for the Emergency Medical Services, EMS, department.  Not to mention classes, lectures and paperwork, all the while Kohutich is on standby, ready to respond to a fire call. 

     How does he do it?  "Practice time is my down time," he said.  "However, I am more relaxed when I am out and about."

     Why does he do it?  Always involved in high school, Kohutich's drive comes simply from giving back to others.  "I just like helping out," he said.  "I saw the opportunity to help out at the highest level training experience, something you can't get anywhere else.  And these people I'll know for the rest of my life."

     Kohutich knows that he will carry the experience with him that he's gained in being involved in so many things, especially fire fighting.  "The skills I have learned, leadership, communication, interpersonal skills, are priceless and I know they will help me later in whatever I do. 

     Kohutich's father was a firefighter.  Kohutich was never interested in the profession even though he was always surrounded by it.  But then he came to Franklin Pierce and got "hooked."

     Kohutich emphasizes the importance of the job and the seriousness of the profession, contrary to a negative attitude that is held by some.  This notion of not taking the Fire Company seriously, Kohutich takes with a grain of salt.  He doesn't try to instigate, nor does he like to get involved in heated battles.  "I have tremendous respect for everyone's dedication," he said.  "We take this seriously.  We work hard."

     Their hard work paid off in September of 2005 when the Franklin Pierce Fire Department held a boot drive, standing out on the corner of 119 and 202, collecting money in their boots for Katrina victims.  They raised and donated twenty-five-hundred dollars.  And when a setback took its toll this past spring 2007, and the state Fire Marshall shut the department down, all summer Kohutich and other volunteers made frequent calls and connections with the school, the town of Rindge and other fire departments to get it up and running again.  And it did, changing the name but not the service.

     It bridged a relationship with the Rindge Fire Department.  Bill Sweet, former Director of Campus Safety and former overseer of the Franklin Pierce Fire Department and current Director of Judicial Affairs, said that Rindge Fire Chief Rick Donovan is making a huge effort as is the Franklin Pierce Fire Company in trying to ensure that the both departments now work together so that the program can continue to grow.  Both the Rindge Fire Department and the Franklin Pierce Fire Company train together.

     "At first I was mad as a son-of a gun," Sweet said.  "But it worked out for the better.  It has instilled better communication.  Training together allows everyone to know what each other's capabilities are and it has built more trust and confidence."    

     Overcoming this obstacle also resulted in a brand new ("gigantic" as Kohutich put it) fire truck donated from a Franklin Pierce alum and his New Jersey fire department.  "This truck has brought so much more to the school program," Kohutich said.  He also said it brought one hundred percent support from Franklin Pierce University President Dr. George J. Hagerty and senior staff.  "They take great interest and value in the program," said Kohutich.  "The president is extremely excited."

     To make room for the truck which is more efficient in pumping more water per minute, the fire company budget allowed for a new fire house which was completed this past week.  Persistence on the part of Franklin Pierce Volunteers got other fire departments to donate gear and hose equipment to ensure that they stay consistently organized and professionally run.

     "These are a group of very dedicated individuals from different walks of life with a mutual passion for fire fighting," Sweet said.  Without them here we would have to wait fifteen to twenty minutes.  It is in those minutes that count.  The service that they provide is ineffable. I tell you what; I trust my life with these individuals because I view them as professionals."