Letter To Editor - It Is Both A Shame And Honor To Write This - St. James FD

The Saint James Fire Department has been vigilantly responding to alarms of its residents since 1922.  For nearly one hundred years, your friends and neighbors, son and daughters, father and mothers have stopped whatever they were doing to come to your aid.  During the middle of a summer day or in the midst of a night time winter storm, the members of the St. James Fire Department have always been there to protect life and property in their community.  In 2017, the Saint James Fire Department will have closed out the year answering 1400 alarms.  The members of the department would have dedicated an average additional 8 hours a week in training and meetings to further ensure any response will be swift, decisive and professional.  We, your Fire Fighters, Officers, EMT’s and Paramedics do this for you with no expectation of return whatsoever.  We do it selflessly for you, and will continue to do so without question.

There has been much talk around our community pertaining to Fire House construction and now sale of one house by the Fire District back to the membership of Fire Department who had originally owned it since 1922.  Unfortunately, in some rare cases this has fueled some animosity between the brothers and sisters of our proud department.  Perhaps the words in this letter can help assuage some of these recent occurrences; because in the end we all want what is best for those we serve.

It is not uncommon within a group of such dedicated and highly trained members that true leaders emerge.  I’d like to direct your attention to one such devoted leader that has been misrepresented by some in the media.  That is Chief Edward Springer Sr.  Ed is a lifelong resident of Saint James.  He was born and raised in our community, attended school and worshiped in Saint James.  

In 1971, at the age of 18, Mr. Springer joined the Saint James Fire Department and thus began his 40-year career in the Fire Service.  The only interruption of his time in the SJFD, was when he answered his Country’s call to duty by serving proudly in the United States Army’s elite 101 Airborne Division from 1972 to 1975.  Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the Army as a Sergeant, Mr. Springer returned home to his beloved Saint James.  This was 1975, over 40 years ago.  Many of the residents who lived in town then have moved on.  However, Mr. Springer did not and made a choice to stay and raise his family in Saint James.   

During his tenure in the fire service, Mr. Springer attained the ranks of Chief of the Department, President of the Saint James Fire Department in 2007 and 2008, and was elected to the Board of Fire Commissioners for two consecutive terms.  He held line officer positions at the lieutenant and captain’s level in the venerable Engine Co.1 of the SJFD along the way.  While devoting his time to Saint James, Mr. Springer was employed as the Chief Fire Marshal of the Northport Veterans Administration Hospital, and then served as a Suffolk County Fire Marshal and ultimately being promoted to Chief Fire Marshal of Suffolk County where he served until his recent retirement.  During his employment with Suffolk County, Mr. Springer served one year as the New York State Emergency Management Office Downstate Representative.  

Who is Ed Springer you ask?  Mr. Springer is one of the humblest men we have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  He is honest and sincere.  He helps new recruits (probies) with Fire Academy learning. He takes a phone call about a question related to the fire service at 9PM on a Sunday night when most others wouldn’t want to not answer the phone.  He volunteers his time to the American Legion where for the last four years he serves as a Post Commander. You can find him at the fire house the night before our St. Patrick’s Day Parade cooking and slicing 100 pounds of corned beef for the community to feast on the next day.  He is the guy who sits at the bedside of a member who is about to pass on and softly speaks comforting words to him.  He is the guy who takes his bunker coat off at a motor vehicle accident alarm and puts it over the patient trapped in the car so that they don’t get hit by shards of metal and glass as we cut the car apart.  He is the first guy to ask if you are okay and offer his hand when he hears that someone important in your life has passed away.  He is equally there for us to celebrate the successes in our lives as well.  Ed Springer Sr. is that guy. Frankly, these are not simply words on a page, these are all the things I/we have seen Mr. Springer do, time and time again.   

It is our hope that this allays any false impression that has been put forth about the character of Mr. Springer.  Mr. Springer has been, and remains committed to improving the working conditions of the Saint James Fire Department by putting forth great effort in designs for a new fire house that went through two iterations and two bond votes.  In all cases he has worked in earnest of the tax payer’s wishes and fire fighters/EMS personnel needs.  

It is a both a shame and honor to have to write this.  The shame comes from the maligning of an iconic and devoted member of our department.  The honor is in defending his character, one which we should all endeavor to be more like.  

Sincerely,

The Board of Director and Desk Officers of the Saint James Fire Department

January 3, 2018

Comments

[WALTER M. WOOD III]

ED SRINGER.....BEST OF THE BEST !!!!......THANK YOU !!!!