Photo By Cpl. Unique B. Roberts | Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Fire chief, Kenneth R. Lavoie and his wife,...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. - Ken Lavoie is the kind of guy you would want around if your house was on fire. With nearly 30 years of experience in firefighting and the last seven as Cherry Point’s fire chief, Lavoie is what some would call a “fireman’s fireman.”
Sitting in his small, cinderblock office in Fire Station 1 only days before his retirement, Lavoie admitted he wasn’t sure what lay ahead – this is what he has done his whole adult life and the future is a new challenge yet to be tackled.
If you looked around his relatively featureless office, you wouldn’t find any clues either. And you wouldn’t have seen the many symbols of a life of firefighting that you might have expected.
No wall-mounted fire axes with fancy inscriptions, no group photos of firefighters posing in front of a large red ladder truck. No white dog with black spots. In fact, the only noticeable wall decorations were some small framed photos of the air station’s headquarters building as it burned in late 2007.
In many ways, when you looked at Lavoie’s office, you were looking at Lavoie, himself. Stable as the block walls that make up his office space, he tends to come with few trappings other than a quiet sureness that stems from years of doing a job he wanted to do since his youth in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Lavoie began his firefighting career in early 1989 right here on the Cherry Point flight line. Back in those days, the Marine aircraft rescue firefighting team was more simply known as Crash Crew.
Although he cross trained with the air station fire department, his primary mission of responding to aircraft mishaps may have been just as important for his future career. Over the course of his 25 years as part of the Cherry Point Fire Department, he would find himself responding to aircraft mishaps just as frequently as he would have in his old crash crew, thanks to mutual support agreements between the two firefighting organizations. Similar agreements for emergency response extend to multiple fire departments in the surrounding counties.
When Lavoie traded his Marine uniform for the one worn by the Cherry Point Fire Department, he continued down a path that would not only take him to the top spot in the department, but would give him the opportunity to make lasting improvements in fire safety for everyone who lives and works on Cherry Point.
It’s a big job, as fire departments like the one here handle a broader range of incidents than they did “back in the day.” The Cherry Point department’s duties include firefighting, emergency medical services, hazardous materials response and technical rescue services.
As chief of a department that responds to an average of 2,200 emergency calls a year, Lavoie would contribute significantly to the design of the air station’s newest fire station.
“I was lucky, not many fire chiefs get to do that,” he said, recognizing the advantages presented by the opportunity.
He was also responsible for creating a state-of-the-art 911 dispatch center to replace an older, less effective center. Anyone who has tried to get the required support to upgrade expensive systems understands the kind of work it takes to make a project of this scope happen.
“It takes getting people to believe in it, and getting the necessary support behind it,” admits Lavoie.
One of his biggest achievements was steering his department toward national accreditation.
“The department’s accreditation with the Commission on Fire Accreditation International validates everything we do,” said Lavoie. “Our procedures are measured against Marine Corps and national standards. It doesn’t stop with accreditation; it is an ongoing process that’s re-evaluated every five years.”
At the time of its accreditation, Cherry Point was only the sixth Marine Corps fire department to earn this status, and one of only 28 accredited fire departments in the Department of Defense.
These accomplishments and others, such as improving training procedures and increasing the number of firefighters and paramedics on the air station over the years, will have lasting effects on the safety of everyone here.
About that headquarters building fire in 2007. The structure, which was built during World War II, was a perfect example of how not to design a large building against the possibility of fire. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately, it occurred during a weekend when there were only a few people in the building; unfortunately, the flames were fanned by increasing winds from an approaching tropical storm. No one was seriously injured; in fact, the only reported injuries were minor ones received by firefighters who battled the monstrous blaze.
According to Lavoie, nearly every fire department in Craven and Carteret counties responded. In the end, said Lavoie, it was a lesson on the importance of installing effective fire suppression systems in buildings, as well as using appropriate building design to help compartmentalize and contain potential blazes.
As for Lavoie’s photos of the blaze, he simply said, “We like to be reminded – it can happen.”
Fortunately for Cherry Point, there are people here, like Ken Lavoie, who heed those kinds of reminders every day, while looking out for those of us who might forget. While the photos served as a reminder to Lavoie, his bare office walls were simply a reminder to any other observer that his legacy will not be measured by decorations on a wall.
Chief Ken Lavoie hung up his helmet after his final shift on New Year’s Day, retiring after 25 years in the air station’s fire department. He was awarded the Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award during a retirement ceremony on Jan. 9.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2014 16:45 |
| Story ID: | 119211 |
| Location: | CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 359 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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