This week, I am working on a story for the print issue about new acting fire chief John Mattox. The story started as news about Mattox’s new position after former fire chief Jeff Hudson retired in September. However, as I entered farther into the interview process with Mattox earlier this week, I was struck by another story in the fire department.
Over a year ago on May 22, 2010, fireman John Glaser was killed in the line of duty fighting a structural fire. Glaser went into the fire, was separated from his crew and was overcome by smoke.
“It’s obviously one you’ll never forget,” Mattox said. “It was a very emotional time for everybody but it brought out the best in everybody.”
Walking around the fire station, hints of Glaser’s memory are everywhere. A framed picture of the man, who was only 33 at the time of his death, hangs in the entry way of the Quivira Road fire station as well as in the city’s two other fire stations. Glaser’s locker is encased with diamond plate and holds his gear and University of Kansas memorabilia, his favorite team.
On May 22, 2010 battalion fire chief Mike Beatty was on duty with Glaser.
“We were here eating dinner and we had a house fire and when we came back a couple hours later, we were without a guy. It was very somber,” Beatty said.
This weekend on Saturday, Oct. 8, the second annual John Glaser 5K run will start and finish at the fire station off Quivira Road where Glaser worked. Eerily enough, the run falls on the day of the shift Glaser would have been working. The run last year fell on his shift as well.
Mattox said a firefighter values their life as much as anyone and don’t ever expect the worst to affect them.
“I don’t think we’re any different than anyone else,” Mattox said. “We did everything to avoid it [Glaser’s death] but when something like this happens it’s a slap in the face.”
Comments like these really touched me as I continued to talk to Mattox and his crew at the station. Outside the station, a statue designed by the city to honor service men and women killed in the line of duty has Glaser’s name engraved as its latest addition. Despite the loss, the fire men and women continue their jobs every day knowing that their fate could be uncertain.
While at the station I even saw the on-duty crew take off following the alarm to a fight a fire that had produced a smoke cloud far enough for me to see over the station. I was amazed by the courage these people have everyday.
The run is only an additional triumph for the crew. Funds raised benefit the John Glaser Memorial Fund and the Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment Fund to support the families of service people lost in the line of duty in the Kansas City area. The race will begin at the fire station off Quivira Road at 8 a.m. for the 5K run and a kid’s run will start at 9:15 a.m.
The run also has a Facebook page. Of course, the run wouldn’t be complete without a light bulb distribution, which is detailed on the Facebook page (see my last blog for more information on this).
More to come on this story in the Issue two print edition to be distributed on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
