Being a volunteer firefighter doesn’t mean our job is any less dangerous or we have fewer qualifications.  It means we made a commitment and we chose to serve our community.  And we do it without pay.

Ralph Schips, Chipper Howell, and Earl Garrity knew the risks. They served with pride and gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Schips, at age 55, was directing traffic on 11/03/1980 for a Beach Road fire and was stationed at Kingston Avenue and Hamilton Street.  He was struck from behind by a vehicle operated by an 18-year-old driver traveling south.  He sustained severe and lasting damage to his head and his back and succumbed to those injuries nearly 12 years later.

Howell lost his life at a workplace accident on Skyline Drive, where he attempted to rescue a 21-year-old coworker that had fallen through a 24-inch opening into a chemical separation vat containing 30 inches of mixed water, cosmetic chemicals, colorants, and preservatives.  Instinctively, upon discovering the incident, he urgently summoned the facility nurse and other coworkers.  He then began rescue operations and climbed into the tank but slid under the slippery substance.  Rescue workers arrived on scene within minutes and rescued the coworker, who passed away hours later.  Unfortunately, it took 40 minutes and a complicated process to rescue Howell, and he was declared dead at the scene.  The devoid of oxygen in the atmosphere was the cause of their deaths.  While not officially on duty upon entering the vat, it was he who began the call for help, and as a skilled and active firefighter, took immediate action.  He was remembered for his instinctive actions to help another and for his bravery and selfless volunteer service.  He was in his 5th year as a firefighter.

Garrity, against his parent wishes on that particular day, responded to a mutual aid motor vehicle accident, assuring his parents that it was his responsibility to respond, his commitment to duty.  There was an early season snowfall and as he approached a railroad tunnel on North Maple Avenue, drove over a patch of snow-covered leaves, sliding into the structure.  His vehicle’s shifter lever hit him, slicing the aortic artery to his heart, and he bled to death within minutes.  Only a firefighter for approximately 18 months, he was no less eager and no less dedicated to serve.