Out of the frying pan, and into the fire . . .

If Bob Verbockel comes to work at Kimberly-Clark’s Beech Island, South Carolina, mill a little tired one morning, his team leader usually cuts him a little slack, recognizing that Bob likely was up half the night putting out a fire or helping victims of a car accident. That’s because Bob volunteers as assistant chief of the Montmorenci, South Carolina, Volunteer Fire Department. Bob is one of two K-C employees who logged more than 1,000 hours with their volunteer firefighter jobs last year. (The other is Zachrey Mason from K-C’s Mobile, Alabama plant, who serves as a lieutenant and secretary-treasurer for the Cintronelle, Alabama, Volunteer Fire Department.)

Bob is one of more than 50 K-C employees across the U.S. who spend a lot of their personal time serving as volunteer firefighters in their communities. Several more serve their volunteer fire departments by organizing fundraising events, providing food and water at emergency calls, servicing fire trucks and other emergency vehicles, maintaining uniforms, teaching fire prevention to school students, and cleaning fire stations.

Wayne Kuehler from the Chester, Pennsylvania, mill helps a Garden City Fire Department crew put out a garage fire.

The 35 K-Cers who contributed to this story volunteered more than 6,500 hours with their volunteer fire departments in 2008. Combined, they have almost 500 years of service to these departments. Scott Rietze, a mechanical engineer at the K-C mill in Chester, Pennsylvania, has been a volunteer firefighter for 44 years, serving the Middletown Fire Company No. 1 in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in many capacities.

Randy Blandford from the Owensboro, Kentucky, plant; Mardrell “Red” Hatcher from the Conway, Arkansas, mill; and Wayne Kuehler from the Chester, Pennsylvania, mill, all put in more than 500 hours each on their volunteer firefighting jobs last year.

Town of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Fire Department Assistant Chief Todd Zak, an employee at the Neenah Cold Spring facility, uses a thermal imaging camera to check a house for areas where the fire has not been doused during a training exercise. Photo by Aldrich M. Tan, The Northwestern.

The Kimberly-Clark employee network has been a good recruiting tool for volunteer firefighters. Many K-C volunteers serve with fellow employees and were recruited into service by those employees.

“My assistant fire chief, Bob Verbockel, is also my asset effectiveness leader at the Beech Island mill,” points out Nick Boscia, a process operator for Kimberly-Clark and an engineer and first responder with the Montmorenci Volunteer Fire Department in South Carolina. “Bob asked me one day if I would be interested in helping out with the haunted house the department has every year. I enjoyed working with everyone so much, I just kind of never left. No matter what else in life I accomplish, there is no greater feeling than helping one’s neighbor.”

Others have joined volunteer fire departments to build upon a family legacy.

“My dad was one of the founding members of the local rural fire department and helped get the first fire truck and build the station,” says Harriette Ellis, an operating technician at the Owensboro, Kentucky, mill and a volunteer with the nearby Beech Grove Volunteer Fire Department. “It was actually a military surplus vehicle, and they got the truck donated and worked on it at night and weekends to convert it over to a fire truck. Several of the original members donated $100 each to buy supplies to build the building and donated other equipment. After growing up and personally witnessing his dedication, hard work and sacrifice toward building a local fire department, I was inspired to help in all ways possible. My brother has served as one of the chiefs for 20 years, and I have several nephews, neighbors and friends who also help.”

Other K-C volunteers have been recruited by their younger family members.

“When my son was in high school, he decided he wanted to join the fire department,” explains Chet Downs, an engineering technician at the Paris, Texas, plant and a rescue lieutenant with the Pattonville Volunteer Fire Department. “He could only join as a minor if I did. So we both joined and it has become a major part of both our lives since. It has actually become a family affair. We are all involved, including my 7-year-old granddaughter. She actually makes calls with us and even participates in some of our training exercises.” Chet’s wife, Debbie, is the fire department treasurer.

Kayde Downs, 7-year-old granddaughter of Chet Downs, an engineering technician at the Paris, Texas, plant and a rescue lieutenant with the Pattonville Volunteer Fire Department, takes her role with the department seriously.

Owensboro plant electrical engineer Bill Vickery, a lieutenant with the neighboring airport Sorgho Fire Department, sums up the gratification volunteer firefighters receive in their work.

“All my experiences have one thing in common – people in need of help,” he says. “They might be a relative or a neighbor, a friend or a stranger. I may not know them, but they are a part of me. The things that you remember are the faces of those people who are hurting and those faces are why we do what we do.”

“Volunteer firefighting offers ordinary people a way to give back to their community in an extraordinary way,” adds John DeCorte, financial analyst at the New Milford, Connecticut, mill and a volunteer with Water Witch Hose Company No. 2 in New Milford.