Firefighting a rewarding experience for Geldean Walnut native who turned firefighting into a career in the Chicago area talks sacrifices and successes of a fireman following his retirement By Kevin Hieronymus
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evin Geldean removed his name tag on the assignment board and walked out of the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Station for the final time on Sunday, Aug. 23, retiring after nearly 27 years on the job. Shortly later, he posted that he was bored and asked if anyone had any yards to mow. MAKING A LIVING Geldean went to school to become an X-ray technician for a year and found that to be very boring. So he joined his hometown Walnut Fire Department and became an EMT and loved it. A family friend, who was deputy chief in Lombard told him, “You know, you can go do this for a living and get paid doing this.” “I just thought it was like a volunteer thing,” Geldean said. The shifts were demanding, 24 hours on, starting at 7 a.m. one day to 7 a.m. the next, and then 48 hours off. It took some getting used to being on call over night. “I couldn’t work a 40-hour week job anymore,” Geldean said. “That shift is really nice except for getting up in the middle of the night. There’s some nights you don’t get out on a single call and some shifts you go out on 10 calls.” Sometimes it took your coworkers to shake you and wake you up. “You hear that alarm go off and you just jump up and go,” he said. “It might sound scary, but you get in that rig, and it’s, ‘Man, I’ve got to wake up. I’m getting ready to drive this thing.’ Something you get used to doing and it becomes second nature.” The firemen were expected to be out the door in two minutes when the alarm went off, even during the middle of the night. Geldean said some went to bed wearing all their stuff, but he just went to bed wearing shorts and a t-shirt and would just
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than saving lives. “As far as pulling people out of fires, I never had to do that. I have been on several fatal fires, which are no fun,” he said. “Recently, there’s been a lot of overdoses. That’s been the big thing. But a lot of them we get back, too.” The kids always made it special, because they were always excited to see them around town. “When you’re handing out stickers or the little plastic helmets, the kids just light up and they think it’s awesome,” Geldean said. Geldean started up a new tradition one Halloween when things were slow at the station. “No one was stopping by for candy and I finally said, ‘You know what, we’ve got to take the candy to the CONTRIBUTED PHOTO kids,’” he said. “We jumped in the fire engine and started driving around Kevin Geldean removes his velcro name with the big bowls of candy. We’d tag for the final time at the end of his last stop at a corner and kids would run shift working for the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Department. He served for nearly 27 years. up and the parents loved it. “It’s kind of started as a new tradition at Lisle-Woodridge and I hope it “jump up and throw some pants on keeps going. It’s just things like that. and get in the rig and go.” Any time you can make somebody smile, it’s a good thing.” SACRIFICES Geldean, 49, who now lives in Joliet with his new bride, Kristin, lived DANGERS OF THE JOB All of the fireman know there are in Princeton from 1998-2017. There a lot of dangers on the job. Geldean were many sacrifices along the way said getting to the fires on the Chias he knows he missed several of cago freeways was the scariest part. his daughter MacKenzie’s first days “I never did worry about dying on of school, dances, sporting events, a fire, but as soon as I went up on musicals, holidays, and other family events because of his crazy schedule. the toll road, I said, ‘I could be killed on this roadway so easy,’ because The most rewarding part about being a fireman, Geldean said, is the people have to be looking to see what’s going on and they’re driving satisfaction you see when you are fast,” he said. “The highways are helping someone in a time of need. dangerous and people really have to “Most people when they call 911, pay attention and pull over and slow they’re in the worst time of their life down when there’s flashing lights.” probably,” he said. “And when you Geldean has been asked by can see that switch when we show friends why he didn’t become the up and things start to get better and chief? He enjoyed being out in the you can see a smile on their face, field as a fireman so much he never that’s what most people do it for.” gave it a thought. There’s certainly no better feeling Living magazine
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