Harmony chief granted status of life member
HARMONY — A firefighter who started out as a junior member made fire district history this month, becoming the Harmony Fire District's first “life member.”
Fire Chief Scott Garing, who has served 20 years with departments in Zelienople and Harmony, was selected for the honor by district membership July 9.
“It's the best thing I've done in my entire life,” he said of his time in public service. “It's very rewarding.”
Garing started his firefighting career in 1998, just after turning 16.
“I had to wait til I had a car,” he said. “My dad refused to let me do it.”
Garing started in the junior fire department and over the years established himself as a leader among the juniors and ultimately among department officers.
He credits the junior fire department for his success.
“I was a junior for two years. I was a junior captain ... I worked my way through the ranks from lieutenant to captain to assistant chief to chief,” Garing said. “It's a true testament to the junior fire department (that) ... someone who was a junior is now chief of the department.”
He got started through friends and family and quickly became hooked on a life in public safety service.
“I had a lot of friends that did it,” Garing said. “I did the EMS with my father. Got the public safety bug like most people.”
Garing said the community makes all the time and effort worth it.
“I made a group of lifelong friends. It's kept me out of trouble,” he said. “It's a wonderful family atmosphere ... One of the things that draws me into the fire house is how the other members treat my children.”
These days, he said, the area's fire responders are busier then ever.
“The call volume has gone up for us significantly,” Garing said. “When we merged the fire departments together we effectively added a ton of calls.”
District members also have more responsibilities from day-to-day maintenance and administration to working with the public.
“There's been a definite progression in the fire service itself,” Garing said. “It's busier; there's more things we have to do. There's administrative tasks, PR, maintenance on the trucks.”
Additionally, today's firefighting force is required to be more professionalized, with duties dependent on training hours and classifications rather than simply willingness and availability, he said.
