Retiring Brimfield firefighter leaving a much different department after 31 years

Less than 24 hours before he would clock out for the last time with the Brimfield Township Fire Department, Lt. Chris Morrison was looking back to the beginning.

"Oh, my goodness, it's completely different," he said with a laugh.

More:Tax agreement for Brimfield Maplecrest altered to include increased infrastructure costs

More:Roadways in Brimfield, Streetsboro among most congested in Greater Akron study

After 31 years with the department that has changed so much, Morrison was working his last 24-hour shift, ending at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

"And man, just like sitting here and thinking about that, it's like, it's been a whirlwind," said Morrison. "I've been through five administrations and a few years ago, I was trying to do a headcount of all the people that I had, that I've seen and worked with that have come through and either moved on to other departments or left the fire service and at that time, it was like we've seen over 100 employees come and go through, you know, through all the growth and stuff."

The growth was both within the department and in the township, which really went together, the latter influencing the former.

"As the township grows, so does the need for the fire department to get bigger," said Morrison.

Morrison came in with the volunteer fire department in 1991. He said he believes it was only about a year later that the township decided to start hiring some paid, part-time firefighters and Morrison was one of them.

"A call comes in and you get in your vehicle and drive in from home and jump on the truck and go out on the call," said Morrison. "And then, you know, wasn't too terribly long after that that we were seeing that people work during the daytime and it was hard to get volunteers during the day. And so they decided maybe we should put some part-time people on part-time positions, so we have those daytime hours covered when everybody else is at their daytime jobs. So we kind of transitioned into a part time during the day, but still volunteer at night."

Morrison, who is also a paramedic, had various other jobs as well during this period. He was a flight medic with MedFlight of Ohio out of Columbus, worked for the Seville-Guilford Fire Department in Medina County and the Medina Life Support Team, the city of Medina's EMS system.

Meanwhile, Brimfield was changing. The fire department began expanding its shifts over several years, from eight to 12 hours, then 16 and finally 24. Then in 1997, Morrison was hired as a full-time firefighter. He wasn't the first, he said. Two others were hired before him, but they both eventually left for jobs elsewhere.

"I'm actually the first full timer that will be retiring, having put in an entire 30-plus year career here," he said.

Accompanying the expansion of fire and EMS service in the township has been an increase in population. There has also been commercial development, with The Cascades of Brimfield and The Marketplace at Maplecrest coming to the township's west side.

"That was all fields and woods and such when I came," said Morrison. "Just the growth in Brimfield has been explosive over my career and I feel like I just kind of got in right at the foundation of the beginning of that growth. So it's been really cool to kind of be riding that wave and watch all the, you know, the growth and development that's happened as it's been happening."

He estimated that in 1991, the fire department responded to around 300 calls.

"That's fire, EMS, everything that gets thrown at us," said Morrison. "And then I think we're on track this year to run right around probably 1,650, maybe 1,700 [calls]. Just kind of depends. We're gonna be opening up a new nursing home here shortly, up on the north side of town, and that's going to probably add a minimum of 100 new calls a year."

Morrison was promoted to lieutenant in 1998 and said this put him into the position of helping to facilitate the growth of the fire department. He said more and more full-time firefighters were added until finally that was all there were.

"Oh, gosh, I don't remember what year it was, just here in the last 12 years, maybe 13 years, we transitioned to a completely career department," he said. "And so now we have no part timers, no volunteers, and everybody that works here, this is their career."

Morrison has been the department's EMS coordinator much of his career, acting as a liaison with the hospitals and the public and making sure EMS personnel keep up with their training and certifications. He is also a fire inspector and ran the department's fire prevention bureau for three years.

Morrison teaches in Akron City Hospital's paramedic program, a job he plans on continuing. And he said he might look for a part-time firefighting job in a small department. But he said he also has another priority.

"I'm gonna be a new grandpa and while I have my health, I really feel like now's the time to do this, to be able to spend some time with my new grandson and maybe do a little bit of traveling and it's, well, a lot of firefighters go out with not great health because this is a tough job," said Morrison. "I've got my health right now and so I can [retire] right now and so why not right now and spend some time with my family and traveling."

Morrison said one family member in particular, his wife Leigh, has been a huge part of his success, really making it possible through tremendous efforts she has made.

"I'm exceedingly thankful to my wife, you know, without whom none of this really would be possible," said Morrison. "She kind of kept the home fires burning during the day. Because we work 24-hour shifts, hundreds of 24-hour shifts over this career, sometimes as long as 36 hours. If I worked a double sometimes, 48 hours long that I was gone and she homeschooled our kids and took care of the day-to-day life and home emergencies that cropped up. Without her blessing and her 100-percent support, none of this amazing career would have been able to happen."

He said he is also appreciative of the township for giving him an opportunity for the career he's had.

"I have been so thankful to Brimfield and everybody here," said Morrison. "Brimfield's just an amazing community and everybody has been so supportive of me and the fire department and I've just been so proud to serve them. This is very bittersweet for me."

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Retired Brimfield firefighter leaving a much different department