Appreciation Month: Great Bend Fire Department - Kevin Stansfield

Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend will recognize groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This Appreciation Month is highlighting the Great Bend Fire Department.

By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post

Working at the Great Bend Fire Department, firefighters have to perform tasks that most of us take on at home. Going through a 24-hour shift, firefighters will mow the yard at the fire stations, clean and cook. Captain Kevin Stansfield joked there is an ongoing argument whether or not cottage cheese should be in lasagna.

“Sometimes you have young guys who have never cooked before come on,” said Stansfield. “I’ve been served gourmet hotdogs and macaroni and cheese. We had one guy, his mom got him a cook book that was titled ‘A Man, a Can and a Plan.’”

Stansfield claims to be a pretty good cook and when he prepares meals for the staff, the firefighters can sometimes experience a more ‘east coast’ menu. Stansfield grew up in Freehold, New Jersey where he spent 29 years.

“The big cities were spreading out and my area was getting overcrowded,” said Stansfield. "With the cost of living, we decided to move where my wife had family and to avoid working in a big city.”

Stansfield met his wife in New Jersey at a 4th of July barbecue but moved to Great Bend in 1994 where his wife’s father was originally from.

Joining the Great Bend Fire Department did not happen immediately for Stansfield once moving to the Midwest, but the thought was always there after handling firefighting operations in the Navy. Stansfield spent 24 years with the Navy between active and reserved duties.

“I was a diesel mechanic along with firefighting with the Navy,” said Stansfield. “I was stationed in Little Creek, Virginia. I traveled to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and the Caribbean multiple times.”

Stansfield said he knew he was not cut out for college coming out of high school. Joining the Navy was a way to build a skill set without struggling to get by on minimum wage.

Eventually, Stansfield wanted to settle down and begin his family. Serving as a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey and early on in Great Bend, Stansfield jumped at the opportunity to join the Great Bend Fire Department in the late 1990s once a full-time spot came open.

“A lot of things are the same since I first started,” said Stansfield. “The equipment is newer and more modern, we added an extra guy per shift but we’re still running with the same basic principles.”

Handling both the firefighter and EMS side of things with the department, many firefighters realize they help a lot more people with the ambulance than the fire engines.

“We get a lot of guys that want to be on a big city department, ride a ladder truck and don’t want to do the EMS side,” said Stansfield. “If we advertised and said we wanted just firefighters, we could have a couple dozen people through the door tomorrow. Very few people want to do both.”

Stansfield acknowledged that there has been a cultural change when it comes to recruiting new firefighters. Generally speaking, people are less interested in volunteering, have busier lives and don’t want to commit to a job that requires a lot of effort for a firefighter’s return.

“It seems some people are maturing slower,” said Stansfield. “You can stay on your parents’ insurance until you are 26 years old now. It is taking people longer to launch and figure out their career.”

Regardless of when people figure out their career path, if they choose a life with the fire department, Stansfield said there is nothing like taming a fire.

“It is better than any rollercoaster ride,” said Stansfield. “When you enter a house that is fully engulfed in flames and sweep it with a hose and it darkens down…it is an awesome feeling. I still get that adrenaline rush.”

Firefighting can be a young man’s game, so Stansfield regularly makes use of his gym membership. No matter if you are a rookie or a veteran, Stansfield said the firefighter brotherhood will accept you but you have to earn your spot.

“If you don’t take it seriously, if you’re not committed, you’re going to be an outsider,” said Stansfield. “We joke with each other a lot. If we’re not joking and kidding around with you, you probably won’t be here long. You won’t be happy because the guys just don’t trust you.”

Living in Great Bend just under 30 years now, the New Jersey fella has definitely earned his spot at the table. Now, if Stansfield and the rest of his shift could just solve the debate if cottage cheese should be in lasagna.

Read the previous Appreciation Month stories by clicking HERE.