Jack’s Firefighter Room

As we all make our way though life on this earth in the short time that we have, it is easy, especially in our current economic condition, to strap on the blinders to focus solely on self fulfillment and self preservation.  With blinders on you don’t see the roses you probably wouldn’t stop to smell anyway.

Every so often, if a little extra time is taken to put a pinch more effort into doing something special for someone else, a beautiful thing might happen.  This is the story of just such a thing.

Little Jack wants to be a fireman when he grows up, more so than any other six year old I have ever met.  I’ll bet he knows more about firemen and the fire department than you or I ever could imagine.  He knows the local station numbers.  He knows the equipment.  He even has a fire suit that looks just like the real thing.

Jacks parents moved the family into a new house and wanted to do something special for their son, so they decided to decorate his new room in a fireman theme.  Veronique accepted the job with enthusiasm as she had bonded with young Jack while working with his folks as they furnished their home. 

A Bunk bed, bookcases, and a dresser were selected and paint colors were chosen.  Red lockers were installed.  Veronique had a pillow made with a custom firefighter emblem with Jack’s name included.  Next she had to look for accessories to complete the fireman theme, so she asked me if I had any contacts at the local fire department.  I called a friend, Sgt. Debbie Kalish, an officer with the Johns Creek Police Department, and asked her who she knew and told her about Jack.  She sent an email to Chris Holcombe with the JCFD, who then reached out to me and suggested we come down to the station to see what we could find.

Diana and Veronique went to the station and were given a warm welcome by the guys at the station.  They came up with a retired 50’ fire hose.  Perfect.  Chris then mentioned that he had seen a craigslist post offering a pair of fire boots for free.  Upon her return to the office, Veronique got on the computer, found the listing and made a call.

“I understand that you have a pair of real firemen’s boots that you are giving away for free,’ she asked.

On the other end of the line was David Matheny, who replied “I do have boots that I will give away for the right reason.  What’s your story?”

She told him about Jack and David quickly agreed that the little boy should have the boots.  They arranged to meet. 

The boots, size 14D, were black and heavy, with marks of wear and traces of soot that were earned the hard way.  Veronique was overjoyed with her find and inquired as to where they came from. 

It turns out that David’s father, who recently passed away, was a lifelong firefighter.  After his passing, there were things that needed to be cleared out of his home, but the family just didn’t want to throw everything away.  The story of little Jack and his love for the fire department was just what they needed to hear and the thought of their fathers boots being enjoyed by a little boy lifted their spirits.

It didn’t end with the boots.  The more David’s family thought about their father and about Jack, the more they found joy in giving him additional pieces of their collection.

Now Jack has a full sized firefighter suit.  They call it ‘turnout gear’.  It smells like smoke.  It gave us goosebumps.

Every so often Veronique would get another call from David after he found something else that he thought Jack would like to have; firefighter tie tacks, fire extinguishers from the 1940’s, the lamp that his father had on his desk, a photo used for training at Georgia Tech, his father’s helmet, his badge. 

David found the light that his dad would clamp on the top of his car on the way to an emergency.  With a little help from an electrician, it now serves as an alarm, blinking when it’s time to wake up.

Jacks parents were overcome by the generosity of a stranger, and frankly we all were touched by this story of one little boy’s dream and how it enriched the keeping of a fathers memory alive.

There will be a party when the room is complete and finally Jack and his parents will meet David and his family.

Thanks to everyone who made this project a success.

Here is the bio of William Matheny.  Please take the time to read what David wrote about his father.

William J. Matheny {Bill}. Dad was a graduate of the Citadel 1951. He started his firefighter career just outside Augusta Ga. in Martinez as a volunteer firefighter. 

Late in 1969 we moved to Atlanta when Dad was hired at Georgia Tech as an instructor with the Georgia Fire Institute. The department he worked in provided training for both volunteer departments, county departments and city departments. During his time at the Georgia Fire Institute he was very instrumental in developing fire fighting procedures when dealing with LP Gas {Liquid Propane} fires. He also was involved with creating a 2 year Fire Diploma Course that was taught at area colleges.

 He dedicated over 30 years working with IFSTA {International Fire Service Training Association}  The mission of IFSTA is to identify areas of need for training materials and to foster the development and validation of training materials for the fire service and related areas. IFSTA’s publishes such manuals as the Essentials of Fire Fighting.

After several years with the Georgia Fire Institute it was time for a change but he always had a hand in Fire Safety. He spent the next several years with ITI {International Training Institute} and Gold Kist, working very closely with safety and driver training.

Dad eventually went back to his true passion and created his own company, Fire Education, specialized in fire safety in the private sector, working with many companies such as Atlanta Gas Light.