Fire Training Officer Marks 20th Year As a Firefighter
Posted on Friday, February 6th, 2015
Fire Training Officer
Lieutenant Dustin Michael, Fire Training Officer
Dustin "Dusty" Michael is celebrating his 20th year as a certified frefighter, but that's not all. Since graduating from OSU Fire Service Training in 1995, he has
- Joined the OSU Fire Service Training program as an adjunct instructor;
- Volunteered continuously with the Marietta Fire Department, rising to Chief of the Department in 2012;
- Become a fulltime professional with Love County EMS/Fire Brigade, which he helped launch in 2008.
Lieutenant Michael is Training Officer for the Fire Brigade and offers training services for the volunteer fire departments in Love County.
"We train in firefighting and emergency driving. We go over pump operations, hose advancing, structure fires, extrications, rescue, and high-rise operations. All fire departments are invited to participate in a monthly training session here."
Lt. Michael operates out of Love County EMS Station 2, WinStar Casino, home of the 18-member Fire Brigade. He mentors new Brigade members for the first month, working their shifts with them while they learn procedures and how to carry out their assignments.
He develops and administers year-round fire education for the Fire Brigade. At WinStar, the challenges range from below ground, as in a trench rescue, up to responding to the 18th floor of the WinStar Hotel.
When not instructing, Lt. Michael is "researching the new" - thngs like high strength steel used in new cars, batteries in hybrid cars, facts about building construction, and similar factors that potentially bear on rescues or fire prevention or suppression.
"I was not a student," Michael says about his days at Marietta High School, from which he graduated in 1990, "but now I spend 40% of my time studying and in books."
Michael entered frefighting by invitation. "A friend invited me on a grass fire emergency to consider becoming a volunteer firefighter. After helping that day, I decided, 'I can do this and I can get better at it.'"
And so he has.