To be a good firefighter, it takes willingness to sacrifice and give up your private time to do things for people that you don’t know, said retiring German Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief John M. Buckman III. But he said it also takes more to be effective.
“Other than sacrifice, you’ve got to have a willing family who is willing to give you up,” Buckman, 60, said. “Because the reality is that my girls didn’t see me a lot, and their mother raised them very well … that’s a tough one, but you’ve got to have a family that’s willing to sacrifice as well.”
家人，朋友和同事周日下午在德国乡镇消防局的开放式庆典上聚集，祝贺巴克曼退休，担任消防队长。他于1970年加入该部门，并担任消防局长36年。巴克曼目前是印第安纳波利斯印第安纳州国土安全部印第安纳消防员培训系统的分支主管。
Along with two childhood friends, Buckman, who lived one block from a fire station, decided as a 17-year-old that he would be a firefighter. He remembers hearing the station sirens and sprinting to the station to tag along on his first run, a brush fire. His favorite part of the job is fighting a fire, but it’s really about helping people.
“如果你不喜欢帮助ing people, then you’re not going to survive in this business because that’s what it’s really about,” Buckman said. “Today people dial 911 and they expect someone to come help them, to be nice to them and take care of their problem.”
根据即将到来的消防局长戴维·布雷茨（David Bretz）的说法，巴克曼（Buckman）是德国镇的面孔。
“The reality of it is, even though I’m going to be the chief, John’s always going to be chief,” Bretz, 52, said. “That’s just the way it is … we’re always going to look to him for guidance. He’s not going to be too far, as long as he’s got his telephone.”
Bretz has worked in fire service for 33 years and served as assistant fire chief for German Township for about eight years. He will take over as fire chief Jan. 1.
布雷茨说，他在整个职业生涯中都从巴克曼学习。他说，巴克曼将知识带到了部门。
“He’s kind of like the ultimate instructor, he’s been teaching all of us his entire life here,” Bretz said. “A lot of us have grown up through the fire service with him being the lead … he’s very well known.”
Buckman is proud of the number of firefighters who have left German Township and become fire chief’s at other fire departments in other communities. A personal accomplishment he is most proud of is being named Fire Chief Magazine’s 1996 Fire Chief of the Year from a pool of candidates from all over the world.
他的简历上的其他成就包括在加拿大和中国的所有50个州和每个省份展出，在国际消防局长会议执行顾问委员会（FDIC）任职，国际消防局长协会前主席，国土安全咨询工作队和美国烧毁，国际消防局长协会计划计划委员会主席和国家消防学院校友会秘书。188博金宝体育1巴克曼还撰写并共同撰写了书籍以及消防服务出版物的文章。
“Chief Buckman has been a tremendous chief, giving his heart and soul to this fire department,” said Capt. Cindy Gries, public information officer for German Township. “He has helped make German Township Fire Department one of the top volunteer fire departments in the United States. His training methods have been sought after by departments all over the country and the world.”
Buckman still intends to be a member of German Township and go back to fighting fires. He will continue to work in Indianapolis, a job he loves, as State Fire Training Director. He said that’s a big reason why he is retiring, because he spends most of his time in Indianapolis.
他说：“我不在这里，对成员来说不公平，这对董事会不公平，对乡镇来说，驾驶船的家伙不在这里是不公平的。”“即使您可以远程做很多事情，但实际上是驾驶船的船长必须驾驶驾驶，我只是不在这里。”
