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‘Jack Of All Trades’

Former Kennedy Fire Chief Remains Staple Of Department

Ed Hoene has been a volunteer firefighter in Kennedy for 45 years, serving either as fire chief or assistant chief during almost half that time. Hoene is pictured at the fire department on Daily Hill Road in Kennedy. P-J photo by Eric Tichy

KENNEDY — Ed Hoene still remembers the day he brought water to a flood fight.

In a volunteer firefighting career spanning more than four decades in Kennedy, it’s an incident that occurred not long after he joined that Hoene recalls most vividly.

In June 1972, Hurricane Agnes — at the time the costliest storm to hit the country — roared along the Eastern Seaboard after originating west of Cuba. Though downgraded to a tropical storm after its initial impact, Agnes still managed to pound Pennsylvania and parts of New York with heavy rainfall.

The Southern Tier saw significant flooding, most notably in Olean and Salamanca. Hoene was one of many area firefighters to assist in flooding relief efforts in Cattaraugus County.

“We were standing by at the hospital with an emergency generator,” Hoene said in recalling the storm that led to 128 deaths and $2.1 billion in reported damage. “Some of the crews filled sand bags (and) checked the dikes to make sure they were holding up.”

Ed Hoene, pictured in a yellow captain’s helmet, at the scene of a structure fire in the town of Poland in July 2013. Hoene has served a variety of roles within the fire department, including fire chief and mechanic. P-J file photo by Eric Tichy

Hoene said due to flooding many roads were washed out, which forced first responders to use alternative routes. Driving a heavy fire truck capable of hauling hundreds of gallons of water, the sprawling hills of the Southern Tier gave the volunteers fits.

“We had to go over this really steep hill and come back down the other side,” Hoene said. “We got to the bottom and breaks got quite hot. And we figured after that, ‘Why are we hauling a 1,000 gallons of water to a flood?'”

The retired glass installer said he was motivated to join the fire service by his father, who was a longtime firefighter in Falconer. Hoene married his high school sweetheart, Sheila, and the couple relocated to Kennedy.

Just two years after he joined the fire department, Hoene became an assistant chief — a position he held on and off for 15 years. He noted the department was very much “fire-oriented” in the ’70s and ’80s until emergency medical services were provided to the community.

Hoene was chairman of the first fund drive in 1975 that resulted in the purchase of the department’s first ambulance. Soon after he became state certified as an emergency medical technician.

“Over the course of the years it has become more and more EMS,” Hoene said of the services provided to the community. “I think right now 80- to 90-percent (of the department’s responses) are for EMS.”

In his earlier days Hoene said equipment left a little to be desired, with long coats and rubber boots as the main source of protection against raging fires. Today, personal protective equipment includes heavy, fire-resistant jackets, pants and air tanks for breathing.

“It’s gotten a lot more expensive,” Hoene said of the fire service. “Personal protective gear has improved immensely over the years. Now just about every department has a thermal imaging camera, which was non-existent back in those days.”

Efforts of the longtime first responder are well known throughout the county. It’s the members of the department, though, that see firsthand how much time Hoene has put into volunteering.

“There’s no one who’s done more to the fire service than Ed Hoene,” said Chris McKinley, president and captain of the Kennedy Fire Department. “No doubt about it. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a jack of all trades and can fix anything.”

After 45 years of volunteering, Hoene said he now primarily provides “scene support” during emergencies. That includes driving the trucks and ambulance to and from accidents and fires, operating water pumps on the engines and helping other firefighters with equipment.

Hoene said he has responded to a variety of emergencies over the years. It’s when someone who has received help by the fire department that reaches out afterward that reminds him how rewarding it can be.

“We’ve had a few automobile accidents where the victim probably would have passed away but we were able to save them over the years,” he said. “The big paycheck for a volunteer fireman is to get a letter from the people expressing their gratitude that you helped them out.”

Hoene is currently a member of the Chautauqua County Fire Chiefs Association and New York State Association of Fire Chiefs. He serves on the Kennedy Board of Fire Commissioners, a group that oversees the department’s revenue that is generated through taxes.

As for the current state of the volunteer fire service, mostly notably the need for manpower, Hoene doesn’t mince words. He said many of the department’s members used to work in town, which allowed trucks to get out faster to emergencies.

“Those days are long gone,” he said. “So daytime coverage in a rural area is a major problem nowadays. That’s why we rely so much on mutual aid with neighboring departments.”

“Something’s going to have to be done in the future,” he continued, acknowledging that consolidating area fire departments could be one option to combine resources and members.

Despite a constant need for new members, Hoene said a core group of volunteers can always be counted on by the community.

“The dedication of the volunteers is always amazing,” he said. “Everybody has their own personalities and sometimes you have certain conflicts, but when that alarm goes off all that goes out the back door to protect property and save lives.”

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