If you sit at the kitchen table in the firehouse long enough the conversation will eventually become about family. Stories of bravery or amusing pranks will be interlaced with the relationships to the subject of the stories. In the past, it was always someone’s father, uncle, or brother; today it is quite common to hear about someone’s mother, aunt, or sister in the fire service. In the Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department, it is husband and wife with Chief Jeremiah and Treasurer Misty Taylor.
At 41 years Jeremiah is a 3rd generation firefighter with the family tradition going back to his grandfather being part of the original Tusculum fire brigade while working maintenance at Tusculum College. His father was also a firefighter and a member of the Greeneville Emergency and Rescue Squad. Jeremiah “always being around it” made it a logical step when he turned 18 and joined the Newmansville Volunteer Fire Department where he served as a firefighter and a Lieutenant. He went on to serve with Nolichucky, and Tusculum Volunteer Fire Departments before joining Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department where he served as Secretary, Lieutenant, Training Captain, and Chief. While serving in the fire service Jeremiah also was a member of the Greeneville Emergency and Rescue Squad where he was a full-time member for 8 years and has been a lifetime member for 2 years.
Misty, also 41, had a different path in emergency services. The events of 9/11 motivated her to serve but in more of a “behind the scenes” position versus frontline like the fire service. That desire to serve lead to a career as an emergency dispatcher at Greene County 911 for the past 17 years. Misty’s transition to the “frontline” came about with her relationship with Jeremiah and joining the Sunnyside department 5 years ago where she has gone on to become a certified exterior firefighter and has served as treasurer for the past 3 years.
The experience as a firefighter gives Misty better situational awareness when working at 911. Understanding what command at the fire is dealing can help with the smoother flow of communications with the scene and 911 making her a better dispatcher. “What if it is Jeremiah on the other end of the radio, does that make it more personal?” Both Jeremiah and Misty were quick to respond, “hearing each other on the radio does provide reassurance that each other are ok.”
That reassurance only goes so far. The worry is there every time for Misty as the hardest part of her job is not knowing if Jeremiah, her husband of 5 years, is coming home after a call or not. When asked how they handle this as a couple Jeremiah says it is not something he thinks about when leaving for a call, “because the fear could keep him from performing the way he should.” While Jeremiah is keeping his head in the game on the call Misty gains comfort hearing other experienced firefighters radio in responding as well as neighboring departments in mutual aid.
The difficult times are not just over the radio but after the calls as well. There are the bad calls that come with the territory but here is the time away from home and the kids because of calls, training, station management, and Misty’s rotating schedule at 911. Many weeks the only time Misty and Jeremiah get to see each other is a few hours to sit down at the station to go over the budget or station activities.
The positive reasons to serve however outweigh the stresses. For Misty, being a role model is very satisfying like the time a “little girl recognized that girls can be firefighters too” or her kids being proud of her for earning her position as a firefighter. But she is also proud of the work at the station. She is a person that likes to set goals and seeing them accomplished like making sure the department has the funding. Seeing the department member’s “faces light up when she tells them they have the money needed to buy equipment” makes it worthwhile.
For Jeremiah, there is the rush of fighting a fire but the older he gets “it’s the sense of duty and service.” He was not able to serve in the military, so this is his service. “It’s hard to do working two jobs but he takes pride in doing this and giving back” to the community.
That sense of duty and service provided the drive to the position of Chief which is what he is most proud of. The fact “the membership is putting their trust in him to lead them and carry them into the future” is humbling but it is also not easy. Being Chief is hard work, it is not always fun and when something goes wrong, you are the guy everyone looks for. But it is a role he accepted and as such he will be there for his members or any other responder.
While they have their individual goals for their positions, Jeremiah and Misty’s joint goal as department officers are the family environment for the Sunnyside Department. Misty wants to see more women involved as, “they can be the glue to the departments”. “If the wives are not comfortable the members are not going to be here”. She wants them to be family-oriented, for the kids to play together and husbands to talk and work with each other.
Under Jeremiah’s leadership the department equipped their brushfire truck with a new skid unit, obtained new air packs, and recently upgraded their tanker truck. While Jeremiah is thankful for the foundation the past members and Chiefs put in place he now sees his job as how he can best train, equip and motivate the department family into the future to be of service to the Sunnyside community.