A Family Aff air - Firefi ghting Legacies: Michael Valliant

The County Seat of Talbot County. Established around early religious settlements and a court of law, Historic Downtown Easton is today a centerpiece of fine specialty shops, business and cultural activities, unique restaurants, and architectural fascination. Treelined streets are graced with various period structures and remarkable homes, carefully preserved or restored. Because of its historical significance, historic Easton has earned © John Norton distinction as the “Colonial Capitol of the Eastern Shore” and was honored as number eight in the book “The 100 Best Small Towns in America.” With a population of over 16,500, Easton offers the best of many worlds including access to large metropolitan areas like Baltimore, Annapolis, Washington, and Wilmington. For a walking tour and more history visit https:// tidewatertimes.com/travel-tourism/easton-maryland/.

by Michael Valliant

People have all kinds of reasons for becoming volunteer firefighters. Family is high on the list. Fathers who are or were firefighters, kids growing up at and around fire stations and wanting to do what they see everyone else doing. In the case of volunteer fire departments, raising the next generation of first responders, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics is frequently a family affair.

For Bill Keswick, it was watching his father (Bill Sr.) at the Queensbury Central Volunteer Fire Company in New York. Bill joined the department when he was 18, in 1992.

“My first real jungle gym was the old ladder truck,” Bill said. “Our whole family would be part of things at the fire station ~ from being in parades, the ladies auxiliary would be helping out, to becoming a junior firefighter.”

Three generations of Keswick firefighters: from left, Bill Keswick Sr., Margaret Keswick and Bill Keswick Jr. 51

Bill and Margaret responding to an Easton fi re. Kevin Smith from SMFD took this picture. Cameron Chance is on the left, Margaret and then Bill without his helmet.

Bill moved to St. Michaels in 1996 and joined the fire department there for six and a half years before moving to Easton and joining the Easton Volunteer Fire Department in 2003. His daughter Margaret joined EVFD three years ago, when she was 16. She is now a student at University of Maryland Baltimore County, where she is studying Emergency Health Services with the goal of becoming a paramedic.

“I grew up with my grandfather and my dad being firefighters and I always hung out at the firehouse and played on the fire trucks,” Margaret said. “They were having fun, and I wanted to have fun, too.”

Bill and Margaret often respond to calls together, especially when Margaret fi rst joined the department and wasn’t driving. Being away at college, she isn’t able to make as many calls, but in 2020, Bill responded to 316 of Easton’s calls and Margaret responded to 317. In 2021, Margaret responded to 249 calls and Bill made it to 413. Calls can range from automatic alarms to working house fi res ~ no matter the call, EVFD responds.

“There was a fire in Cambridge that we responded to that ended

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up being a HAZMAT situation, and we were there for six hours,” Margaret said. “Another time we were responding to a house fire that I made it to and my dad didn’t make the truck to respond. As we were leaving, we were called to another house fire and I saw him on the scene there.”

The Keswicks have put in substantial time for training, from the require Fire Fighter I course, to rescue survival and rescue tech, HAZMAT operations and EMT training. Bill is a lieutenant at EVFD and has also completed Fire Fighter II. They both completed a weekend-long rescue survival training together.

What’s the best part of being a firefighter?

“The feeling of helping people is a big part of it,” Bill said, “We are being counted on to respond when things are at their worst for someone. When they are in need, we show up.”

With the perspective of being on the western shore for school, Margaret appreciates the community aspect of things.

“Helping people is nice, especially living in a small community, you end up helping people you know,” she said. “It’s also nice helping people you don’t know, and they remember you. It’s also doing something with my dad that we both love doing.”

The legacy of family firefighters is evident at EVFD ~ looking over the roster, Bill could point to at least 17 families who are multi-generational firefighters.

David Coleman grew up in Chestertown, where his father, William ~ known by everyone as “Mr. Bill” Coleman, was a staple in the fire department there for 55 years, joining in 1957. Mr. Bill held positions as chief, assistant chief, deputy chief ~ for more than 20 years.

“My dad rode the fire truck right up to six months before he passed away that’s when he started to get sick,” David said. “At 75 to 80 years old, he still wore a white (chief’s) helmet and had more than 6,000 active calls. For the 6,000 Alarm Club in Chestertown, his name is the only one on the plaque.”

William ("Mr. Bill") Coleman and his son David Coleman, both life members of the Chestertown Fire

Company. 54

Mr. Bill was the head of maintenance at Washington College, which was right near the fire station, so he was able to respond to almost every call. As kids, David and his brothers lived near the firehouse and would ride their bikes to see the trucks coming out on calls, and their father was always on the first truck.

Fast forward a bit and David has now been recognized for 30 years of service at the Chestertown Volunteer Fire Department and has served for 27 years in the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company, which now has a combination of career (paid) and volunteer firefighters.

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The old Chestertown Firehouse

David’s first chimney fire is an early memory he has of responding to calls with his father. Chimney fires smolder ~ you can’t necessarily see the fire from the outside. David was on the roof of the house, and departments made their own chimney drags, using chains like snow chains on a tire on a long rope, which they would use to scrape the inside of the chimney and knock loose everything that was burning. David decided to look down the chimney.

“It singed my eyebrows right off my face,” he said. “It was the only time my dad ever got on me. He knew I should have known better ~ he told me that if you look down a chimney during a chimney fire, you deserve to have your eyebrows burnt off!”

When David got a job with Ocean City Parks and Recreation, he moved to Ocean City. There were things at the beach that Chestertown didn’t prepare him for: there are four different stations in Ocean City. With the high volume of calls and the transient nature of the beach, they see a higher turnover rate in volunteers, some of whom say they just don’t have the time.

“We would see winter fires on the boardwalk on a regular basis, condo fires, anywhere from 25 to 35 working fires a year maybe 20 years ago,” David said. “And working for the city, I was able to respond to most of the calls. I made more than 200 fully active calls.”

David still considers Chestertown his home station and tries to be there and help them out whenev-

David Coleman

er he can. An avid photographer, he tries to present them with historic or new framed photographic prints to display in the station.

For the Colemans and the Keswicks, firefighting is a family affair. It runs in their blood and is a way of being connected to their communities. But that isn’t always the case with smaller volunteer fire departments.

“It is getting tougher and tougher for fire stations. You get calls today that you need three companies to respond to in order to get enough people to cover it,” David said. “Some time ago, everyone that lived and worked in a town was part of their fire departments and could help respond. That’s a challenge today with few firefighters.”

Thankfully, at least for some, watching their families and wanting to be a part of the firefighting fellowship will keep going for future generations.

Michael Valliant is the Assistant for Adult Education and Newcomers Ministry at Christ Church Easton. He has worked for non-profi t organizations throughout Talbot County, including the Oxford Community Center, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Academy Art Museum.

Bill Keswick Jr. and Margaret responding to a fi re. 60