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Made In Walker
The Made In Walker Podcast connects you to the people, stories, and ideas shaping our community. From local innovators to everyday change makers, we are diving deep into what makes Walker Michigan a great place to live, work, and grow.
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Made In Walker
Fire & Leadership: Walker's New Chief Steps Up
What makes someone leave the warmth of the Gulf Coast to lead a fire department in Michigan? For Russell Schoultz, Walker's new Fire Chief, it was the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in a community that immediately felt like home.
Chief Schoultz brings an impressive 34-year public safety career to Walker, including extensive experience with hurricane response, disaster management, and leading statewide operations in Louisiana. But it's his fresh perspective on community safety that stands out most in this candid conversation. "The only thing I have learned in 34 years is how much I don't know," he reflects, demonstrating the humility that guides his leadership approach.
Throughout our discussion, Schoultz shares powerful insights drawn from decades on the frontlines. Perhaps most sobering is his observation that in his extensive career responding to fatal fires, he's "yet to be on a fatal fire that had a working smoke detector where the people were not disabled." This stark reality drives his passion for community risk reduction – shifting focus from merely responding to emergencies to preventing them altogether.
The conversation reveals ambitious plans for Walker's fire service, including expanded staffing with career firefighters to support the dedicated paid-on-call members, community CPR training initiatives, and innovative approaches to disaster preparedness. Schoultz speaks with genuine admiration about Walker's existing firefighters and the seamless collaboration between city departments that ensures public safety.
Whether you're curious about emergency services, considering a career in firefighting, or simply want to understand how our community stays protected, this conversation offers valuable perspective from someone who's seen it all. Check out the City of Walker Fire Department's social media or visit walkercity.com/fire to learn more about fire safety programs and opportunities to serve.
Well, we're welcoming a new leader to fill a vital role in the city of Walker. Russell Schultz is our new fire chief for the Walker Fire Department. From protecting property and lives to inspiring a new generation of firefighters, we are so grateful to have you in the city. Thank you so much for being here on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:All right, and many folks may have known, seen the news of your arrival here. But for those who aren't quite sure of your background and such, why don't you give us that extensive background that you have?
Speaker 2:Well, I have 34 years in public safety and that includes the entire 34 years in the fire service and around 20 of those doing law enforcement as well. So the only thing I have learned in 34 years is how much I don't know. So it seems like the more that I do this, the longer that I do it, the more training and education that I get, the more I realize that I don't know and I really want to learn more. So I started on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and it's hard to say some of these years because it's been so long ago in the early 90s, very early 90s, and as a firefighter in a small beach town. And so as my I eventually went to a larger place where I retired from Harrison County, which is in Gulfport, where Gulfport and Biloxi is right on the beach in Mississippi. So I retired.
Speaker 2:I had 30 years when I retired, so at that point I had some I couldn't leave the area for some, you know, personal issues and family issues going on. So I went to Louisiana where I had an awesome opportunity to work for the state fire marshal's office to serve as the deputy chief, so basically overseeing statewide operations. It included emergency response, investigations and code enforcement and state fire training and code enforcement and state fire training. And then you know, when we get to a point in your life where you're like, okay, there's a goal. The only goal that I really had left to accomplish was being a fire chief.
Speaker 2:So I started looking and I knew that I only wanted to work in a place that was smaller, that I could know people, that I could become connected to the community, and connected to the not just the community members but the fire department members as well. And so, you know, I looked through dozens and dozens of jobs and just none of them really attracted me. And so once I, when I found the, I saw the Walker job and I started looking at it, looking at the community. You know, it's interesting. I probably would have never written Michigan on a list, a short list of places, five years ago, right, and now that I'm here, I realize that this is probably the best opportunity that I've had in my 34-year career, just because of how welcoming the community is and the people are here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, sometimes folks, you know we live here, we've been here all of our lives maybe, and we can kind of overlook what makes the community special you with an outside perspective, able to come across the country, and you see that right here.
Speaker 2:It's interesting when you make a move like this, you think about it, and I always wanted to do something like this. You never really think about what would concern you, so when I got ready to make the jump, it really wasn't the job. I'm very confident that I've done this my entire life, so the job is, to some degree, natural to do. It's always the anxiety point, the pain point, if you will, is how are the people going to be, how are they going to work with that? You're going to live around and you know unbelievable that quickly almost. I immediately felt like I'd been here for years.
Speaker 2:I mean it's a very natural fit the City of Walker and the whole West Michigan area.
Speaker 1:Wonderful. We love to hear that. We're grateful that you're here, coming from a region where you do see some pretty big events weather events, you've got hurricanes and such and then coming to a place like you know, michigan Walker, what are some of the things that you can actually kind of bring and put implement into this place?
Speaker 2:Sure. So it is sort of interesting. You know where I retired from Mississippi Gulf Coast, and in Louisiana it seems like we have some kind of disaster, even larger disasters, pretty often, and so some of that includes hurricanes, flooding, even stuff that you know, large accidents and chemical spills and those kind of things. So what that does for your community and for your agency is it keeps you on your toes. You realize that when you do this training, it can, really it can happen, because it does happen.
Speaker 2:Then, when you come to a place, thankfully, that doesn't experience as many disasters, what you have to be able to do is work into the system, is not allow complacency to get into the community. And it's not just the agency, it's the community, the community members. So when they hear things about preparedness, about, you know, checking your smoke detector or making sure you have a community or, I'm sorry, disaster readiness bag and those kind of things, well, I, if you have a community or, I'm sorry, disaster readiness bag and those kind of things, well, I've never had to use one, so why would I need to make sure that all this stuff is there? Well, I can tell you for a place that does have these kind of issues if you don't and you get caught off guard.
Speaker 1:you know that the it can be pretty yeah, pretty challenging if you're not ready yeah, I can only imagine that and you are very big on preparedness and outward safety for the community and stuff and education as well. You've been through a few calls already and fire safety being prepared smoke detectors that's really big on your radar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting as you go through your career. So when you first start out doing this, really what you're enamored by are the calls, the excitement, the adrenaline. And sure, that's when you first start. But as you go through your career and you spend decades seeing people lose everything that they have and in some cases lose their life because they're not ready that now, as a fire chief, I can tell you that my focus is community risk reduction. Our goal is to be reduced to risk. Where we don't have those calls in the community, we don't have preventable. You know, there's sometimes just things occur, but a lot of these disasters or a lot of these fires, and these I think are preventable and maybe you can't prevent the actual event from occurring. We can prevent some of the loss and so things like a smoke detector just having a smoke detector I unfortunately have been on. Many dozens of people have lost their life in fires. I have yet to be on a fatal fire that had a working smoke detector where the people were not disabled.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow, very important, and you've already done some messaging. You get that out through social media. That's a big one as well. What are some of the goals that you have for the city of Walker's fire department, especially coming here? Sure.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the goals is, like I just alluded to, we want to expand our community risk reduction, not just fires. So you look at things like CPR in communities that have very aggressive public CPR campaigns. We know that when someone has a heart attack or someone stops breathing in a public place, that their chance of survival. Members are signed up in October to go to CPR training, cpr instructor training, rather, and we want to start late in the fall, in the winter, having community CPR classes, anything we can do to better prepare the community to take care of itself until we arrive. It's a team approach and it starts the second. Something happens.
Speaker 2:So community risk reduction is a huge focus of ours and we're going to continue to expand that. So community risk reduction is a huge focus of ours and we're going to continue to expand that On the firefighting side, on the fire suppression side, expanding our staffing so that we're a combination fire department. What that means is we've got a couple different models of staffing that provide service to the community, one of which is our paid-on-call members, one of which is our paid-on-call members. These are people that have regular jobs, not at the fire department, but they give tremendous time to the community to prepare, to train and to go to calls, and that happens in the middle of the night. While we're asleep getting ready for our job the next day, these folks are out there giving their time to go to emergencies and then have to go to their job the next day.
Speaker 2:So to help them we're going to put career staff in the fire stations. Starting October the 4th, We'll have two of our three fire stations and then over the next couple years our goal is to expand those numbers, to reduce the burden on the paid-on-call staff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wonderful, and that is something that they really do.
Speaker 2:Step up they give a lot for themselves and it is a big sacrifice, but folks like that are still needed. That's been one of the most impressive groups of people I've met since I've been here, and they don't say no. So whatever the task is, whatever the question is, the answer is yes.
Speaker 1:from them, yes yeah, and they work hard, and I think that was one of the things that we saw during your interview too is you're just like pumping up the fire department. You know what they do is important the work that they do, and just kind of reminding them that they're crucial for this community.
Speaker 2:Well, it's always interesting when you talk to people before and then you talk to people after. They need the services of the fire department. Most people honestly, don't think about the fire department. It's there, but they don't think about it until they really need it. I had a personal experience which was sort of interesting.
Speaker 2:There's a guy out there named Brandon LaFontaine who is now a lieutenant with the fire department of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Well, he was my first pediatric cardiac arrest safe. He got electrocuted when he was seven years old, and his mom, who I'm sitting in contact with them. But his mom told an interesting story that she actually would pass the fire station and see people working out and grilling out. She's like, what are they doing there? You know they're working out and then you know, here it is. A couple months later she calls 911. We arrive where I come from, we're paramedics and we um, you know, we resuscitated her son and she's like I never thought about the fire department until I really needed it and so we want to. We want to do as a fire department, we want to make sure people know that we're here 24-7. Whatever the problem is, it doesn't be a fire, it could be a medical call, you'd be trapped in a car a a flood. We've got the resources, we have the training and we're here to provide the service to the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what do you think you want people to know about the men and women behind the Walker Fire Department? Maybe any misconceptions? But just so that they know these are who are in their community.
Speaker 2:Well, once again, like I said before, I was beyond impressed with the quality of people that are here serving the citizens of Walker, and it's not just the fire department.
Speaker 2:The fire department is unbelievable, but you know we work with the police department. The collaboration between the police and fire unbelievable. When you go to the public works department and you know a lot of people, they see fire trucks and police cars but they don't realize that when they get those services, there's maintenance people that are taking care of the vehicles, there's human resources, people that are making sure the fire and the police and all these people are hired appropriately and they're paid and all of those things that they need. So there's this massive network of folks behind the scenes that make sure the community gets the services they need. I've been very, we've been very fortunate to have, in my short time here, a great relationship with the city commission and the mayor. Everybody wants the community to have the services they need, even though you may not even know what you actually need yet, right, but when the time comes, those services are there within a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know that is one of Mayor Carey's big pillars is public safety. It's very important to our community. They really respect the men and women in red and blue, so that is something that's very important to our community. What are some of the things?
Speaker 2:have you gotten to get out a little bit in the community and do things on your own or for fun, and One of the things that we've been sort of impressed with is the food is not as bad as I thought it would be yes, yes, right, coming from the south, where you know, we've got pretty good food down there.
Speaker 2:It's actually been pretty good. Actually, the wet burrito is not bad at all. We've gotten to do day trips over to like Grand Haven and Ludington and those kind of places. The area is beyond beautiful. I mean we really it's. It's. You know, people are missing out they don't come to michigan and check it out.
Speaker 1:Yes, you know, of course you know you're used to big bodies of water with the salt of the ocean and such, but our lakes are pretty impressive as well, it's very it's.
Speaker 2:It's not. It's way way more impressive than I thought it was gonna be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's awesome to hear that. And um, winters you're no stranger to Winters. I believe you were mentioning, when we were talking off camera, that down south you guys had to go through a blizzard just recently. We actually had a blizzard this past January.
Speaker 2:And my time in the military. They would send us to Alpena, michigan, or Volkville, wisconsin.
Speaker 1:I can tell you that Alpena is much prettier than Volkville, wisconsin. Yes, I lived there, I know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very pretty and, uh, actually, one of the big draws for coming up here is actually getting four seasons, yes, and not having four months of 110 degree heat indexes yes, yes, that will be something that uh you and your family will be welcome to have so anything you're looking forward to do in winter that you may have not had a chance Snowmobiling, so I've done it in Colorado. That is something that we're very excited about. Snowmobiling, All right Well wonderful.
Speaker 1:We hope we have a good winter for you guys in order to take advantage of that. So if there are some folks before we leave who are interested in wanting to step up and see what it's like to become a firefighter paid on call firefighter what are the process to go through that and how can they get involved?
Speaker 2:Sure, so we have those. We have positions open right now, through the middle of the month, the middle of August. We it's an application process and then after that, for the paid on call, there is a residency requirement that you live three and a half miles from one of the fire stations, one of the firehouses which most anywhere in Walker. You're three and a half miles from one of the firehouses and then, once you do that, we bring people in, tell them exactly what to expect from the position. It's not like it is on TV, it's very different actually.
Speaker 2:And so we spend some time going over the reality of that job. They have to take a physical abilities test and you know, background check and those type things. And then they go to the fire academy. We pay for them to go, we paid them and pay for them to go to the fire Academy actually starts the last weekend of October. And so the other good thing about the paid on call if you're interested in doing it as a career, it's a great chance for you to get a glimpse at the reality of the job. And so, yeah, this is for me or no, this is not really for me. We have been very fortunate to hire most of our folks in the paid on call staff. We all get to try each other out. We get to sort of make sure if we're all good fit for one another, and I feel like that is. A huge benefit of the paid on call program is allowing people to get in and take a look at the business. Let the business take a look at them and see if it's a good fit.
Speaker 1:Sorry, well, wonderful, we're very excited to have you. It's been a few weeks or so so far, but looking for great things to come, so thank you so much, Chief.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. Thank you again and for more information.
Speaker 1:Of course you can go onto the social media page the City of Walker's fire department and also walkercity slash fire. Get all of your information.
