Write a commentIn this week’s installment of Five Minutes With A Hero, we meet the new Chief of the Oswego Town Volunteer Fire Department.
He is a young man with several years of firefighting experience who has stepped up to serve and protect his community while also working a full-time job.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Matt Krocke, and I am the new Chief of the Oswego Town Volunteer Fire Department. I am 29 years old, and I work for Equitable, a financial life insurance company. I was born in Oswego, and I have a degree in Computer Science from SUNY-Oswego.
How long have you been in your current position?
I have only been the Chief of the department for a few weeks. I have been a line officer for a while though, starting as a Lieutenant and Captain, then I was 2nd Assistant Chief for a couple of years. Our 1st and 2nd Assistant Chiefs Greg Herrmann and Jesse Weigand are both past Chiefs, so I can lean on their experience when I need to.
You are fairly young to be in a leadership position. Can you tell us about your experience?
Yes. I joined the fire department’s Explorer Post when I was 16 and still in high school. I was able to take my Firefighter-I Training while I was a senior in high school, and after I turned 18 and got some additional training I was able to become qualified as an interior firefighter. After several years, I was appointed as a Lieutenant and have worked my way up from there.
What are some of the challenges you face in your position?
I would say that recruitment and retention of members are the biggest challenges in the volunteer fire service as a whole. We currently have about 35 active members, so we’re doing okay. Many of our members have a family tradition of volunteering, and we’re also fortunate here that some SUNY-Oswego students who are active in their home fire departments choose to volunteer with us as firefighters or EMT’s. We train them, and they contribute to our town while they’re in school here. Then we send them back to their home departments where they can help their own communities.
What do you enjoy the most about your work here?
What I like the most is the satisfaction of giving back to my community. My family first moved to Oswego Town when I was in middle school. Three weeks after we moved in, our house was struck by lightning. The fire department responded and made sure we were all safe and that everything was okay. That’s what I like about this job - being able to help people when they need it.
You mentioned a family tradition of service. That’s the case in your own family, isn’t it?
Yes, it is. Often, parents will have a family history of volunteering, and their kids will become interested in training as a firefighter. In our family’s case though, it was in reverse. I joined first when I was in high school and my dad, John, came along to the fire station with me and became interested. He decided to join the department a few years ago, and he is now serving as a Lieutenant.
What are some of your responsibilities as Fire Chief?
Aside from being in charge at fires and other incidents the fire department responds to, there are weekly drill nights, meetings with the Board of Fire Commissioners, requests for training, working on grant applications, and there’s a fair amount of reporting paperwork that needs to be completed too. It can seem like a second full-time job sometimes, but I knew that when I came on board as Chief.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Just that I am looking forward to the challenges that being Chief will bring. I’m looking forward to working with our department to serve this community and the communities around us. Information about our department is available at our website, otvfd.com and there is also an Oswego Town Volunteer Fire Department page on Facebook.
IHeartOswego would like to thank Chief Matt Krocke for taking the time to talk to us. We wish him well as he takes on this new challenge. Thanks for reading this article, and we hope you will check in again next week to spend another Five Minutes With A Hero.
