Wolfgang Schiessl Celebrates 60 Years with the Somers Fire Department

Wolfgang Schiessl has known every chief of the Somers Fire Department since it originated in 1937. Schiessl has been a member of the department for 60 years.

Schiessl joined the department in 1952 at the age of 18 and has held just about every position and office in the department, including chief.

According to Schiessl, 77, he became interested in joining the fire department after a fatal fire in town where some children were lost. It really affected him, and after that, he joined the department.

When he joined, there was only one truck, no firehouse, no radios, and no gear like there is today.

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The truck, a 1938 Ford, was stored at a local gas station and a tanker – acquired later – was stored at a house. He remembers when the department bought the first two two-way radios – there are now 19 – and how firefighters weren’t even issued a helmet.

He said that there were six sets of gear – a helmet, boots, and rain slicker – on the truck and if you were one of the first six, you got the gear. If you weren’t, you went in what you had on.

When Schiessl joined the department, the budget for the fire department was $827. Now, it’s close to $700,000.

Firefighters now have pagers and receive calls on their cell phones. Back in the day, the process was different. When a call came in, it rang in four households. From there, a phone tree was followed to alert firefighters. There was also a loud siren that would sound.

There were no extrication tools – except saws and whatever else they had – and techniques like CPR weren’t around.

“Basic training was an advanced first aid course, nothing like you have today,” Schiessl said. “That’s how many years I’ve been around, this stuff wasn’t even in existence. It’s come a long way and all for the better.”

Schiessl worked at Parks Superior in town for 22 years and said his boss, Bob Parks, would let him run out to fires whenever he needed to. According to Schiessl, he said he made approximately 90 percent of all the fires in town. He said that sometimes, he was the only person there.

Schiessl was on the ambulance for 13 years – which there wasn’t one when he first joined. He said that the fire department didn’t have a rescue truck in the beginning, but got one after a terrible string of motor vehicle accidents where 17 people died over two years.

In the Schiessl family, firefighting is just part of life. Schiessl’s sons were firefighters and one of them, Gary, 49, is the current chief. In addition, Gary’s son Jon is in the department.

“It’s just always been there as we grew up,” Gary said. “We were always interested in fire service, we took every chance we could get to go down to the firehouse with dad.”

Jon agreed, saying it was almost normal to have his father and grandfather go running out for a call.

“We would go over to my grandparents’ house for dinner, both of them would leave, we’d be waiting, dinner would be getting cold on the table,” he said. “But it was all okay. Nobody really minded it because it was just a part of life.”

Jon, 19, says that because of his father and grandfather and the department, he has decided to make a career out of it. That wasn’t something you ever thought about doing before.

Over his 60 years, Schiessl has made many lifelong friends and while he is getting older, he’s not quite ready to let go of the department yet.

“We had a lot of fun,” he said. “We had a great bunch of people. It went by so fast you just can’t imagine. That’s why I can’t let go. It’s something that gets in your blood and it’s hard to let go. A lot of it has been fun, not all of it, but the majority of it has been good.”