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a8 tribune september 9 1987 s t o ty ptvilstt keith lewis william street stouffville is a fire department in stouffville chief bill brown captain on the fulltime staff ofthe markham sayskeiths experience is a valuable asset to the fire department hes also a volunteer with the iocal brigade jim thomas a by bruce stapley stouffville- shortly after joining the markham firedepartmentkeith lewis attempted to impress his chief by following through on an order to kick down a door i he came at the target with the full force of his 200 plus pound frame unfortunately his foot be1 came wedged in the obstacle he was attempting to batter down twelve years later the last three in the posi tion of captain keith looks back and laughs at this unlikely turn of events he can also look back qna variety of experiences that has made his work as a firefighter an extremely rewarding endeavor naturally when stbuffville fire chief bill brown recentlyiyent looking for someone to fill out his volunteer roster it was this impressive track record that prompted him to approach keith vchiefbrqwn was seeking someone with pro sessional firefightirig experience to come and help outkeith explains he needed a pump ojierator i was ableto do the job vjf keith and edith lewis reside on william street touffville with children bobby and rachel f els goad about joining the jocaf brigade as a volunteer my area of expertise i felt-i- ild ii htaw that i was in a position to offer something what he has to offer is a combination of kriovv- i good positive attitude that makes him iition to a group of men who must ther u metimes difficult cir- i ices it was a bit of an adjustment at first keith admits in my fulltime positionatmarkhamj pm usually the senior officer atemergency calls with a group of volunteers i had tolook at a isiwpionthrough the eyes of a firefighter rather than a captain the change in roles hasnt been all that diffi cult keith says hes grateful for the additional knowledge hes acquired through association with the stouffville department its a bit of a different situation here than at i the john street thornhill station where i nor rk keith explains- lhvhitchurch- stbuffville there are jnanyrndfetrafflcrelated cahsjt bioomirigtbnrqad ideath trap so close at handive been involved f in more cases here freeing occu pants than ill ever be to markham- another difference he says is that in many emergencies the victims are known to you even friends this makes it more personal vkeith takes his professibn seriously calling himself a career firefighter hes continually taldngcourses related to his trade hesa qual- ified cpr cardid pulminary pesuscitatibn instructor and also provides st john ambulance graining as a firefighter you must have knowledge in many areas even to a smatteringof- medical expertise a little public relations doesnt hurt i either looking back at the highlights and in some rcasesthe lowlights of his career keith cites the irecerit canada hpmes iriferndat mccowari road and steele is the most devestating firefighting experience hes ever encountered that was nightmare lie recalls in all ho ahqmeswcre destroyed we had all the equipment all the in but no water usually you formulate a plan of attack then go about putting put a fire bui there there was little weicould do keiths most r memorable experience nally invblvedablaze that saw him caught in a back draft- flames suddenly started sh ij a set of basement steps that he w he suffered burns to his face and s was so intense his helmet partial result of injuries lie was sidelined a month how does mrs lewis adjusttb a husband wins makes a profession out of pi you have to go into it with your wifes bles sing keith says her support is essential parti cularly in a volunteer role youre a call edith hb- says isnfa i worrier so this makes it easier for both as to the future keith hepes tp remain a fire- fighter many- yearsbpth pn fulltime and as a aeluntcer thereasen i enjoy it so much is ineyer know vfromonc dayto the next what im geing to be doing we do so many different things 5 is there a limit i ask rescuing cats frehi trees keithreplies si i fit gear up for relief sale pioneer village many hands make light work mrs eva burkholder rr 1 markham is certain many hands will lighten the load in prepara tion for the mennonite relief sale sept 19 at black creek pioneer village the location is steeles avenue at jane street toronto the sale begins at 10 am and concludes at four mrs burkholder is the com mittee chairperson over the past 20 years more than 500000 has been raised the money goes to the mennonite cen tral committee and is used for re lief work overseas in addition to mrs burkholder the committee includes joyce and henry turman phyllis eyre mary siemens pat warriner and joan pugh margaret empringham is again in charge of the popular quilt auction last year in spite of inclement weather more than 30000 was raised mrs burkholder is hope- ful this figure can be equalled or surpassed in 87 opnl 9 pm monday tumday 890 q avcnoc stouffville wdntdjy sslorday thomhi now open 24 hour 399 main si w tnu ftmio 0 monday9ams johns hobby wiles the hours away the time never hangs heavy on john wood bines hands his hands are too busy doing hand iwork like this mr wopdbinc formerly of rr 2 markham and church street north stouffvil le now resides at sutton recently on a trip back to town he brought along a sample of his work as proof of his skill jim thomas