April 18, 2016
Rippey Fire Department Holds Open House for Community
Rippey Fire Chief, Pete Johnson, and some of his crew. Pictured are Pete, Katlyn Kendall, Michelle Christian, Deb Dennhardt, and Phil Odin on the newest truck delivered in February, 2016
Mother Nature was kind to The Rippey Fire Department as they hosted an open house for the community on April 9, 2016. The fire trucks were gleaming in the sunshine and the equipment on display inside the station was interesting, especially to the children, who were allowed to touch and try on some of the gear.
There are ten members and one junior member on the local department. They include Pete Johnson, Brad Rowe, Phil Odin, Jon Allen, Gary Schmidt, Curt Muir, Deb Dennhardt, Michelle Christian and Heartland CO-OP employees, Jared Mills and Jon Bushman. Katlyn Kendall is a junior member and as a junior at Greene County High School, already has a goal of being a fire fighter. Gail Monthei, is a special honorary member to the rest of the crew.
Chief, Pete Johnston, joined the department in 1976. He remembers his first house fire vividly. David Cunningham was living in his grandparents’ house, when it caught fire. David was lucky to escape without injury and that was a life-long impression of a long career for Pete. When the fire departments evolved into emergency responders, he took that very seriously. Pete is a state certified Emergency Medical Responder, and has kept his certification up by taking 16 hours of training each year. Even though there have been many emergency and rescue calls in his career, the worst one in recent years, is the accident west of Rippey, several years ago that killed three people.
The community members who attended were able to meet and thank the Rippey Department members who respond to the emergency needs of our community. Any small community should be proud and thankful there are people who will serve their communities in this capacity.