Page 15 - In Command Volume 18 - Ohio Fire Chiefs Association

Long-Serving Member of
OFCA Retires from Van Wert
Fire Department
ebruary 2017 marked forty years of fire service and the retirement of Chief James Steele. Chief Steele entered the fire service in 1976 as a volunteer firefighter with the
Dunkirk Fire Department, now the Northern Hardin County Fire District. He became a full-time firefighter at Van Wert Fire Department in 1979. He was promoted to Captain in 1988 and Chief in 1997. He holds an associate degree in Fire Science from Hocking College and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. In addition, Chief Steele is a graduate of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association Leadership Academy, Ohio Fire Executive Class 1, and the Blue Card Command Class.
Along with his local tenure in the fire service industry, Chief
Steele was active at the state level as a member of the Ohio
Fire Chiefs’ Association and through his work with the State Fire Training Committee and State Fire School. He served as the long- time chair of the State Fire Training Committee, where his work was instrumental in passing legislation that enacted mandatory continuing fire service education. He testified before the Senate and spent countless hours in the rules making process with members of the Ohio Fire Alliance to create and deliver fire certification classes. He was course director for the State Fire School’s Industrial Fire Brigade Training Class and instructed live burns for their Fire Instructors’ Program.
The Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association has also been a beneficiary of Chief Steele’s advocacy for education and training. He was part of the original committee that initiated the Ohio Fire & Emergency Services Foundation Fire Officer I Program, where he teaches the Strategy and Tactics section. He and the committee also worked on the successful creation of the Fire Officer II program and are currently working towards a Fire Officer III program.
Chief Steele teaches the OFCA Dr. John Maxwell’s 21 Laws of Leadership for the Fire Service, where he is one its original instructors. The course is designed to present the leadership tenets that have influenced managers and leaders all over the world.
In addition, Chief Steele is one of the assessors for OFCA promotional testing, a reader for the Ohio Fire Executive program and past member of the Education, EMS and Scholarship Committees.
Chief Steele was one of the original OFCA Connie O’Brian Scholarship Award winners in 1995; the 2003 recipient of the Northwest Ohio Firefighters Association Meritorious Service Award; named an honorary dean of the State Fire School in 2008; and the 2010 OFCA Distinguished Service Award winner.
Congratulations Chief Steele and thank you for your exemplary service to your community and the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association. u
Chief Joe Kitchen; Chief Jim Steele; OFCA President Chief Jeff Klein
From left to right: OFCA Director-at-Large
APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2017 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org I n C o m m a n d 15