For the first time in some 20 years, Thomas Lenart, Sr. isn’t the chief at the Storm Ambulance and Rescue Corps.
Lenart opted not to run again. Members elected James Saldamarco in December, the first new chief since 1987.
Lenart, a retired Derby police officer, sat down with the Valley Independent Sentinel to reflect on his years of service.
Valley Independent Sentinel: How did you get involved with public safety and emergency services?
Tom Lenart, Sr.: I was originally recruited by the Hotchkiss Hose Company as a softball player and found myself one day at the firehouse when a call came in. We went to the call, I encountered my future father-in-law (legendary Storm founder and former Evening Sentinel photojournalist Ed Cotter) and he pretty much dragged me through the building and showed me what I should have been doing.
Valley Indy: How old were you that day when you went out to the call?
Lenart: I was at the tail end of high school, so 16 or 17-years-old.
Valley Indy: So how did you go from playing softball to fighting fires and later, becoming the chief of Storm Ambulance?
Lenart: I kind of enjoyed it [that first day], so I followed through with it, then realized there was more that could be done besides just firefighting — and that was the medical part of it.
Valley Indy: Having sparked an interest in medical work, what were your next steps?
Lenart: In the mid-1970s, I took a medical response training class and followed through with EMT training. I became an ambulance corps member and I think it was in 1984 that I became an officer. I was an assistant chief in the ambulance corps for three years and, in 1987, I was elected as the chief of the service. It seemed like a natural progression.
Valley Indy: As chief of the ambulance corps, what were your responsibilities? What did you oversee?
Lenart: I oversaw EMS (emergency medical services), day-to-day ambulance operations, rescue operations, any technical rescues that had to be accomplished, the hazardous materials team and kind of by default, I was the chief EMS officer for the city.
Valley Indy: During your span as chief, what did you like most about the job?
Lenart: The people. The public. You didn’t get a “thank you” on every call, but the ones who you least expected appreciation from, showed their thanks the most. People don’t forget you and the impact you had on them. I was at Stop and Shop one day and this lady came up to me and said, “You helped me when my son was in a bike accident, I’ll never forget that.”
And watching the kids grow in the firehouse, seeing them come in as 16, 17-year-old kids and seeing them go on to public safety careers. That’s the coolest thing. (Lenart’s son Tom and David are both firefighters)
Valley Indy: What was your most memorable on-the-job experience?
Lenart: A call I’ll never forget involved a little boy, the front of his shirt caught on fire. It was one of those things where apparently he’d been playing with a cigarette lighter and he had some rubberized material on the front of his pajama top. For some reason, that incident just will never go away. He didn’t cry the whole time we were with him and all I could think was, “How could that be?”
Valley Indy: What was the scariest, most dangerous call you’ve responded to?
Lenart: I’d say the River Restaurant explosion. I remember being in the basement trying to get to some of the victims and I remember the building shaking and us actually seeing the cracks in the walls getting bigger as we were down there.
Valley Indy: Looking back, what are you most proud to have accomplished?
Lenart: That’s a tough one. I didn’t [volunteer] because I wanted to say, “This is what I accomplished,” I did it because I wanted to. I’m most proud to say that for nearly 24 years, I did everything I could for the people we served. I always felt that if I could look in the mirror at the end of the day and say I did everything I could to make everyone a little better off, then I did my job.
Valley Indy: Why did you retire?
Lenart: I’ve been through a lot of health issues in the last three years and I realized I just can’t carry that burden anymore. [The job] takes a toll on you.
Valley Indy: Do you miss the job?
Lenart: I’m struggling with that. I find it’s easier to say, “I don’t have to do that anymore.” But at the same time, if it sounds like something really bad is happening, you feel like you have to be there. In my case though, it was time. I think to myself, “If you want to be around for a while longer, you have to draw the line somewhere.” It’s bittersweet.
The new officers at Storm Ambulance are:
Chief: James Saldamarco
Assistant Chief: David Lenart
Assistant Chief: Louis Oliwa
