Cedar Rapids Fire Department relaunches chaplain program

On his first day on the job as Cedar Rapids' Fire Chief, Stephen Reid encountered a burning house, a dead body and a grieving family.

Reid realized there was no one on hand to comfort those affected by the house fire at 901 Oakland Road Northeast. At that moment, he decided to re-launch the Chaplain program.

Rick Gail and Phil Saunders both have a history of working with the police and fire department. Saunders is the former Fire Marshal of Cedar Rapids. Gail is a Pastor at First Assembly of God and a chaplain for the Police Department.

As chaplains for the fire department, they won't be putting out flames, but will still play a critical role.

“Firefighter's main mission is to rescue people, get them out of harm's way and get them medical treatment, if necessary, and then put the fire out,” Cedar Rapids Fire Department Spokesperson Greg Buelow said.

While they're busy saving lives and putting out flames, emotional embers can flare up with family members, friends and neighbors.

“I've always known that it's important that someone be with someone when tragedies occur and people are hurting,” Saunders said. “I feel that it's part of the fire service role. It isn't just to do the technical things, but it's also to comfort the people and reassure them.”

Putting out fires and saving lives is stressful. Firefighters often lean on each other for support.

“It's kind of like a big stew, but somebody needs to be there to get the stew started and that's what a chaplain can do,” Saunders said.

Chaplains can provide counseling and comfort for firefighters who might not otherwise reach out to anyone.

“Firefighters are doing a very heroic job, a macho job, an ego-filled job, but beneath all that, they're cream puffs,” Saunders said. “I just want to comfort people.”

Buelow said firefighters' mental health and well-being is essential.”If you don't take care of the people who are responding, your organization falls apart…If they're hurting, they can't help others who are hurting.”

After all, emotional effects of a fire can linger for years if firefighters, victims and community members don't take steps to extinguish those feelings.

Over the next few weeks and months, the two chaplains will visit each of the city's fire stations to get to know firefighters a little better.

The Cedar Rapids police department also has an active chaplain program.