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Firefighter honored for 50 years of service
How does a fire department that’s only existed 44 years end up with a firefighter who’s served for half a century?
In the case of the Madison Township Fire Department, it takes good, experienced help where it can find it.
Jack Heylmann was honored recently for 50 years of fire service, much of it to the Washington Township Fire Department in Marion County and later the Indianapolis Fire Department.
While the other local firefighters would been happy to pay their tribute, Fire Marshal Jim Greeson and Chief John Buckman of the state training office made their way to Madison Township for a surprise celebration for Heylmann.
“You’re lost,” Heylmann said upon spotting Greeson, a familiar face from his time in Indianapolis.
But Greeson and Buckman knew just where they were, presenting a certificate and medal to Heylmann to mark his years of service.
“For 50 years you’ve been sharing your knowledge, serving your community and protecting untold thousands of people,” Greeson said.
Heylmann has served in Madison Township the last six years since moving to Putnam County. In that time, he has a pretty clear rapport with his fellow volunteers.
“I want to tell the young guys: Listen to the old guys,” Heylmann said, “because a lot of the ways we used to fight fires are coming back around.”
Coming in to the evening, Heylmann knew nothing of the plot to honor him.
“I knew I had my 50 years in,” he said. “That’s all I knew. They just told us to wear (our fire department) shirts because some pictures were going to be taken.”
Those 50 years started in August 1966, when Heylmann started as a volunteer at Washington Township Station 1 at 71st Street and Keystone Avenue in Indianapolis.
He started full time for Washington Township in 1968.
Over the years, his duties include driver, pump operator, ambulance tech and driver and EMT. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1975 and became a captain and training officer in 1977.
Serving at a number of stations over the years, Heylmann stayed with Washington Township through its merger with Indianapolis Fire Department in 2007, retiring at the end of that year.
He also spent time as a volunteer with the Amo Fire Department in Hendricks County from 1993 through 2005.
Heylmann has served as engineer and safety officer during his time with Madison Township.
In those 50 years, Heylmann has seen a number of changes, especially to the equipment which mainly included a long coat, tall boots and a helmet when he started.
“We have scars on our bodies to protect the guys that are firefighters now,” Heylmann said.
He did allow one advantage of the less protective equipment — firefighters had a better idea of exactly how hot a fire was.
Heylmann added that he’s fortunate to have never been caught in a flash fire, although he’s had some roll over.
“We don’t get paid like football players, but we get just as beat up as they do,” he said.
The state officials weren’t the only surprise for Heylmann, as a number of members of his family were hiding behind the station, ready to come in at the same time as Greeson and Buckman.
Among these was Heylmann’s son, a preacher, who led the gathering in a prayer as well as a reading from Ephesians 6: 7,8 to honor his dad: “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.”
The verses seem to sum up Heylmann’s attitude toward service pretty well.
“I feel very blessed by what I’ve got in life, my wife, my kids, all kinds of things I’ve accomplished,” he said. “I wasn’t out to get any kind of record. It just happened.
“But life’s been good to me. God’s been good to me. I’m really enjoying life right now.”