How long have you been in Clayton? How did you get here?
I've been with the city's fire department since 1982. Before that, I had worked in places such as Crestwood and North Jefferson County. I've been fire chief in Clayton since 2001. I was born in Illinois, grew up in Columbus, OH, and Chicago, and finished high school in Kirkwood. Now I livein Florissant.
How did you get interested in this line of work?
My interest in public service and safety came from Boy Scouts. I had looked at working in law enforcement or as a park ranger. Then I did a ridealong one summer with the St. Louis County Police Department.
What did you see that was different about fire work than police work?
Both groups help people. But police interactions with the public involved enforcing the law and making people do stuff. Interactions between the fire department and the public were almost all positive. Fire officials were always helping.
Tell me about your family.
I have been married almost 30 years to my wife, Jill. I have two children. Jon started working about a year and a half ago with the Mehlville Fire Protection District. Kristina is in school studying to become a nurse. I have one grandchild, Jacob.
What does your job involve?
I'm kind of the citizens' voice to the city manager and elected officials on issues related to fire and emergency medical services. As a department head who reports to the city manager, I am responsible for being financially prudent. The third hat I wear is that of someone who serves as the spokesman to the city for members of the fire department, which offers fire prevention, inspection, emergency medical services, fire suppression and rescue services.
What about your job might surprise some people?
The amount of technical knowledge we have to have in a variety of areas. As someone who handles operations involving hazardous materials, I have a knowledge of chemistry and safety. We develop and enforce codes. We write summonses and have a broad range of legal authority. There also is a human-relations component to my job: I manage 35 people, all Type AA people. You want employees like that, people who are used to going in and getting it done. We're all certified educators. I also manage a budget of several million dollars, work in terrorism preparedness. You know a lot about a lot of things.
How does firefighting in Clayton differ from doing that kind of work in other cities?
Clayton is a very special community. We've got a 1,200-bed jail and we have the Ritz-Carlton. We provide service to a variety of places. We've got mass transit, an interstate. We have 43 high-rises, second only to St. Louis City and Kansas City. We have a lot of mutual aid agreements here with fire departments in the surrounding region. We respond to fires in Maplewood, Mid-County, St. Louis City. We have a close relationship. This morning, I was at a residential fire in Richmond Heights working with that city's chief. That level of aid doesn't work in some places.
What are the fire department's plans this year?
We're going to be focusing on having more community involvement. We provide a classroom safety program. We're looking to enhance that program. We also help install car seats. We've applied for a couple of federal grants to help us in that area. We recently started a movie night at the fire house. Forty-seven people attended the first event, and three more are scheduled. We offer an injury-prevention presentation followed by a movie.
We will continue to train members of our department. We are on a 24-month education cycle that involves study in areas such as medical care, high-angle rescue, structural collapse, hazardous materials and driving emergency vehicles. We'll be replacing two vehicles that are equipped with electronics and serve as command centers during emergencies.
Tell me more about what a command vehicle does.
Command vehicles have radios, laptops, Wi-Fi and plans outlining the infrastructure of city buildings. We'll be digitizing those records this year for all of our vehicles. Those plans help emergency officials know where the electricity is located in a building in the event of a fire, for example.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
It's a very rewarding job.
Very interesting and an excellent interview. I would not expect nothing less from Chief Thorp.
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