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Marion native's passion leads to teaching others to save lives

By Mike Conley | The McDowell News

Published: December 23, 2008

As a boy growing up in Marion, Ray Smith always knew he wanted to be a firefighter.
"I am now 43 years old, and I can still remember being in the old fire station bay at Marion Fire Department, next to the newspaper office when the bell sounded in my heart," said Smith. "I can still see the scene in my mind; I still have the distinctive smell of the apparatus floor in my memory. My father, a Marion firefighter, allowed me to tag along to the fire station."
There, he got to know former Chiefs Arthur Edwards and Tom Milligan, former Assistant Chief Charlie Presnell, current Chief Jim Neal and many others who allowed him to explore what would ultimately be his career destiny.
"It's not what I have always done, but it's what I have always wanted to do," he said.
The Marion native has not only achieved this goal but he's exceeding at it. Smith is now division chief of training and safety for the Monroe Fire Department. He's also teaching North Carolina's firefighters, rescue personnel and even the military how to better save folks from dangerous situations.
For his achievements, Smith was honored recently as the North Carolina Fire & Rescue Instructor of the Year. The N.C. Society of Fire and Rescue Instructors present the award each year at its statewide conference. Smith was specifically recognized during the presentation of the award for his work in the fields of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Rapid Intervention and Boat Operations.
Smith is the son of Bill and Loretta Smith of Marion. The elder Smith will retire at the end of this year after 35 years and two months with the Marion Fire Department. He is the department's safety officer. So it makes sense that his son would devote himself to saving lives and property and teaching others to do the same.
"He comes by it naturally," said Neal.
Smith graduated from McDowell High School in 1984 and then left Marion to attend what is now Wingate University. He has lived in Wingate since then. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a daughter, a son and a chocolate Labrador.
Since 1997, he has worked for the Monroe Fire Department. It serves a population of about 38,000 people and has a staff of 81 personnel working out of five different stations.
"We respond to about 5,000 calls for service annually as a full service department providing fire suppression, technical rescue, haz mat mitigation, medical first responder and airport fire protection to the stake holders and visitors to our city," he said. "It's a great place to work and an excellent fit for me."
Since joining the Monroe Fire Department, he has become a division chief where he trains other firefighters and rescue workers in how to save lives.
He has taught the PPE class since 1990. It educates fire and rescue responders on the various applications of personal protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). He has taught more than 1,200 hours in just this field alone. The course has been expanded and updated many times over the years. It includes nine hours of lecture and 10 hours of hands-on learning in various environments that responders may face.
"If you envision a fully dressed firefighter entering a burning building, the course covers what we call the full structural ensemble head to toe," said Smith.
Another course developed by Smith is the Rapid Intervention course. Started in 1998, it teaches firefighters how to save each other in dangerous situations or what they call "rescuing our own."
Smith said it has been very successful. For example, he got a call from a student a couple of years ago who had gone through the course. The student simply told him "This stuff works, we saved people."
"I have never received any reward that means as much to me as that phone call does," said Smith.
After Hurricane Floyd caused widespread damage to eastern North Carolina, Smith set about to start a boat operations course. It was an educational program that no one in the Tar Heel State had previously attempted. The course teaches rescuers about small boat handling and operations related to fire, rescue and law enforcement agencies. It covers everything from maritime law to boat handling techniques to rescue procedures.
Smith worked with the U.S. Coast Guard, the N.C. Wildlife Commission and many others to develop this pilot program, which started in 2003.
Since then, the client list includes more than 100 North Carolina fire and rescue agencies, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Coast Guard. The boat operations program won the prestigious N.C. Instructional Aid of Year in 2007, presented by the N.C. Society of Fire and Rescue Instructors Association.
Smith has also taught this course at the McDowell Fire & Rescue College, which attracts thousands of firefighters and rescue workers.
"We have successfully taught on all the Catawba River chain within North Carolina," he said. "We've delivered a 1,000 hours of instruction since it began."
Smith expects 2009 to be a busy year. "I expect 2009 will take us way beyond the confines of North Carolina based on the calls and the e-mails I've gotten this fall," he said.