Goodrich – A volunteer firefighter for three years, fellow Atlas Township firefighters selected Gary Schafer to be this year’s ‘Firefighter of the Year.?
‘I was totally surprised,? said Schafer. ‘I had absolutely no idea.?
Schafer said he truly loves the work he does as a firefighter and said on his very first call he rescued a cat. ‘A house was on fire and the resident was worried about her cat still being in the house. So I went upstairs and found the cat under a bed and brought it outside. The cat survived, it was fine,? said Schafer.
The most rewarding call Schafer said was the quick response the fire department made to a serious automobile accident.
‘When I get a serious call like that, my adrenaline starts to pump and I try to focus as hard as I can on what I have to do,? said Schafer. ‘When we arrived at the scene, I could see that we needed to act quickly to get the person out of the car as quickly as we could. So we used the jaws of life to get them out. It felt really good knowing we could act to quickly to help someone,? he said.
Atlas Township Fire Chief Fred Forys said Schafer is a quiet person. ‘Whatever you ask of him, he doesn’t complain about it and is happy to do it. He will even take time out of his personal life to get things done. Gary is a real big plus for the department,? said Forys.
A paid on call firefighter, Schafer said he also works for Test America, an environmental lab that tests water and soil throughout the entire state of Michigan. Schafer is also a Grand Knight for the Knights of Columbus through St. Anne Catholic Church
Married to wife Susan, they have four children, Michael, Eric, Lindsay and Heather.