By David Fleet
Editor
Gary Shafer watched as an elderly man fell backward, striking his head on the sidewalk.
“I wanted to help,” said Shafer, then a Pontiac resident in the late 1960s. “But I did not know what I was doing. Finally the meter maid came over and covered him with a blanket. The ambulance driver then arrived and performed CPR—I just did not know what to do. I felt bad the older man died and knew I had to learn a little about first aid.”
Shafer’s compassion toward assisting others and dedication to his community would evolve into a stellar 45 year career as a Brandon Township Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician.
On Nov. 11, Sgt. Shafer retired at 68 years old.
“I first joined the fire brigade at Pontiac Truck and Bus where I worked in the 1960s,” he recalled. “Their methods were very outdated. So after I moved to Brandon in the early 70s my neighbor was out burning brush one day and walked over and told him, ‘you’re going to get the fire department over here.’ He told me, ‘I’m on the fire department and I could get you on there too.”
Then Brandon Fire Chief Bucky Buckingham hired Shafer in August 1973.
“Honestly, I did not know I was paid for the job when I started,” laughed Shafer. “My first fire was a barn fire on Dartmouth near Seymour Lake roads. I helped put the fire out but there were ten dead horses. I came home and could not eat supper that night.”
Shafer also recalls responding to a triple fatality when three 17-year-old high school students were hit by a drunk driver near Seymour Lake and Hadley roads.
“I remember the names,” he said. “That one has stuck with me all these years.”
Fire equipment has changed over the years.
“When I first started we did not have a lot of firetrucks,” he said. “We’d make our own trucks back then. We’d take some old truck and put a big water tank on it. Today we have firetrucks built just for the job. Now a truck and firefighter can go to a house fire and start battling the blaze right away if they need to. Every minute counts in a fire. A house can be gone in just minutes.”
While saving a home is important, sometimes the small personal touches make the difference.
“I always look for the photo albums if possible during a house fire,” he said. “I get it out of the water and keep it on the front of the truck for the resident. That’s their family pictures—you can rebuild a home but those picture albums are not replaceable.”
Shafer became an Emergency Medical Technician in 1979.

“Today the people are helping more than ever with CPR and getting involved more than years ago,” he said. “It’s really helping to save lives. That three or fours minutes when we are en route are golden. The little things people do can mean life or death sometimes.”
The Brandon Township deputies are jumping in to help save lives too, added Shafer.
“I’ve done CPR next to police officers many times,” he said. “This community has the best working relationship with the firefirghters and police. That’s what makes it a great department. The team effort.”
For the past four decades Shafter has carried a pager, ready to respond.
“If I’m home, I’m on call,” he said. “As an officer I drove my own car to the scene. I’ve stopped what I’m doing with my family many times. One Christmas morning I was called to a home for a water leak—a basement was flooded. I went. So, when a fireman is called they go. It’s been my reward helping others. They gave the privilege of coming to a home and helping in an emergency. It’s been an honor.”