Publicly Honoring and Thanking Captain Chuck Steele

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Soucy 99 MT1 E � � P eEN� RESOLUTION , A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, PUBLICLY HONORING AND THANKING CAPTAIN CHUCK STEELE FOR FIFTY (50) YEARS OF DEDICATED SERVICE ON THE SOUTH BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT Q on September 26, 1966, a life -long South Bend resident who is a John Adams High School Eagle graduate and U.S. Army veteran, Charles "Chuck" Joseph Steele was officially sworn in as a member of the South Bend Fire Department at a Board of Public Safety meeting; and CAC,m4 October 1, 1966, was Firefighter Chuck Steele's first day on the job, where he was assigned to Squad #21, Shift 2, and began working under the leadership of South Bend Fire Chief Cecil McHenry and South Bend Mayor Lloyd M. Allen; while Lyndon Baines Johnson was serving as President in the White House; and 6y many major events and fires took place in Chuck's early firefighter career such as beginning in 1967 - from seeing Mayor Allen sell the Central Fire Station; the Alarm Station and Fire Station # 3; with fires occurring at the Howell Construction Company on Kemble, at Bruggner's Cigar Store on Washington, at Eckler Lumber, and at Scotty's Dog `N Suds' —just to name a few, with a 4 -alarm fire the next February at Whiteford Trucking Company on Sample; and C%Cw� on December 10, 1968, Firefighter Chuck Steele was assigned to the ambulance as a medic, and on February 1, 1969, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant; and in 1973 was in the first EMT class held in northern Indiana while also attending Ivy Tech at night and being part of the first paramedic class in the northern part of the state in 1974, graduating in March of 1975 with Lieutenant Steele helping mold and build the EMS system into what it has become today; and 6XCw,4 during the Blizzard of '78, Fire Lieutenant Steele & Police Captain Ed Friend were first responders when persons were being transported to hospitals by snowmobile & cross country ski experts were dispatched via land lines; and in 1985 Chuck was officially promoted to the rank of Captain after becoming the South Bend Public Education Officer and had a dual role between riding on the ambulance from Central Fire Station and additionally performing Public Education duties; during his career has seen three (3) locations as a Central Fire Station: 202 East Wayne Street; 701 West Sample Street; and the current location at 1222 South Michigan Street; and G," Captain Chuck Steele is well known in our community as a SBFD Fire Code Inspector. One of his many recollections widely reported in the news media was from November 2008. A crowd was waiting to vote in the lobby of the County -City Building. It was so large that Captain Steele was dispatched for his 1 st complaint of overcrowding at a polling place. Captain Steele determined that it was not overcrowded, had well organized lines, and none of the exits were blocked. Section I. The South Bend Common Council proudly recognizes CAPTAIN CHUCK STEELE for fifty (50) years of very dedicated service on the South Bend Fire Department, which included fire suppression assignments on Engine # 1 and # 8, and Truck # 1; professional services as a medic, services as a Public Education Officer; and the last seventeen (17) years of service as an Inspector in the South Bend Fire Department's Fire Prevention Bureau. Section II. The Common Council wishes Captain Chuck Steele all the best in the years ahead. _ This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and by the §o-r- Member District man Randy Kelly,13`d DistricgCouncil Member arner, 5t" District K r mah Fowler, Cit Clerk b the om on Council and Oliver J. Davis, 6t' District Council Member John Voorde, At Large Council GM—n Ferlic, At L rge Council Member Karen L. White, At Large Council Member Kathleen Cekanski Farrand Council Attorne Y 5iag0�b_ 0- 9016 Pete Butti& � r of South Bend, Indiana