Sept. 7, 2016
By: Mandy Housenick
GoLeopards.com Featured Columnist
Some kids pop in reruns of Sesame Street, The Wiggles or Curious George. Others will opt for Dora The Explorer, The Backyardigans or SpongeBob.
Mike Donnelly’s go-to videos were a little more sophisticated and telling of the future.
Lafayette College’s senior starting right tackle couldn’t wait to press the play button on the VHS tapes he had of firemen. And when he wasn’t watching those, he would read and re-read a book he loved about fire trucks. He also made many visits to fire stations, the first of which was on his third birthday when he hung out with his uncle, who was a fireman in Trenton, N.J.
“It became a passion,” he said.
So much so that at the age of 15, Donnelly joined the volunteer fire department in his hometown of New Canaan, Conn., which is about an hour from New York City. As he grew, so did his responsibilities and credentials. Now, he is certified in FF1 and FF2, which give him the green light to go into burning buildings.
“The more I do it, the more I love doing it,” he admitted.
That love has grown so deep that he gave up much of this past summer, his final one in college, to be an intern with the Easton Fire Department. And although he’s getting his degree in Economics, he’s decided that he wants a career as a fire fighter.
Easton Fire Chief John Bast, whose department hadn’t had an intern in about 20 years, was blown away by Donnelly’s maturity, work ethic, willingness to take advice and his sheer knowledge of the field.
“If it weren’t for the civil service, I would hire him now,” Bast said. “I already have it in the budget for him to come back next year.”
The internship required Donnelly to be at the firehouse from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday from the beginning of June until the end of July. While his commitment for the internship rarely interfered with football workouts, one time, going to a fire did force him to miss a team lifting session.
“I thought they would be mad at me but they told me to do what I had to do,” he said. “I didn’t get in trouble at all. Coach Potts was great about it.”
Normally, the Leopards get together to lift and run four days a week from 5 to 7 p.m. However, Donnelly, who also volunteers with the Forks Fire Department, attends meetings there between 6 and 6:30 p.m. on Mondays. Potts, already committed to being on campus until 8 p.m. most summer nights, believed so strongly not only in what Donnelly was doing, but who Donnelly was as a person, that he supported him and offered to meet the lineman at 7 a.m. so he could lift and run.
“Mike has just been the kind of kid who has always been willing to do whatever was asked of him, and he’s always done it with a really good attitude and a high level of effort,” Potts said. “With those kinds of kids, I always say they have money in the bank with me. It’s a lot easier to go out of my way for a guy like him because he’s always willing to do whatever we needed. You look at what he’s doing and a civil service thing, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Donnelly felt the same way about his experience with the Easton Fire Department. Although he said he has learned a great deal from the volunteers with the fire department in his hometown – one he called pretty rural -- he got to learn about other elements that go along with a larger fire department in a more urban setting.
In addition to going on calls, Donnelly did office work and some projects for Bast. He spent hours in the firehouse watching how professional firefighters prepped all while peppering them with questions. He also went to meetings with Bast and saw first-hand all that goes into being a fire chief.
“I did a lot I wouldn’t normally get to do with a volunteer fire department,” Donnelly said. “I got to see a lot of incidents there I definitely wouldn’t have seen at home. Chief Bast is a great guy. If I wanted to do something, I would ask and he helped me do it. He was all for making it a good experience for me.”
There’s no doubt football has played a role in Donnelly’s budding success in the firehouse. He’ll be the first to tell you that learning to rely on his teammates on the field has carried over into having trust in fellow firemen.
"In a football game, they aren’t just going to stand there and let you block them,” he said. “You have to work together. You have to work through a blitz or a new play. Every fire department is different, but you have to work together. You have to listen to the officers in charge, and that’s like listening to a coach. They know the best way to do things. And you listen to the more experienced firefighters. Just like as a freshman, I listened to the seniors on the field.”
Donnelly’s physical preparedness and strength stemming from football also will go a long way in making him successful when he becomes a full-time fireman, which will require him to go through and graduate from the fire academy, which is expected to be nine hours a day, five days a week for four months. (just because he’s been a volunteer fireman doesn’t mean he can bypass that step).
At 6-foot-4, 295 pounds, Donnelly is hardly small in stature. He’s worked hard to build muscle, stay in shape and have the stamina to be a Division I FCS lineman. That endurance and strength will be beneficial to his success as fireman. He needs to be strong enough to rescue people from burning structures and maneuver around bulky, heavy equipment, hoses and ladders.
“Being in shape is essential,” Donnelly said. “You’re wearing 80-plus pounds of gear. You have to maintain high energy while wearing all the equipment, and it doesn’t let heat in or out and you keep in all that sweat. Football gives me a step ahead of those people who don’t have the time to work out.”
Listening to Donnelly talk about what goes into fighting a fire, it’s obvious he’s well versed and has taken his training seriously. He was never at a loss for words when asked about the procedure for entering a burning building or the steps they have to take once they receive that first call and are dispatched.
But perhaps what was most impressive was Donnelly knowing and understanding the importance of staying calm under a constant state of pressure.
“You have to stay focused and stay aware of your surroundings,” he said. “It’s obviously still dangerous but you’re better off working as a team. When you get to the front door of a house, and it’s really dark and smoky, and you can’t really see where the fire is, you have to listen for it and feel where the heat is coming from. You’re basically blindfolded trying to find the fire and the victims. But you’re not alone in the situation. And you can’t worry about the dangers really. You have to think about the job you’re given. If your job is to take the hose, you take the hose in. If your job is to find someone, you find them.”
Hopefully, you and I will never be faced with a fire severe enough that we need firemen to come. But if we do, I want Donnelly there. We’d be lucky to have him, just as Lafayette is lucky to have him roaming its campus and football field for one more year.
