BROOKINGS Troy Hughes has battled a 45,000-acre New Mexico wildland fire, railroad locomotive blazes and even had to crawl into the burning innards of a Nebraska beef plant and now hes taken on his newest role as chief of the Brookings Fire Department.
Hughes succeeded retiring Fire Chief Pete Bolzer, and one thing immediately jumped out: The experience within the department.
I did some calculations a lot of these members didnt even know it, but (theres) 545 years of service to the city of Brookings, Hughes said. Its pretty cool to be a part of that.
Those years come from a roughly 45-member volunteer force, whose family-like atmosphere was one of the factors in drawing Hughess attention to the job opening in Brookings.
Im very motivated to help them get whatever they need and keep them doing what theyre doing because theyre really good at it, he said.
Extensive experience
Hughes, 61, has been fighting fires since he signed in Grand Island, Nebraska when he was 20. That led to a 27-year career there
It also led to a friendship with Paul Briseno, who was then an assistant to Grand Islands city administrator when Hughes was the citys assistant fire chief.
Different projects wed occasionally work on, like United Way fundraising and things like that, so I knew who Paul was and what kind of character he was and quality he was, Hughes said.
That, along with some thoughts of pheasant hunting near Aberdeen, led Hughes to apply to be the new fire chief in Brookings.
It seemed like a good fit for me. (It) took me back to the probably the most fulfilling time in my career when I was up here teaching, he said. Having a chance late in my career to come back into that kind of environment was appealing for me.
A firefighter who was also a teacher? Indeed. It was something Hughes cherished during his time in Nebraska, coming up to South Dakota several times over a five-year period to help teach at various fire schools, including one in Aberdeen that Hughes and Bolzer both taught at.
New challenge
Before he would come to South Dakota, though, an opportunity took him to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 2011 to serve as fire chief there. Yeah, that Los Alamos: Home of the World War II-era Manhattan Project.
Hughes said fighting fires and dealing with their aftermath in Los Alamos, given the areas history with radioactive material, could be tricky.
It was also while in Los Alamos he helped battle a 45,000-acre monstrosity of a 2022 wildfire the Cerro Pelado Fire.
But hes now closer to family and the country he grew up in.
(Theyre) a lot more accessible from here than they are from New Mexico for air travel and other things, Hughes said of his son, daughter and other family members, including his wifes mother.
Cares deeply
Just as he cares for his family, so does Hughes care for his firefighters department size isnt a factor there at all, whether it was in Grand Island, Los Alamos or now in Brookings.
Ultimately as a chief, whether youre in a department thats 50 volunteers or 176 paid or 17,000 paid like FDNY the chiefs main role is to make sure everybody goes home safely every time they go to a fire, Hughes said.
He said during his time as Los Alamos chief, his assistant chiefs handled the more hands-on side of firefighting as he wrangled with, among other things, the federal government but it was the hands-on approach he came to miss. Now, here in Brookings, hes once again firmly planted in his element.
I like the fact that Im more involved in the hands-on training, Hughes said. This environment here is a lot more family oriented than a lot of departments that are paid. Its satisfying to be part of it.
Hes not exaggerating the family aspect, either, noting partners of the volunteer firefighters help keep the fire stations clean and provide food.
If its a long-term fire, they show up and bring stuff to drink and eat and even cigarettes for the people that smoke we dont have a lot, but even those things are part of what they bring into it, Hughes said.
Volunteers appreciated
Brookings should cherish the fact that it still has an all-volunteer firefighting force, Hughes said, as its something of a rarity in similar-sized cities nowadays.
My goal is to keep telling (our) story and hopefully get more people involved, he continued. I think the model we have is sustainable as long as we protect it and take care of it.
Hughes said getting 25 to 35 volunteers on a fire scene is great, and that its something smaller paid departments would struggle with.
Maybe theyve got five people a day on duty thats all they get. It becomes a little dangerous when you dont have enough help on a fire scene, he said.
Looking ahead
Regarding changes to the fire department, Hughes said he will initially focus on basics such as making sure gear and trucks are good.
Pete did a great job of doing a lot of those things, he said. Pete had the same kind of mentality that I do.
Beyond that, he envisions changes will come from the firefighters themselves.
Thats generally my leadership style is to say, What do you guys need? What are you doing that you feel short on? What dont you need? Obviously, Im the one that facilitates that does the political wrangling through (City Council), city manager and gets them the things they need.
That said, its not all work and no fun for Hughes. Since moving to Brookings, hes sharing quality time with family via pastimes such as biking. That included a 20-mile gravel bike ride out to Lake Campbell and back with a side trip to Dakota Nature Park with his son.
Teamwork, a family environment, responding to calls and being able to hang out with the crew including cooking and eating together play key roles in his continued passion.
Facing some pretty difficult challenges that probably, individually, you couldnt overcome, but if you got your team there with you and good equipment to work on, you can overcome that, he said. That was always fulfilling to overcome some of those challenges.
He added, When you roll up, sometimes youre thinking, Oh boy, this would have been a good day not to be here. But then you work through it, you get it done, happy when youre done as long as nobody got hurt.
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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