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Retiring Fort Thomas Fire Chief Mark Bailey shared highlights of his 45-year career with Fort Thomas Matters.
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by Robin Gee, city council beat editor
After 45 years in fire and emergency service, Mark Bailey announced in October that he will be retiring at the end of 2020. Fort Thomas Matters sat down with the chief to take a look back over his career that included 16 years at the helm as chief of the Fort Thomas Fire Department and to ask him what’s next.
Fort Thomas Matters (FTM): Were you always interested in fire service? What first attracted you to that career?
Mark Bailey: When I was in college at Western Kentucky University, I was working towards a degree in sports medicine. Part of that was I had to take an EMT class, and that was what really got me interested in EMS work and emergency care...I enjoyed the aspect of emergency medical services and the people. I enjoyed the fire side, too, learning all the tactics and the strategies involved with all the firefighting techniques.
So I started in 1975 as a volunteer for Cold Spring and was there for seven years when I had the opportunity, after going to paramedic school, to get hired at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport Fire Department in October 1982.
FTM: What did you do before being hired at the airport? How did that unfold?
MB: After I graduated from Western, I went to UC and got my masters in education, and I actually started out as a teacher at Campbell County High School teaching health and driver’s ed. I was also the athletic trainer for all sports. I was the first certified trainer in a Northern Kentucky high school back in 1979. Having an EMT and emergency care background helped me in that position. I taught there two years but in 1981, Campbell County schools had a budget cut and cut 29 teachers. I was one that got a pink slip – and yes, it actually was pink! I left on really good terms, but they just did not have the positions and the monies to fill positions.
FTM: So you were afloat. What happened next?
MB: I got to thinking. I really liked the emergency care field. I now had the opportunity to go to paramedic school. I was one of only three individuals who completed the paramedic school in 360 days, just five days short of year, which is still the fastest record in Northern Kentucky. We were part of the second class of the paramedic program. That was 1980 to 1981. Then I went looking for a job. I applied at Fort Thomas and at the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky International Airport. The airport hired me.
FTM: Did you continue on in your volunteer role after you went to the airport?
MB: Yes, I continued at Cold Spring for 23 years. I worked my way up there as a volunteer all the way up to the fire chief’s position and spent six years as the fire chief there (from 1990 to 1996) while at the airport for my full-time job.
FTM: How long were you with the airport fire service? And how did you come to Fort Thomas?
MB: I worked 22 years at the airport, working my way up to captain in charge of EMS before I retired in 2004. Then, I had the opportunity to join the Fort Thomas Fire Department. I have been blessed, so very fortunate to be here in the wonderful city of Fort Thomas for 16 years. It’s been quite an exciting time, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed everything about the city of Fort Thomas and the Fire Department. I’ve had a very fortunate career, 45 years total of firefighting and active EMS service, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of what I like to say are the two best fire departments in Northern Kentucky — the airport and Fort Thomas fire departments.
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Throughout his career, Mark Bailey has seen and participated in some devastating incidents, but he said each incident big or small is an opportunity to grow.
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FTM: Were there any fires or emergency incidents that stand out to you in your long career that made you think, "yes, this is for real. I am in the right place, made the right career choice"?
MB: I do not like to use the word "opportunity" when it comes to these incidents, but the first big incident I was a part of was in 1977, May 28th, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. From Cold Spring we sent down a number of people to help out Southgate with that fire, and I was one of the EMTs they sent. I spent from 9 p.m. that night til 5 a.m. the next morning working that fire scene.
So, that scenario, knowing the firefighting and EMS work, the criticalness of it, that kind of rang a bell with me that this is something I’m interested in doing, expanding my career as best I can and helping as many people as I can.
I was hired at the airport on October 26, 1982 as a firefighter paramedic and then not long after, on June 2, 1983, was the Air Canada Flight 797 fire,* so I was on the scene that night working with then Captain Horton (who later became chief). We had a lot of work that night, trying to save as many people as we could. I worked through that.
FTM: That’s a lot to handle. How did you cope?
MB: I’ve seen some things through the years, and each one I try to take a little different perspective of when I come out of it. For one thing, I know I’m a part of a great organization. As they say, there’s n “I” in team. Whether it’s the airport or Fort Thomas, I know we do a great job trying to mitigate the situation as quickly as possible and help as many people as possible. I’ve had times when I’ve been confronted with some big incidences, but, again, I feel like those have helped me grow and understand the career even more.
FTM: I can imagine you’ve been called out for many less intense runs as well, maybe even some humorous ones, anything come to mind? I’ve bet you’ve had your share of cats caught in trees?
MB: Sure, I’ve received a number of calls over the years, but if it is an emergency to one person at that time, then I think we need to handle that as an emergency and help them to mitigate that situation. That’s a philosophy that I’ve carried throughout my career and the people I’ve associated with carry throughout theirs. You may get called for some peculiar scenarios, but at the time the person calling feels it is an emergency, and we need to help them as much as we can. It’s important for us to answer all those calls to the utmost of our ability, and we do that here at the Fort Thomas Fire Department every day.
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FTM: Over the years, have you seen major changes in the technology of fighting fires?
MB: I think a lot of equipment has evolved through the years, gotten better. Recently, we have upgraded our SCBA masks with a more integrated self-contained breathing apparatus. With the COVID epidemic, a lot of changes have occurred. We’ve put our people in the best equipment we can to protect them. We have a motto in fire service that everyone goes home. I have that on a wristband that I wear and give to all of my employees...
So, yes, we’ve seen various different equipment upgrades over years. What sticks out to me in the last few years is now have more sophisticated technology that protects us as well as the patients we come in contact with, whether that’s at a fire or an EMS scene.