By:JOSEPH KELLARD
Lynch said the public ceremony worked towards his broader goal as chief to boost morale in the department. Of course, protecting the safety of both Oceanside citizens and his firefighters is the top goal, and training comes close behind as the main means to achieve this. But Lynch sees maintaining and increasing morale as a crucial element of a volunteer force, particularly when gaining and sustaining members has proven difficult.
Creating this event where you can invite the firefighters- families and, in certain cases, the victims who were helped, to let them see and share in their accomplishments, all improves morale, Lynch said. And keeping the morale strong is one of my major goals, and maintaining the moral and camaraderie between the companies is a main component of the department running well.
Lynch-s own morale got a boost on receiving 93 percent of the votes in department elections on Dec. 9 to officially make him chief, a position he-ll assume on Jan. 1. Obviously, the membership of the department feel confident in me, which is a very humbling experience. And I want to return that confidence with the best possible leadership and guidance I can give the staff for the next year.
Adding further to McCarty-s morale are the three men immediately behind him, in 1st Assistant Chief Tom McDermott, 2nd Assistant Chief Dan Sabatino and 3rd Assistant Chief Timothy Biscay, who Lynch called terrific assistants. He also credits past chiefs Kris Andoos, John Traverso, Tom Bettes Sr., and Robert Bettes (outgoing chief) as particularly influential in teaching and preparing him to take over the position.
And teaching others is another of Lynch-s goals. He wants to put a lot of time and effort into expanding the department-s public education and recruitment division. One fact he feels he must stress is the time and effort volunteers must give to the department.
If you lose money, you can always make it back, but you can never get time back, Lynch explained. A volunteer force is taking away time with their families and children to respond to emergencies...You can-t get more noble than that as far as I-m concerned. Lynch himself takes his work as a volunteer firefighter as seriously as if it were his full-time job.
A corrections officer for the Nassau County Sheriff-s Department, Lynch, 31, joined Salamander Hook, Ladder and Bucket Co. in 1991, and has been a member of Columbia Engine Co. since 1993. Lynch was voted lieutenant of Columbia in 1997 and captain in 2000, and two years later began his steps up the assistant chiefs- ladder toward head of the OFD. Three years ago, he earned the status of emergency medical technician, a credential he regards as particularly important for a chief in a department in which seventy percent of calls are EMT-related.
That-s critical because most of the time the chief is the first officer on the scene, Lynch said. ... So I have the opportunity to provide pre-hospital care to someone in need of it.
Lynch has also served on various committees with the department, from training to apparatus to health and safety. These tasks are all just part of the time and effort he and many others spend to make the OFD, as Lynch said, an excellent fire service.
We are a professional department that does a lot of training, we-re more than ready to handle any type of emergency situation, he concluded. And I-m sworn to protect the members of this community and will do that 110 percent.
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