Four Salvas are currently in the department
Sometimes, when the Fort Montgomery Fire Department has a call, a bystander might get confused as they look at the names on the backs of the turnout gear.
So many Armstrongs. Several Steinmetzs. A couple of Webers, Mahers and Porros.
Like in many volunteer fire departments across the country, the family service to a community runs deep. Here, for decades, there have been pairs of fathers and sons and brothers — think about the Tonnesons in Fort Montgomery. These days, those family ties have branched out to include husbands and wives and mothers and sons, as well as the more traditional links.
At the FMFD, there’s a relatively new family name that can be spotted on many-a-jacket … Salva.
Rich Salva, the department’s second lieutenant and a member of the Fort Montgomery Fire District’s Board of Fire Commissioners, has most recently been with the FMFD for eight years (although he was a member in the early 1990’s as well).
His wife, Donna, is in her sixth year as a member, serves as not only a firefighter, but also is an administrative officer, the FMFD’s recording secretary.
Both of the Salvas have served on various committees through the years with the FMFD, bringing their skills, and longtime love of the community, to the table.
But, they’ve also brought something else to the department: their three sons.
Their oldest son, Richie, is 25, and currently lives in Georgia. He joined the FMFD through its junior firefighter program in high school, but eventually left the community when he joined the Army.
Their 19-year-old son, Connor, also joined the FMFD through the junior program two years ago.
And then just last month, again through the junior program, their 17-year-old son Kyle joined.
Rich and Donna couldn’t be more proud, particularly of the FMFD’s junior firefighter program, which gives high school age boys and girls the opportunity to begin what they hope is lifelong service to their community.
“My husband started his firefighting days as a junior firefighter back in Piermont. Joining the FMFD was really about community for all five of us … wanting to do our part and make a difference.”
Donna Salva
Everyone knows that firefighters across the nation feel a ‘kinship’ with one another. But, in these true family cases, and particularly in the case of a mother who is fighting fires alongside her children, the connection is special.
Does she worry about her boys?
Yes, but she is also confident in their skills, and in the fact that an awful lot of people have their backs.
“Rich, Connor and I have responded to calls together,” Donna says. “Kyle just made his first call last week so it hasn’t been all four of us yet. But do I worry, as a mom? A little, but I honestly have to say … the trust I have in our FMFD family goes beyond words. I know my boys, and my brothers and sisters in the department, are as safe as can be expected as a result of the incredible training and support that is a part of all of our operations!”
The Salvas also have two daughters — Jessica and Amanda — who live in Greenville, SC. While they never joined the FMFD, through the years they have been visible at department events, fundraisers, etc., and can often be seen when visiting sporting various FMFD t-shirts!
It will be interesting to follow the steps the youngest two Salva boys take … they will both graduate from O’Neill in the years ahead. While Connor has thought about fire service as a career, his mom says, Kyle “hasn’t been in the department long enough yet to make that type of decision”.
In the meantime, if you ever have the opportunity to watch the FMFD at work, stand back and keep an eye on the wide variety of names on the backs of those jackets, and be thankful for families that volunteer!
The FMFD, like many fire departments, is also blessed to have friends and family members who support the firefighters in doing things like fundraisers. While they used to have a very popular ‘Ladies Auxiliary’, these days those people are often known as ‘social members’. In the FMFD’s case, the names on the backs of those often ‘invisible jackets’ are very familiar ones as well!
