(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
A CAREER OF COMMUNITY SERVICE … Swanton firefighter Eric Leonard stands in front of the Swanton Fire and Rescue Division’s new ladder truck outside the fire hall. Leonard served 20 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve before becoming a firefighter, and now serves full-time in Swanton as well as part-time on crews in Whitehouse and Providence Township.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Eric Leonard spent 20 years serving his country in the U.S. Army, now he serves three local communities as a firefighter.
Leonard joined the Army as a path to give his children the life he wanted for them. “I didn’t want my children to grow up the way I did, single parent, welfare, the whole rough childhood,” he said.
During his time in the service, Leonard worked in logistics. “I did everything from making sure my soldiers had food and pens and uniforms and housing to medical supplies, to everything that moving from point A to point B, making sure trucks had fuel, the whole gamut of logistics,” he said. “I did some time as a recruiter, and I was also an instructor for basic leader.”
Despite the timing of his service, Leonard never had to deploy to the Middle East. “I don’t know how it happened, how I managed to do it, but it worked out where I never had to go play in the big sandbox,” he said.
Around 2010, the military moved Leonard to Monclova, which he had never heard of. He finished his tour in 2018 and shortly after joined the Whitehouse Fire Department.
“It was continuing my service to my community,” he said. “Moving from the military to the fire service is very similar in the fact that the fire service is a paramilitary organization.”
“So mentally it wasn’t hard. I thrive in chaos, so the busier the situations seem, the better my brain functions.”
Eventually he also joined the Providence Township Fire & Rescue Department, working part-time for both before also being hired full-time at the Swanton Fire & Rescue Division last November.
Leonard said there was an adjustment period going from not being sure what his hours would be to working a very solid schedule, which has helped his home life.
He has an almost 2-year-old daughter with his significant other, who he met in the community here, as well as another child from a previous relationship.
“It’s not that difficult, everybody in this area operates very similarly. Each shift is roughly five people on duty at any given time. So, it’s not much of a change, it’s just a couple of protocols different, maybe a couple of procedures different,” Leonard said.
“At the end of the day we’re here for the community, we’re here to make sure everyone’s safe and can go home at the end of the day.”
Overall, he is happy to be where he ended up. “It’s very similar to the type of area I grew up in, southeast Wisconsin,” he said. “So it wasn’t much of a change, but it’s far enough away from the family drama back home.”
Now, with assistance from the military, he is pursuing his paramedic certification as well as a bachelor’s degree in fire science. Leonard said it is all an attempt at betterment – to make him a better firefighter and a better leader in general.
He said he has already found himself in a de facto team leader position in Swanton due to his age. “I’ve gotten to meet some great people, develop some wonderful co-worker relationships,” he said.
“The department’s young, very young, I think our average age is the mid-20s. They kind of call me the shift dad. I’m the one who makes sure we eat at least once a day,” he said.