The best of the best
A passion for safety has led Steve Meringer through a 33-year career of fighting fires in Oshawa
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
After 33 years, his mind goes back to one moment.
It was an early Christmas Eve morning, years ago. White snow blanketed the city’s streets and lawns as thick black smoke rose from the windows of an apartment building. Inside, a mother and her son were trapped.
A contingent of firefighters raced to the scene. Among them was Steve Meringer, Oshawa’s future fire chief, frantically tossing on his gear in the back of the truck as the sirens blared. Arriving at the scene, Meringer stormed into the apartment among a team of fireman and saved the life of both the woman and her child. It is a Christmas Eve that he says he will never forget.
“If we hadn’t gotten in and did what we did at that point, then her and her child would have died,” he says.
Now, after a storied career that has spanned more than three decades with Oshawa Fire Services, Meringer has tipped his hat in farewell, set to enjoy a much deserved retirement.
A life in fire
Perhaps it is in his blood. Perhaps it was a father’s influence.
Whatever it was, from a young age, Meringer has only wanted to do one thing; fight fires.
“There was a bad fire, I think in the Simcoe and Buckingham area,” Meringer recalls.
“I vaguely remember loading up the car, taking my dad to the hall to pick up his gear and driving him to the fire. That’s how it was in those days.”
It may have been early exposure to a dangerous lifestyle, but it was no deterrent.
“From that minute on, I was probably about four years old, I knew that was where I wanted to be. So, for the rest of my life, there was no thought. I was going to be a fire fighter.”
That childhood dream came true years later in 1985 when, after nearly three years as a dispatcher, a young Meringer was moved to the fire fighting floor.
For 10 years, Meringer would literally be on the front lines of fires in Oshawa where, compared to now, battling blazes was akin to fighting a war without a strategy.
“When you arrived on the fire-ground, everybody went in. It was like you were fighting over each other to get in the building,” he says.
And it was not just the fire fighting that was different, but the rehabilitation as well. In those days, it was so limited, firefighters were nearly always pushed to the brink of collapse.
“You came out of a fire, you bent over while someone changed your bottle…you pulled your mask off and had a cigarette, and then when your bottle was filled…the mask came down and you went back into the fire,” he recalls.
“I remember coming out of fires, after you’d be in their breaking holes in floors and it would drain you for two days,”
And with limited knowledge about the severe impacts of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), particularly troubling experiences were cured with a recommendation of a drink and time spent with family.
The dangers may have been numerous in his early career, but they gave Meringer the perspective required to work towards making things safer in the later years of his career.
In 1995, he was transferred to the fire prevention division, where he worked in fire code enforcement and public education for three years. After a year in the training division in 1998, Meringer was named deputy fire chief in 1999, a title he would hold for four years before being named fire chief in 2003.
Now, after 13 years, Meringer becomes the second-longest serving chief in Oshawa’s history, behind the late Ernie Stacey, who served as chief from 1967 to 1982.
Rising from the ashes
In many ways, firefighters are like the phoenix, rising from the ashes as they learn to live with and adjust after each blaze. It is a side of the career that many from the outside looking in are not privy to.
“When you see us going in a parade, or you see us flying through towns, lights and sirens, it all looks pretty cool,” Meringer says.
“When you see these guys and girls coming back from a fire, or any other incident, they look severely beat up. They’re tired, they’re worn out, they’re dirty…they’re just drained.”
That is the main reason Oshawa Fire Services has started a new program to deal with PTSD. Gone are the days of burying the horror, or trying to forget with alcohol and family time.
“We want to fix it and address it as soon as we can,” Meringer says.
“They’re out of service until such a time they’re ready to go back.”
And whether it is through physical activity, discussion or comraderie, firefighters in Oshawa now have several avenues for dealing with the stress of their job.
It is also not the only thing that has changed
Knowledge about the dangers and cancers that linger in smoke inhalation has added strict measures for those coming out of fires, as masks and equipment stay on until firefighters have been washed down. Blood pressure and oxygen counts are monitored on the scene and special cooling areas have been designed to bring down a firefighter’s core body temperature. All of these are measures put in place to protect firefighters not just immediately, but in the years ahead.
“If we can rehab them right away, it’s so important for their overall health long-term,” Meringer says.
Dispatch systems, fire truck placement and enhanced equipment are only a few of the other developments Meringer has noticed over the course of his career.
He has also seen and been a part of countless initiatives, including Oshawa’s Alarmed for Life campaign, Project Zero and the department’s THINK AHEAD partnership with Grandview Children’s Centre that aims to help families with children with disabilities in the event of a fire.
It is a shift that Meringer has gradually observed over the years, as the roles of firefighters evolves from protector to educator.
“Our firefighters are taking on that role more and more,” he says
“We’d rather have (them) out preventing fires than having to go out and drag people out of fires.”
Summing it up
At first, Meringer, has a hard time pinning down what he is most proud of after more than 30 years on the job.
Not because there are too many accomplishments to name – although they have been numerous, the latest being the opening of Fire Hall 6 only a few short days before his retirement – but because the humble Oshawa-native does not want to take all the credit. Nothing is done individually, Meringer says, giving credit to the entire staff at Oshawa Fire Services.
“Collectively, there’s been so many successes within this department, it’s huge,” he says.
“I truly share that with all of them because it’s been an awesome career.”
That said, it would be safe to say Meringer has had an impact on almost everything that has gone on within the department throughout his tenure, and he thinks that perhaps it is time for fresh eyes to take over.
“My hand has been on everything that we’ve done. So it’s had my flavour or my slant to it. It’s time for somebody else to come in and look at things from a different lens.”
While there are a few ongoing projects he says will be hard to let go, he has no regrets.
“Someone else can take that forward now. It’s their turn, and I’m off in the sunset.”
While the sun may be setting on his career, and he will be leaving behind a multitude of friends and working relationships, the chief is looking forward to what comes next as him and his wife retired together on July 28.
“The relief is that my tenure is done and someone else is going to come along,” he says.
“I’d like to think I left this place better than I found it.”
Nobody would stress the truth of that statement more than the Mayor of Oshawa John Henry, who has known Meringer since the beginning of his career with the city.
“Steve has been a big part of our city…He’s been an amazing guy and he’s done and represented the City of Oshawa well,” the mayor says.
Even with all the accolades listed above, Meringer says they are not the greatest achievement – for that, he goes back to that Christmas Eve morning so many years ago.
“Saving a life is the biggest,” he says.
“When we came out with that woman and her child…that’s the best of the best.”