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Photo by Erica Techo.
Hero the fire dog sits near the workout equipment at Chelsea Fire Station 32 on Nov. 27.
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Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Hero, the Chelsea Fire Department dog, rides on a special float with his owner Don Williamson during the Chelsea Christmas Parade on Dec. 16. Hero, who is 9 years old, made his last public appearance as the firehouse dog and will retire this year.
After nine years in the fire service, Chelsea’s four-legged fire department spokesman is retiring.
Hero, the dalmatian who has served as an ambassador for Chelsea Fire and Rescue’s fire safety programs, made his final public appearance at the Chelsea Christmas Parade on Dec. 16. After that, he went home with Lt. Don Williamson, who has served as his handler for all nine years, to enjoy the rest of his days as a pet.
“It’s been a really good nine-year run, but even in the fire service, at some point everyone retires, and it’s his time,” Williamson said. “He was an excellent ambassador and representation for Chelsea Fire Service and the fire service in general.”
When Hero joined Chelsea Fire and Rescue nine years ago, he went through a six-week program with Creative Dog Training in Homewood. While there were offers to train Hero as an arson dog, which is trained to sniff out traces of accelerants, but Williamson said they declined that offer early on.
“We chose to keep him as an ambassador of the fire service and representative of the City of Chelsea,” Williamson said.
Hero was taught to understand the commands to crawl through smoke; stop, drop and roll; and push the red button on a smoke detector to test it. He would visit schools throughout Chelsea and Shelby County, demonstrating how to react if there was a fire.
“Ever since we introduced him nine years ago, the students in Chelsea schools and preschools grew up with him, and it greatly increased the relationships between the public and the fire department,” Williamson said. “It’s almost like he bridge the gap, just in the things he did and the places he went.”
To maintain the consistency needed to manage a trained canine, Williamson was selected as his main handler early on, and has remained his handler since the beginning. Hero would come to shifts with Williamson, and return home with him at the end of the day, and Williamson would take Hero on his public appearances.
“It’s one of the most awesome things I’ve done my entire life,” Williamson said, regarding the work he has done with Hero. “It’s the combination of the tradition of dalmatians, the fire station. It’s having that presence. When people see a dalmatian, they see a firedog. So to have that tradition in the house with you, that’s really neat.”
Williamson’s family has also enjoyed having Hero around. Two of his daughters are now in college and one is a junior at Chelsea High School. They grew up with Hero, he said, and see him as a pet first.
“At home, he’s calm. He’s a very loving pet,” Williamson said.
After the Chelsea Christmas Parade, Williamson said Hero returned to his favorite spot at home, where he’ll live out his remaining days.
“He will just fade away in the comforts of home, on his dog bed in front of the fire place,” Williamson said.
As for the fire department, Hero is probably their final firedog, Williamson said.
“This program has been so successful, and the Creative Dog trainer absolutely hit such a homerun with his temperament, even the dog trainer made a comment, ‘I don’t think he could be duplicated,’” Williamson said.
Hero’s only fault, Williamson said, was his love of food. He loved kids and always had a great demeanor, but he was also known to steal a frozen pop or a bit of pizza.
“At home, he got a taste of my wife’s pound cake, and it was downhill from there,” Williamson said. “If I just had to find one [fault], he had a typical fireman appetite. But it has been a blast.”
