Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
When Gary Krienitz was a young firefighter, he was assigned to the engine company headed by John Lehman.
Lehman, Aurora’s fire chief, said he remembered a fire where he and the young, aggressive firefighter were on the hose together, arguing over who would handle the nozzle and put the fire out. Lehman recalled the story Wednesday as he retired as fire chief, and Krienitz, who has been the city’s fire marshal, was sworn in as the 17th chief in fire department history.
Lehman is retiring after almost 29 years, having started in Aurora as a firefighter/paramedic in 1987 and working his way up the ranks. He remembered some of his key moments through the years, including the Plainfield tornado in 1991, the Aurora Flood of 1996, the medical helicopter crash that claimed four lives in 2008, and a May 2011 house fire that resulted in six deaths, the worst in Aurora history.
The Flood of 1996 provided a specific memory of a 3 a.m. call, with water about to come in the front door of his house and about six to eight feet of water in his basement. His wife, Becky, was awake with two babies.
Krienitz read some of the many notes the department received from the community over the years praising Lehman, and recalled a situation where Lehman had to assist amputating someone’s arm to extract them from a bad car accident. He said it exemplified Lehman’s willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty at all times.
