FossilMedic Pays A Tribute:

Godspeed to Wes Gerald:  Photo 410

I first met Wes Gerald when he was a shy fire buff and photographer hanging out at the Bailey’s Crossroads fire station in the mid 1970’s. I would see Wes at many working 4th Battalion incidents. Sometimes he would be hanging out with Richard Singer, a former volunteer fire chief and very successful fire apparatus salesman. I loved hearing about their exploits buffing overnight fires in Washington DC and Baltimore.

The only command officers who worked night and weekend incidents in the 1970’s were volunteers. Some, like Singer and Bailey’s chief Dennis Corl, contributed to my development as a company officer. Wes was almost always there when we discussed incidents or tactics, he had the pictures. Corl would have a recording of the fire radio traffic and we would review the event together.

It was a treat when Wes would visit the fire station with his fireground pictures and stories. He also took great apparatus and people pictures. I still use many of his pictures when teaching, because Wes could catch the important parts of the incident.

Wes worked in the county 9-1-1 center. You could tell when he was on the radio or working as the shift supervisor because he paid attention to what was going on and anticipated what would be needed. He taught me the value of letting the 9-1-1 center tell what finally happened.

Because of him, I started to type into the mobile data terminal a brief description of what we eventually found at the incident and send it to the dispatcher. It helped close the event and we both learned something from every incident.

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Wes always looked out for me when I worked as shift-work fire marshal or ems supervisor. He would alert me to events that were probably going to be “good” right after the initial dispatch. I always appreciated the heads-up. Not everyone shared Wes’s dedication. I remember an early morning dispatch as the duty fire marshal on a multiple alarm structure fire that had been burning for over two hours.

I ran into Wes at the Firehouse Expo in 2003. He had lost a lot of weight and was no longer shy. The picture of him on the Firegeezer “about us” page shows the slim Wes. http://firegeezer.com/about-us/ . Dave Statter provides a profile on Wes, with Ricky Riley-provided pictures from earlier days at the Bailey’s station: http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/2007/11/wesley-gerald.html

The last couple of years have been tough for Wes, fighting a disease that affected his personality and cognitive ability. He could not drive because of seizures and had difficulty working on his website http://www.ffxfire.com/ . His reply to my emails became less coherent.

It was bittersweet attending his retirement party earlier this year. I was proud to be there to celebrate his career. I was sad to see what was happening to him.

His suffering is over. Wes was 43. Hopefully he is hanging out with his dad, a retired county police officer who died in 1990. Wes was a member of IAFF Local 2068 and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Retirement Association.

Condolences to go to his mother:

Mrs. Jill Gerald
6324 Lincolnia Road
Alexandria, VA 22312