Track News

Firefighter appreciation event a huge success at Dover International Speedway

Oct 1, 2008
Brian Smith

Outside of Turn 1 at Dover International Speedway is the Hospitality Tent Village. The tent village is a place where large and small companies entertain clients, guests and employees, treating them to a fun day at the races, often as a thanks for their business or for a job well done.

At the September race weekend, one tent was filled with people who deserved that schmoozing and that thanks perhaps most of all. It was occupied by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), which brought 500 people to the Sunday NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to support the organization and thank people for a very important job that is always well done.

“This is being billed as Firefighter Appreciation Day with the NFFF and Dover International Speedway,” said Ron Siarnicki of Stevensville, Md., the executive director of the NFFF. “We wanted to have an event for firefighters here at the race. It brings more people to the race and it gives us a way to thank firefighters for what they do. It’s a social activity for us. We get to go to the race and have a great time.”

The idea came about in April when Ed Klima, Dover’s director of emergency services and himself a firefighter, wanted to find a way to bring the brotherhood of the fire service to the Speedway.

“I’ve been in the fire service for 20 years, and we sat down this spring and said what better group to support than the Foundation,” Klima said. “We wanted to do something for the fire service, but we wanted something that had some meaning to it. So what better way than to do something for families who have lost loved ones in the line of duty and at the same time do something for the fire service. One thing led to another and here we are.”

Those families who lost loved ones are the beneficiary of everything the NFFF does. The organization exists to help the families and colleagues of the nearly 100 firefighters who lose their lives in the line of duty each year across the country.

“We’re responsible for all of them,” Siarnicki said. “We care for them and do long-term support for them every time there’s a line-of-duty death. We provide direct survivor support for the families, peer support, counseling, scholarships, help them with federal paperwork they have to mail to receive their benefits, and we work with departments on grief counseling and behavior health services.” 

Dover donated a portion of each ticket sold to the event back to the NFFF. Between that and contributions from willing and supportive event sponsors – Holmatro, Volunteer Fireman’s Insurance Services, Kidde and PBI Performance Products – the day raised over $ 27,000 for the efforts of the organization.

“They pulled this together really fast,” said Sean Curley, a vice president at Kidde.  “We’ve been sponsors for a number of years. We did have some involvement in NASCAR a number of years back. We’re excited to be here. It’s an opportunity for families of firefighters to come and have a good day out and support the foundation, and raise money for the foundation.”

“We’re a sponsor and supporter, and we’ve been doing this for many years now,” said Mike Toeneboehn, a regional sales manager for Holmatro. “It’s a great organization and the work they’ve done has been excellent. This is the first time they’ve come to Dover. Hopefully they’ll do it again next year and we plan on supporting it again.”

The hospitality tent included all-you-can-eat food and beverage options and a trackside tour. The Fire Brigade Pipe & Drum Corps performed for the attendees, and Jeff Burton, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, and Richard Childress, team owner, made appearances in the tent. XM Radio’s Claire B. Lang hosted the two guests on stage for the assembled crowd.

Jeff Burton’s visit to the event was news to Sharon Rehfeld of Westminster, Md., who didn’t know when she left her house clad in Jeff Burton gear that she would be seeing her favorite driver up-close.

“My brother is a firefighter from Baltimore County,” Rehfeld said. “We were coming to the race anyway, but he was able to get the hospitality passes. I just found out when I got here that Jeff Burton was coming. When we were at the June race, the golf cart he was in almost ran into my father’s car. That’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to him at a race.”

Burton opened his appearance by offering his thanks to the firefighters on hand.

“It’s always funny to me how in my line of work, people look up to athletes and race car drivers and those kind of people, but the real heroes in our society are people like you guys who are willing to sacrifice your own time, your own health and your own financial well-being to help other people,” Burton said. “That’s a heck of a special thing, and we appreciate every day the things you do. Unfortunately a lot of people never say thank you to you guys, and on behalf of everybody in our sport, I want to say thank you for all that you do. You think about all the volunteer fire departments across the country, that’s something that you just take for granted as a homeowner that someone’s going to come help you if you need it, and that’s something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Thanks for being here today, and I’m glad the racetrack was able to do something for you guys. You really deserve it.”

Burton said although he never aspired to be a firefighter, he and the firefighters did have something in common.

“When I was five years old, I wanted to be a race car driver,” Burton said. “Now I’m 41, and I’m a race car driver. To me that’s a really neat thing. I’m sure a bunch of you guys always wanted to be a firefighter, and now you are. And that’s a neat thing.”

Later in the day, the Fire Brigade was part of the pre-race ceremonies, playing as members of the organization were driven around the track. 

“We’re a group of career and volunteer firefighters from the greater Baltimore area,” said Lt. Allen Roody of Owingsville, Md. “We formed five years ago as a way to remember our own and honor the fire service. We do a lot of related events and got into this because of the NFFF.”

Of course, the vast majority of attendees were there merely to support the NFFF. Delaware state fire commissioners Ken McMahon and Dave Robers came out to enjoy the day and help the organization.

“Anything they do, we’re going to do to help them,” McMahon said. “I think it’s the first time they’ve done it here at the Speedway. It’s going to be an annual event.”

Of course, first responders are vital to the running of all NASCAR races. Hundreds of firefighters and EMTs work both on the track and off during race weekend at Dover, and McMahon used to be one of them. 

“Years ago, I used to work the pits. We used to go to the Dover firehouse and you just signed up. Then you’d pick a number and they’d assign you a spot. I got to work with people like Benny Parsons and Richard Petty. Richard Petty’s people were the nicest people in the world. They all are. I just had a great time doing it.”

Klima’s job at Dover includes coordinating those first responders, and says their importance can’t be underestimated.

“These guys work their butt off when they’re here,” Klima said. “The EMTs are running calls all day long and the guys on the track are sitting in firesuits for 14 hours. The pit road firefighters today are going to stand there in 85-degree weather for 4 ½ hours. We’ve got a great team of people who do an awesome job. There are a lot of people who put on this event, but there’s truly only one group of people that, if we didn’t have them, we couldn’t run this race. And that’s the emergency responders, both on and off the track. There’s a commitment – they have to go through a lot of training each and every year and we want people who are going to work for us for at least five or six years. We have a number of people who have worked here 30 or 40 years.”

It’s just a natural connection, which is why the NFFF came out.

“There’s a huge contingent of firefighters that follow racing,” Klima said. “So we wanted to get them here, enjoy a little camaraderie and see a great race.”

Mission accomplished.

The event will return in 2009 as part of the Sept. 27, 2009 race at Dover International Speedway. Interested members of the fire service, and their families, can learn more by calling Karen Ptak at Dover International Speedway at (302) 883-6555.