Tribute to Brown County first responders

This story is part seven of the “Tribute to Brown County first responders” series by Wade Linville (editor of The News Democrat, The Ripley Bee, and The Brown County Press).

Kevin Cremer was only 12 years old in 1973 when he started as a cadet with the Mt. Orab Fire Department. Growing up in Mt. Orab, Cremer seemed to always have a strong desire to serve on the community’s fire/EMS department and help others in need.

“My grandma (Jessie Cremer) lived right here (in Mt. Orab) behind what used to be the old National Bank (the old police station) on West Main Street, and we were always there after school. The fire siren would go off and I would come running up here just to watch the fire trucks go out. Some of the older guys used to tell me they remembered having to scoot me away from the front door just so they could get the trucks out,” said Cremer.

Cremer recalled his days of training as a young cadet, assisted in joining the cadet program by then cadet leader Joe Gilligan.

“When (state Route) 32 was coming through, we burnt two houses simultaneously. One of them we did training in down on Bodman Road. I think I was probably about 15 at the time, but our parents had to sign paperwork because we were actually going to go in and fight live fire,” Cremer said of his fire cadet training in Mt. Orab. “I had Hoop (Jim) McKinley, Adrian Shaw, and Andy Back – several of the older guys. They would go in and they would light skids and diesel fuel and stuff like that. We had the air packs and everything on, and we went in and had the nozzle and they said ‘Here’s what you do.’ It was so scary!”

“When two or three of us came out, our face shields on our helmets were melted, so it was that hot,” Cremer explained. “But because of the older guys who trained us back then, I am where I am today. They will tell you, ‘Once it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood.’”

Training as a fire cadet, Cremer started to become interested in the EMS side of the department, and at the age of 16 he became a certified EMT.

“I actually started as a fire cadet, but then I got interested in the ambulance side of it,” Cremer explained.

He became a senior cadet when turning 18. He also finished the cadet program at 18, and as soon as he could joined Mt. Orab Fire/EMS as a first responder.

In 1980, he married his sweetheart, Theresa, and moved to Sardinia, but he continued his service as a first responder in Brown County. The two have been married for 43 years.

“I served about five-and-a-half years in Sardinia, and then moved back to Mt. Orab in 1986,” said Cremer.

Cremer continued to make emergency runs with Mt. Orab Fire/EMS while living in Sardinia, assisting in runs with both departments as a volunteer first responder.

“I still ran here (for Mt. Orab) because back then everything was volunteer and they needed help,” said Cremer.

Like at other fire/EMS departments in Brown County, serving as a first responder in the community where they live has become somewhat of a family tradition. Kevin Cremer’s father, Robert Cremer, served as assistant chief of Mt. Orab Fire/EMS in the early 1950s. He has a grandson who serves part-time with Mt. Orab Fire/EMS when not serving his country over seas as a medic in the military.

Over the years, Cremer has held a number of positions with the Mt. Orab Fire/EMS Department. He once served as the EMS captain, assistant chief, lieutenant, and firefighter. He continues to serve Mt. Orab Fire/EMS as a firefighter.

“I’ve held about every position,” said Cremer.

Mt. Orab Fire/EMS Department still has volunteers as a paid part-time department.

In addition to serving as a volunteer first responder in Mt. Orab and Sardinia, Cremer has also worked as a Brown County deputy sheriff, a Sardinia patrol officer, and as a night shift security supervisor at Children’s Hospital Medical Center. He was also involved in Knothole Baseball in Mt. Orab as a volunteer.

It’s quite often that first responders of the villages in Brown County respond to calls in which they know the person in need of help, but it’s not often when a first responder arrives to the scene of an emergency to find their own child as a victim in need of emergency medical attention. It was around 20 years ago when Cremer was responding to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of the busy Ohio state Route 32 and Eastwood Road. Upon arrival, he found his 19 year old daughter, Brandi, seriously injured in the crash.

“I didn’t know it was my daughter until I got there,” said Cremer.

She was struck by a vehicle that had lost its brakes, and first responders were quick to provide care. Fortunately, Brandi made a full recovery, but it was a scary memory that Cremer will carry with him for the rest of his life.

Cremer doesn’t know of any other first responders in Brown County that have arrived to the scene of an emergency to find their own child in need of help, and hopes no other first responder will ever have to go through that experience.

He also recalled being the firefighter in charge when called to a fire at a local factory, commended later by the business for putting out the fire and saving their factory while limiting damage to very expensive equipment owned by the factory.

Committed to helping others in their times of need, Cremer’s greatest reward is the feeling he gets from serving as a first responder in the community he loves, a community that provides a great deal of support to its fire/EMS department.

“You feel good about being able to help people and save people. I’ve pulled animals and people out of (burning houses),” Cremer said of his years as a first responder. But, as every longtime first responder knows, some of the memories that stand out the most are not the pleasant ones when lives were saved. Through his years as a first responder, Cremer has also responded to emergency calls in which lives were lost, memories that are difficult to deal with and impossible to forget.

“You see people at their worst, whether it’s a structure fire or an auto accident. I feel, as a department, we have gone above and beyond trying to take care of them,” said Cremer.

Cremer has enjoyed serving with a number of selfless individuals who have taken great pride in serving as first responders in Brown County, including many of the older first responders he served with such as Charlie Schindel, Danny Peterson, Bill Hughes, Joe Gilligan, Jim McKinley, Chester Lanter, Adrian Shaw, and Andy Back; all who used to serve on the Mt. Orab Fire/EMS Department. Lanter was the first fire chief Cremer served under when joining the department.

Cremer has dedicated his life to helping others, and he continues to serve to the best of his ability even while battling his own serious health issues.

Cremer was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer and is currently undergoing treatment, but remains active as a firefighter with Mt. Orab Fire/EMS. While he may not be the one going in to fight fires today, he still arrives on emergency calls to watch over his fellow first responders and photograph them in action.

Over the years, Cremer is pleased how far the Mt. Orab Fire/EMS Department has come since he started in the 1970s and enjoys serving under the department’s current chief Nick Rymer.

Cremer has served under eight different chiefs while at Mt. Orab Fire/EMS and Sardinia. Among the things he has enjoyed most about being a first responder is getting the opportunity to serve with some great men and women, the camaraderie that exists among those who serve and have served with him.

“All of those I have served with over the years I have loved,” said Cremer.