Fire marshal reflects on nearly four decades of service

Whitefish Fire Marshal Tom Kennelly’s 38-year career is full of fighting fires and keeping people safe, but through it all, family is what kept him motivated.

“You remember the Thanksgivings and Christmases your family spent with you at the fire station,” Kennelly said. “Without family support — three daughters and a wife — without their support over the years it wouldn’t have happened. The unsung heroes are the families of these firemen.”

Kennelly retired earlier this month after spending the last eight years of his career with the Whitefish Fire Department, first as fire chief from 2008 before moving to fire marshal in 2014. As fire marshal, Kennelly focused on fire code enforcement in building developments and investigating the causes of incidents.

Originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Kennelly remembers fire trucks having an impact on him from an early age.

“I think growing up as a kid I always admired firemen and if there were fire trucks around I would be chasing them on my bike,” he said.

Kennelly attended Southern Illinois University and graduated with an accounting degree. He worked in accounting near Chicago for about 10 years before he seized the opportunity to join a volunteer fire department in Wonder Lake, Illinois. He later became the first full-time chief and employee of that fire district, and he went on to serve as chief in Long Grove, Illinois, emergency medical coordinator in Mount Prospect, Illinois, and fire chief in Conifer, Colorado, before coming to the Flathead Valley.

At one point Kennelly, his two brothers and his brother-in-law were all firefighters and paramedics in different areas of the Chicago suburbs, combining for 92 years of paramedic experience.

“We had the northwest suburbs pretty well covered,” he said.

Kennelly said he’s proud of his time in Whitefish, but it hasn’t been without challenges. He pointed to the planning process for the city Emergency Services Center, moving to a 24-hour shift coverage and hiring seven new firefighter/paramedics as some of the tougher aspects of his tenure as Whitefish fire chief.

The role of city officials in supporting the fire department has been monumental, he said.

“We’ve had some great City Council members and mayors that have really stepped up. Since I’ve been here we’ve purchased about $1.5 million in fire equipment,” he said.

The hard part about being a chief is managing the safety of people in emergencies as well as his own firefighters.

“We have limited personnel, and we run an awful lot of calls. So in the back of your mind as a fire chief you’re always thinking, ‘what do I do if the next call comes in?’” Kennelly said. “Your crews go on some pretty tough calls. You’ve got to always constantly monitor and be concerned about their health. It’s not only physical but it’s a mental challenge.”

Kennelly’s career has been full of highs and lows. One of the more traumatic experiences he had was as a paramedic responding on the scene of the Platte Canyon High School hostage crisis in 2006 in Bailey, Colorado. During the crisis, a gunman took a class of students hostage and killed student Emily Keyes and himself.

The experience has had an enormous impact on how Kennelly views safety for students.

“It was something I’ll never forget and never want to,” he said. “I’m a little bit more overboard when I think about school safety has to be and how we have to protect our kids today just I think because of that incident.”

In contrast, Kennelly is proud that he’s also had the privilege of delivering four babies in his time as a paramedic, and the times spent with his coworkers are what made the job worth doing.

“When they talk about a brotherhood and sisterhood, fire service definitely is. If you’re a fireman you can stop at any fire station in the world and you’re welcome — It’s a strange phenomenon,” he said.

While he’s enjoyed his career, Kennelly said it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter of his life with his wife Mary, his daughters Patricia, Mary and Maura, and his three grandsons.

“Hopefully I’m going to be able to spend a little more time with my grandchildren that live here. I’m going to do a little photography, a little fishing. Then my wife said I have to go back to work part time somewhere,” he said, laughing.

“I’ll miss it, but it’s time to move on and see where the next part of the journey is going to take me,” he added.