01/17/2007 Getting to Know - Jamie Englishmen
By Dolores Pike

Jamie Englishmen of OPVFD

The corporate and line officers for Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department (OPVFD) for 2007 were introduced at the annual banquet in December and Jamie Englishmen assumed the reins as president of the fire company.

When asked what he sees as the challenges facing OPVFD in the next few years, he is very forthcoming first of all in the credit he gives to everyone by saying, "Things run smoothly here.  We have a career staff of eight and they take care of the day-to-day operations."  He also speaks positively of the long-standing, working relationship between the department and the Ocean Pines Association (OPA).  "I had one meeting with the new general manager (Tom Olson) and talked about our budget for the new fiscal year and everything seems to be on track."  Mr. Englishmen follows this statement by immediately adding that the call volume is already up for this year and on pace to set another record breaking year.  Every year has seen a progressive increase in call volume with 74 more calls in 2006 over the previous year.

Therefore it makes sense to him that the real challenge is for OPVFD to recruit more volunteers to add to the current firefighter staff of 33.  And he does not give that much credence, as many residents do, to the general belief that this might be difficult because Ocean Pines is primarily a retirement community.  "When you ride through Ocean Pines and see the amount of school buses, I think there is a good mixture of people and not just a retirement community.  It is one of the biggest developments on the Eastern Shore and I don't think it is all retirees," he said.  At the first board meeting in January the members will discuss the recruitment issue at length and how they will get the message out to the general public that OPVFD seeks volunteer firefighters.

As to what other issues Mr. Englishmen expects to tackle, he said, "Hopefully we can establish a new north station when they figure out what to do with the old community center."

Replacement and maintenance of firefighting equipment is a never ending concern of the OPVFD. To help underwrite these costs they kicked off their annual lotto for 2007 where three prizes consisting of $100,000, $50,000 and $20,000 will be drawn on September 3, with a limited number of tickets being sold at $100. 

Next on the agenda for replacement are the ambulances and the process to look into this will be underway shortly. The fire company recently took delivery of one of the two new trucks purchased.  The pumper arrived on site at the end of August and the 104 foot aerial truck is expected to arrive at the end of January according to committee chairman, Harvey Booth.  The committee just completed its final inspection of the vehicle.

According to Mr. Englishmen the months of April and March will be set aside for firefighters to learn about and become familiar with the new truck. 

Every firefighter has his or her own story as to why he or she chose to become a volunteer firefighter, putting in the long hours and facing uncertain and potentially dangerous situations.  In Mr. Englishmen's case, his cousin was killed in a car accident.  He was so impressed by "this special breed of people" who cared for his cousin in those final hours that he wanted to be a part of them.

He has been a firefighter for 13 years, joining the fire company in Midland Park, Bergen County, NJ where he grew up as the middle child of Janet and James Englishmen.  He has an older sister and a younger brother. When his parents retired to River Run it was not long after that their daughter also moved down.  Then Jamie and his wife Kelli Jo followed suit when Jamie had the opportunity to open his own business.  One of the first things Jamie did upon arriving in town was to join the OPVFD where he has been a member for five years.

The Englishmens have been married for 15 years and have two children Megan (10) and Jimmy (9).  Family ties are an important element of their lives.  Every Sunday afternoon as far back as he can remember, the family gathered for dinner.  That tradition continues to this day and on Sunday either Kelli Jo or Jamie's sister or his mother, recently widowed when her husband died last September, hosts the Sunday family get together. His younger brother still lives in New Jersey but comes for Sunday dinner once a month.  The family also likes to vacation together and this year their destination is Myrtle Beach.

Getting up each morning at 5 a.m. Mr. Englishmen puts in a full day between working in his business and seeing to OPVFD business at the firehouse between 2 and 4 p.m. every afternoon.  According to him, much of what he is able to accomplish is because his wife handles all the office work for Englishmen Electric.

As for being president of OPVFD he says, "It is a big responsibility but it is something I am proud to do.


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