Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 52F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Asst. Fire Chief Ron Jabrocki on scene of a fire call in Ludington. Jabrocki retired from the Ludington Fire Department following his final shift on Friday. Dec. 31 after more than 50 years with the department.

On Dec. 31, 2021, Asst. Fire Chief Ron Jabrocki retired from the Ludington Fire Department after more than 50 years of service.

Asst. Fire Chief Ron Jabrocki on scene of a fire call in Ludington. Jabrocki retired from the Ludington Fire Department following his final shift on Friday. Dec. 31 after more than 50 years with the department.

On Dec. 31, 2021, Asst. Fire Chief Ron Jabrocki retired from the Ludington Fire Department after more than 50 years of service.

Ron Jabrocki retired after serving more than 50 years with the Ludington Fire Department, with 27 years spent as assistant fire chief.

Jabrocki loved serving on the fire department because it was an extension of the local community, which is where he felt he was called to serve.

Jabrocki joined the fire department May 7, 1971, and served until the end of his shift on Friday, Dec, 31, 2021.

He and fellow firefighter Fred Hackert, who also served on the department for 50-plus years, were honored with a special alarm and announcement given by the Mason-Oceana 911 dispatch at 9 p.m. on Dec 31.

911 telecommunicator Jazmin Goerbig honored both men and noted that Jabrocki accumulated 50 years, seven months and 25 days of service.

Goerbig said the citizens of the City of Ludington — and Mason County — thanked both Jabrocki and Hackert for more than one century of combined service, dedication, commitment and 24/7/3653 availability.

“We salute you … and wish you only the best on your next adventures,” Goerbig said.

Jabrocki said Jim Miller, firefighter and former head of the city’s water department, asked him to join the department.

He thought about the invite for a while and eventually joined in 1971.

Jabrocki still remembers his very first call — an apartment building fire, that was located just west of the House of Flavors.

“I heard the call and got there and started to take the firehose to the back of the building,” he said. “While moving the hose, a coupling broke loose and the hose was flopping all over the place. Nobody else was around so I just jumped on it to hold it down until help arrived.”

He said a firefighter eventually peered around the corner to see what happened to the water.

“That was my very first fire,” he said.

At that tine there wasn’t the training there is for firefighters today, according to Jabrocki.

“Back then, it was all on the job training,” he said. “You got to a fire and an officer, or another guy that had been on the department for a while, would say, do this or help me do that.”

Jabrocki believes he was on the job for about five years before fire training was required.

He said he enjoyed the thrill of the fire and the camaraderie with other firefighters and the community.

The fire department played a role in many of the city’s events throughout the years, according to Jabrocki, such as the Fourth of July fireworks. He remembers when firefighters used to light them off.

“The city would bring a loader down to the beach, make a big berm in the sand and bury some steel tubes, to launch the shells from. We (firefighters) would run up, light a shell, drop it in the tube and then run like hell,” he said.

Following the parade, the fire department would hold a dinner for the community.

“We had a band, beer and cooked bratwurst and stuff like that,” Jabrocki said. “This event was for the public. Actually we sold 14 barrels of beer during one event.”

The public liked those kinds of events, as did Jabrocki.

“We used to have a lot of public events. Today it seems like everyone is just so busy to continue to have them.”

The Ludington Fire Department did sell bratwurst during the original Friday Night Live events a few years ago.

While taking a moment to look through a bunch of old black-and-white photographs at the new fire station, Jabrocki reminisced about all of the events and parties the fire department used to host for the community.

One of those was a Valentine’s Day party at St. Simon’s gym for the public.

Not only was he keeping members of the community safe, he was also enjoying spending time with them.

Those are some of memories he took away from his 50 years of service and one of the many reasons for staying with the fire department for so long.

“We had a good time,” he said. “Besides fighting fires, we had a good time doing all of those extra things, for and with the community.”

Jabrocki said he was glad he was able to be part of every fire he was involved with and even all of the first responder calls he went out on.

No call was the same, and he never knew what to expect, but he treated every call with the utmost respect, he said. It was a coping mechanism for him.

“The ones where deaths were involved were the hardest,” he said. “For me, it was like a job, you go do it.”

Whether he was called to a fire or a vehicle accident, he went with the thought process that he was helping another person or a family.

“If I got to help someone, even if they had died, by covering them up or carrying them out of a scene, that was my salvation,” Jabrocki said. “It helped me with the mental part of being a firefighter and a first responder.

“I would tell other firefighters I worked with throughout the years that if I stepped in their way to do something, it was because I had to, for me.”

He knew that by helping others he was also helping himself, mentally and spiritually.

Jabrocki said he received tremendous support from his family during his time on the fire department.

There was never a time when his family asked him not to go on a fire call or said they wished he wouldn’t go.

“My family just knew if a fire alarm came in, I would just go,” he said. “They just expected it.”

Former Fire Chief Jerry Funk had so much respect for Jabrocki, he never had to worry if he needed to be out of town.

“I knew the department was in good hands with Ron,” Funk said.

There haven’t been many fire calls in Ludington lately. He thought it went to just one call last year.

“It is kind of a worldwide trend that has happened, and no one can explain it,” he said.

Jabrocki said he likes to think it is because of fire prevention programs, like those offered by the Ludington department.

“I think that has made a difference,” he said. “We used to have a few fires with kids lighting matches under the bed or people lighting candles or smoking.”

He feels good about leaving the fire department at this time. Even though the department is losing a wealth of knowledge, not only from himself but also from Hackert, he believes the department is in great hands.

“We have a young and enthusiastic group of guys,” he said. “Everybody is as committed as we were.”

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