VIDEO: An 87-year-old fire captain is being honored at this weekend’s Celebrate Poland festival. He’s being recognized for over 50 years of service.

James Deemer has been a firefighter since his early 20s and started volunteering with Poland shortly after.

On Wednesday, he told us his whole story and explained why he’s still with the department decades later.

“It’s in your blood. I don’t know why, but it’s in your blood,” Deemer said.

In 1961, he was living in a house trailer with his wife and newborn son when they caught a glance of flames outside and his life changed forever.

“A trailer next door caught fire. Coitsville Fire arrived. I took the son of my wife and we walked out and hard out of the way, and I asked one of the firemen how to become a fireman. He said, ‘You come to the station on Monday night. We have drill every Monday,’” Deemer said.

He showed up at the Coitsville Fire Department the following Monday and joined the team.

Years later in 1967, he moved to Poland and was quickly recruited by the village’s volunteer fire department.

WKBN-TV CBS 27 Youngstown

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Olympic National Park crews are responding to an 86-acre wildfire sparked by lightning in a remote area west of Mount Olympus, according to park officials. The Mount Tom Creek Fire was reported by backpackers on June 24 after a lightning storm moved through the area June 23. The fire was burning on a steep, densely forested mountainside in the Mount Tom Creek Basin, about 5 miles west-northwest of Mount Olympus.

Officials said the fire remained 0% contained as of Thursday. No structures have been damaged and a full suppression strategy is being used. Fire managers have deployed aviation and ground resources, including Type 1 and Type 2 helicopters, reconnaissance aircraft, wildland fire engines and hand crews. A Type 3 Incident Management Team is scheduled to assume command of the fire Friday.

The fire is located about 6 miles from the Hoh Rain Forest administrative site. The Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, campground and trails remain open. Rappelers assessed the area and determined it was not feasible to place firefighters directly on the fire line by aircraft because of the distance from landing zones and evacuation routes. Additional hazards include steep terrain, dense vegetation and standing dead trees.

Multiple lightning strikes were recorded across Olympic National Park from Tuesday night through Wednesday afternoon. Crews conducting aerial reconnaissance Wednesday night did not find any additional fires. Weather forecasts call for between a quarter-inch and 1.75 inches of rain in the fire area through Sunday. Officials said the precipitation could slow fire activity but is not expected to extinguish it.

KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

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The new Kendall Street Fire Station in the southeast corner of Grand Rapids, Michigan, recently opened to serve a fast-growing suburban area in that part of the city and serves as an example of cooperation among city leaders, the fire department, and the affected neighborhood community to put in place a fire station that satisfies […]

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Johnson brings decades of leadership experience and deep industry expertise to support Darley’s continued growth and innovation.

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Pittsburgh's aging apparatus fleet faces challenges, but a $45 million donation from UPMC and Highmark Health aims to improve emergency services.

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