U.S. Army veteran found calling in fire service

“I think when you first meet Ed, you quickly realize he’s a pretty intense person. He’s the type of person where if there’s something that he enjoys and knows is important, he’s going to go all in for it.”

That’s how Streator Fire Department Captain Bryan Park described his first impression of his longtime friend and fellow firefighter Ed Levy.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Levy’s transition from nearly a decade in the military to becoming a firefighter at the Streator Fire Department is a testament to his adaptability and commitment to service.

Compelled to patriotism, Levy joined the U.S. Army shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I’m a product of the 9/11 generation. I remember watching it happen live on television in my homeroom class,” Levy said. “Like many young men at that age, I didn’t have a lot of skill sets, but I felt that serving my country was something that I needed to do.”

Levy was just 17 when he signed the papers to enlist and 18 when he shipped off to basic training. Starting in 2003, he served nearly 10 years as an infantryman in combat zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan, and spent another 10 years in the reserves, where he remains.

After his military service, Levy pursued a path in law but wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do.

“I got out of the military without a plan, like a lot of veterans do. It was just my time to be done and I felt I had other things to do in life,” Levy said.

That uncertainty shifted when a high school friend invited him to volunteer at a local firehouse.

After a bit of persuading, Levy visited the Wallace Fire Protection District, where he was quickly put into gear and introduced to the training process.

“I ran my first call, and I was hooked,” he said, recalling the excitement of the experience.

Knowing this is what he wanted to do, Levy began testing for several fire departments, including DeKalb, Normal, Naperville and Ottawa.

Eventually, he was called by the Streator Fire Department, which was the first to offer him a position. Although his dream was to work for the Ottawa Fire Department, he fell in love with the community and the people in Streator.

Just 11 months into his tenure, Ottawa eventually offered him a job, but he turned it down to remain in Streator.

“When I got off active duty, I missed a lot of the brotherhood and the camaraderie of being around like-minded individuals serving for a common purpose like I did in the military,” Levy said. “I found that again in Streator’s Fire Department.”

Ryan Reynolds, a retired captain of the Streator Fire Department, worked closely with Levy during his early days as a firefighter and consistently was impressed with his passion and work ethic.

“Ever since he first started, he was always eager to learn, asking for additional things to do. What else can I do? How can I help?” Reynolds said.

Levy said his transition was not without obstacles, however; the military training he received from the U.S. Army certainly helped his development as a firefighter.

“One of the probably biggest things that I would say the military has done for me is it made me very confident in myself during stressful situations,” Levy said. “That leadership training I received in the military definitely has played back into the fire service because even as a firefighter, the skill of leadership is still required, even if you’re not in charge of a group of people, because you could very well end up managing a component of an incident by yourself.”

Reynolds reflected on Ed’s calm demeanor in high-pressure situations.

“There was never a point where I would look at him and see hesitation,” he said. “It’s perfectly normal to have that hesitation and to be a bit scared in this career, then your training kicks in and you just got to go to work. But I noticed that Ed never had that.”

Bryan Park, a current captain, echoed this sentiment, adding that Levy’s military experience allowed him to adapt quickly to the fire department’s command structure.

“He was already kind of pre-trained for us in a way,” Park said. “He was able to easily assimilate.”

Levy was recently promoted to lieutenant, and as he reflects on his life and career, he recognizes that his work isn’t finished and plans to continue serving as a leader within the fire department and community.

“Over 20 years in the military and about 16 of those spent leading people has taught me one thing,” Levy said. “Leadership is really just about taking care of people. If you take care of people, people will take care of things. It is the single most powerful lesson I’ve learned. So my future plans are to do just that, I want to take care of the people I work with and I want to work with them to take care of the things.”