Bristol Kendall fire assistant chief: Be prepared for the unexpected

As the assistant chief of training and safety for the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District, Ryan Cihak is ready for the unexpected.

“You leave the house, you go to work and you just never know what’s going to happen,” Cihak said. “Whether it’s an Emergency Medical Services run, an auto accident, a structure fire or something like that, there’s always something different every day you go to work. That’s what makes it exciting.”

The 37-year-old Cihak has been a firefighter for more than 20 years. He started when he was 16. He is familiar with the area, having grown up in the small village of Millbrook in Kendall County.

Cihak said he enjoys helping other people. That includes helping people with all types of problems.

“People call us if they are having a plumbing problem or they need help getting out of a chair,” he said. “And sometimes we get a call about a tree touching a power line. At the end of the day, we’re here to help people.”

And yes, he did help rescue a cat that got stuck in a tree.

“It was in the middle of the night,” Cihak said. “We set up a ladder and one of the guys climbed up there and grabbed it.”

“You leave the house, you go to work and you just never know what’s going to happen.”

—  Assistant Chief Ryan Cihak, Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District

Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District covers about 77 square miles. Along with responding to its own calls, it assists neighboring communities, as it did in January to help battle a fire at a historic house in Oswego.

“Our Station 2 company went over there and helped them out for a while,” Cihak said. “We did send some resources over there to give them a hand with that fire.”

For Cihak, the biggest satisfaction of his job is making sure that everybody in the department is sufficiently trained so they can handle any emergency. The department trains on a regular basis.

“I want to make their job easier,” he said.

Interim Fire Chief Jeremy Messersmith said Cihak has been a great asset to the department. That includes mentoring a younger generation of firefighters.

“He is teaching them the right way and teaching them how to do the job and how to do it safely,” Messersmith said.