At his job by 7 am, the affable Chuck Bates, mechanic for the Shaker Heights
Fire Department, greets the firefighters at Station #2 on Warrensville Center Road and has coffee
with them. Then their morning activities begin. These include an inspection of all the trucks and tools,
as well as stocking, charging, and fueling the fleet.
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If something needs to be fixed, a repair order is prepared. Bates then prioritizes
the work, relying on stock from his inventory of brake chambers, hoses, and belts to
make repairs. “Chuck treats the trucks like his babies. He loses sleep thinking about
these issues,” says Fire Chief Patrick Sweeney.
“I don’t like to have things broken,” says Bates. “Some people think a fire
truck doesn’t have problems, but that’s incorrect. It breaks down like anything
else.” His colleagues at the department rely on his determination to fix things
because they depend on him for their personal safety, and the wellbeing of the
Shaker residents they serve.
Shaker Heights is among the few cities in Northeast Ohio that has a
dedicated fire station mechanic. Given the comparatively lean fleet, it is crucial
that repairs are done quickly.
“We have the internal capability to manage the downtime of critical pieces of
equipment,” says Sweeney. Preventative maintenance helps minimize breakdowns,
lengthens the life of the vehicles, and ultimately saves money. Without Bates, fire
trucks would have to be sent to Fairport Harbor and wait for repair while other cities’
vehicles were being serviced. Likewise, if the ambulances broke down, they would be
towed to a repair shop and experience similar delays.
The son of a heavy equipment mechanic, Bates attended the General Motors
mechanics school in Brook Park after graduating from high school. He knew Rudy and
Bernie Rife, a father and son duo who worked in Shaker’s Public Works Department,
and in 1971 they encouraged Bates to apply for a job in their department. He left his
Newbury home early in the morning and got as far as Avalon Road before heading
back to Newbury in frustration because he couldn’t find his destination. Fortunately,
he returned the next year and was hired as a mechanics helper.
For many years,
the Fire Department employed a superintendent
of equipment who also was a
firefighter. In 1985, Public Works “loaned”
Bates to the Fire Department for what
was to have been a few months. He was
hired the following year as the SHFD’s first
civilian mechanic.
Within a decade, Bates became chief
mechanic, and today he is the longest
serving employee of the City of Shaker
Heights. During the intervening years, he
and his wife had two children and are now
the grandparents of four. Bates spends
some of his free time acquiring broken
antique cars, motorcycles, and engines –
and, of course, fixing them.
Shaker Fire Department’s
in-house mechanic had never
worked on a fire truck when
he was hired 33 years ago.
Now he’s integral to the City’s
commitment to public safety.
By Sue Starrett
/WWW.SHAKER.LIFE