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David King, a former chief of the Springs Fire Department often credited with constantly improving and modernizing the department’s training and safety procedures, died this week. He was 62.
Friends, family and colleagues on the fire department said this week that Mr. King was as dedicated and committed to his fire department and its members as any volunteer fireman in the region has ever been. In his years as a captain, lieutenant, assistant chief and chief of the SFD he pressed the department toward new training techniques and to upgrade equipment to protect its volunteers, and studied firefighting like a scholar.
“The method to his madness was train, train, train; safety, safety, safety,” said Robert Davis, Mr. King’s cousin and fellow member of the department. “When I was chief he busted my shoes constantly: We gotta get this new equipment, we have to do this safety training. He was emphatic about it and when he got elected 2nd Assistant he said: ‘Nobody is going to get hurt on my watch.’”
Mr. King was born to Emma Mae and Clarence E. “Kelly” King Jr. He attended East Hampton High School and, other than two years at a community college in upstate New York, lived all of his life in Springs. He worked at his family’s awning company, C.E. King and Sons.
Mr. King grew up with the Springs Fire Department. His father was a founding member of the department and oversaw the purchase of the department’s first new engine, a truck that would become synonymous among firemen with David King’s fastidious habits.
When he entered the department’s top brass, he spearheaded an effort to update the training for all of the men. He returned more than once to the entry level training program referred to as Firefighter One, to be sure that he was as up on the latest knowledge about firefighting techniques as the men under him were.
“He read article after article after article and then got us into classes that were never available to use before—he led from the front,” said Springs Fire Department Chief Pete Grimes. “His mission was to keep every single fireman as safe as they could be. Even five months ago he came to me and said we got to get the guys new Nomex hoods because they found they’re causing cancer in firemen. He was a first-class guy and cared about this fire department more than anyone I’ve met.”
Mr. King took over as chief just as the department was starting to plan its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015 and he relished the idea of guiding his beloved department to the milestone.
It was at one of the planning meetings, just four weeks before the celebration, that he announced to his comrades that he had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and would be starting aggressive chemotherapy immediately.
He would miss the anniversary parade.
Mr. King is survived by his wife, Lisa, sister Deanne Tikkanen and brother Clarence “Kelly” King III, and eight nieces and nephews.
There will be viewing at Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. with a firemen’s service following and a reception at the Springs Fire Department headquarters afterward.
Friends and family recalled this week Mr. King’s generous and fiercely loyal way and lamented that the Springs community had lost such a dedicated servant.
“A friend said to me: David is one of those guys that didn’t care how rocky the road was, if something had to get done he would go down it,” Fred Overton, also a cousin, said. “If you became a friend to David, you had someone very special in your life.”
on Feb 14, 2017