Editor’s Note: Seven Lakes, West End and Eagle Springs fire stations serve the community of southwestern Moore County with both paid and volunteer staff, often training and working together. This is the second article in a series introducing our local fire chiefs.
By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
Eagle Springs Fire Chief Mike St. Onge sits behind a large desk in an office full to the brim. Zipping between a burgeoning filing cabinet, shelves of color-coded notebooks and a laptop computer, he pulls together the necessary paperwork to enroll a new junior volunteer.
Courtney Montgomery, a high school junior, watchfully waits across from St. Onge while her mother, Eagle Springs firefighter Betty Montgomery, offers glances of reassurance. It’s a family business, Betty says. Her husband and twin sons also work at the department.
The junior volunteer program has a special meaning for St. Onge, who kick-started his career through the same type of program over three decades ago.
The Siren Call
His unusual name belies a French-Canadian ancestry, but St. Onge’s accent is 100 percent Moore County. He grew up in Aberdeen. It was at a Fourth of July celebration at Aberdeen Lake where he caught the spark.
It wasn’t the fireworks that did it. He approached a table set up in front of the Aberdeen Rescue Squad and started talking with a junior trainee. A call came in for a car wreck.
“I saw the ambulance, and saw the crash trucks, and saw everybody running and saw everybody leaving,” he said. His 14 year-old-self thought “gosh, this is exciting.”
So he joined.
“That was a big thing. I wouldn’t go back and change it for anything.”
He stayed with the rescue squad until he turned 18, and then he joined the Crestline Fire Department near Aberdeen. From there, he worked at West End before coming to Eagle Springs about eight years ago. He has been chief for seven of those years.
“This is my hobby,” said St. Onge. “I don’t hunt. I don’t fish. This is what I do for fun.”
And he means it. For the past 20 years, St. Onge has simultaneously worked full time as a funeral director with Boles Funeral Homes. On his off days, he is at the fire station.
It’s a passion and a challenge. “I guess my favorite part is just keeping it running, just making sure everybody’s got everything they need,” he said.
Construction noise rings out in the background, almost on cue.
Igniting a Legacy
St. Onge is coordinating a $2.1 million department expansion that will nearly double the footprint of the station and renovate the interior. He anticipates the project finishing in the next five months if it remains on track. By the time it’s finished, it will essentially be a new station.
“Being in the funeral business, I’ve always said that in the end, I don’t want the only thing that’s got my name attached to it to be my headstone,” he said. “I want to be able to say that I did something during my lifetime. This is something that will provide a service far beyond me. I want to leave a legacy.”
A building is one kind of legacy, but St. Onge is making another tangible impact through his people.
“I’ve always been a chief who said that first, you focus on the people. It doesn’t matter about the equipment if you don’t have anybody to use it. So you focus on your people. You get to know your people. You get them trained. And then you get them the equipment to do the job.”
It’s another reason why he is such a big supporter of junior members. The junior volunteer program for 16 to 18 year olds allows young people to blaze a career path or stoke a part-time hobby.
There was not a junior program in place when St. Onge arrived at Eagle Springs. Now the department has seven junior members. He has also had six junior members go through the local fire academy. Out of that group, another three or four have gone on to work full time jobs at other fire departments.
At the Ready
One of the biggest challenges for St. Onge is coordinating his volunteer base. Out of the 46 members, there are two full-time staff who work Monday through Friday and two part-time staff who work on weekends. But even with over 40 volunteers, not everyone is available to come when called.
Eagle Springs relies on automatic aid partners, including Seven Lakes and West End, for coverage. Located in the most western part of Moore County, the station also has access to resources from Montgomery County.
“Having a good working arrangement with your other departments is very important,” he said.
St. Onge relies on his people and their training as well as Assistant Chief Josh Ellis and Deputy Chief Matt Dawkins. Dawkins also serves as the Moore County Deputy Fire Marshal.
He also relies on the public. When it comes to safety, St. Onge encourages the public to pay attention to the red lights as much as they do the blue lights.
“Firefighting is dangerous,” he said. “But one of the most dangerous things we do is direct traffic. The most important thing I can tell the public is, when you see red lights — slow down. Or when you see us doing our job, pay attention.”
He wants to get everyone safely home.
Homefires Burn
Home is the one other place where St. Onge prioritizes his time. He and his wife, a teacher, have raised two daughters. One of those daughters went into the Navy as a firefighter.
“I try to spend as much time with them as I can,” he said. “This is a job that pulls you. You are on call all the time. So really my hobbies are this and being with my family.”
Family is a tender subject for St. Onge, who has lost three family members — his mother, an aunt and a brother-in-law — to car accidents. His mother was killed in Eagle Springs driving to work when a car crossed into her lane. He also lost all of his grandparents in the years after her death.
St. Onge was working as a service manager 20 years ago when Jamie Boles reached out and suggested St. Onge come to work in the funeral business. Boles figured St. Onge could put himself in other people’s shoes.
“I’ve done this long enough and I’ve done that long enough,” St. Onge said. “And I see people for what they are, and how important they are, and how valuable they are.”
Within his various roles, St. Onge moves between compassion, patience, and, sometimes, tough love. He sometimes finds himself speaking hard truths to people who need a new direction. But it’s a word he offers with understanding.
He wants to get everyone safely home.
Always Hopeful
Eagle Springs was the location of a personal tragedy for St. Onge, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a home for him. With a lot of help, he is raising new walls, training up new volunteers and serving the community.
“This community has some really good people who appreciate when we help them,” he said.
Recently his department was called to the scene where someone was “stuck in the mud.” What sounded like a simple assist turned into a life-threatening emergency when they discovered a person with hypothermia. They ended up saving a life.
In gratitude, a family member brought baked goods and a donation to the station. It’s rewarding for all the firefighters when there is a happy ending. And the expression of gratitude inspires St. Onge.
“If everybody did one small act of kindness in their community on a regular basis, the world would be in a better place,” said St. Onge. “Think less about yourself. Think about your neighbor.”
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
