CASEY REXROAT
Monmouth Fire Chief
By Paige Elizabeth Nord
For Casey Rexroat, September 11, 2001 was
more than a national tragedy. It was a
life changing moment. Casey had always
wanted to be a fire fighter, but it was the terrorist attack on the World Trade
Center that convinced him to make firefighting a career. Rexroat was inspired by how firefighters from
across the country came together to help the other fallen firefighters on
9/11. “I guess you could say that the
team aspect or brotherhood is what inspired me.
I believe that firefighting is one of the best jobs in the world. I know that it will never pay as well as some
other jobs, but the fulfillment you get from helping others in their time of
need and being able to do something that you love is what makes the job
great”. Casey Rexroat along with the
other firefighters at the fire station in Monmouth, IL think of themselves as
just regular people doing what they love to do.
Originally from the
Macomb area, Casey Rexroat has been the fire chief at the Monmouth Fire
Department for about a year and a half .
His daily responsibilities include communicating with other departments,
shift scheduling, payroll, and most importantly responding to emergencies. Casey started with the Monmouth Fire
Department as a firefighter, then he became captain, and now he is the current
fire chief.
Rexroat immediately
started pursuing his fire fighter career after 9/11. “I
always thought beforehand it was really hard and competitive to get on a fire
department because there are so many people that want to be one and there are
so few openings. I was always a little
discouraged by that, but after 9/11 happened I thought I would go ahead and
give it a shot and I started testing a couple places and did fairly well on
their tests. I tested everywhere and
took the first opportunity I could get”. Casey Rexroat was hired by the
Monmouth Fire Department in 2005 and has worked his way up through the ranks
until he was appointed to Fire Chief in the fall of 2012.
Before Rexroat joined the department he
received his Emergency Management Technician (EMT) certification; however, the
majority of his training and education was obtained after he was hired by the
fire department. He currently has an
associate’s degree in fire science and a bachelor’s degree in fire
administration.
Rexroat finds helping people in
their emergency situations the most rewarding part of his job. He said, “I take a lot of pride in having a
fire department. Sometimes we don’t
realize it because it is our job, but we go out and help these people that just
had a fire and are displaced and don’t have anything. Being able to help them is what is most
fulfilling about my job”. His most
memorable fire was the large Wells Pet Food fire in 2006. Casey was a firefighter at the time and it was
a fire that lasted for about three days.
The fire department returned to Wells Pet Food over a two week period
until the fire was completely extinguished.
Although Casey has not
received any awards in his firefighting career, it is evident Casey is a hard worker
during the day. He has put in numerous
hours of work outside of his normal working hours to further his education in
his career as a firefighter. His advice
to those seeking to become a firefighter is to achieve a college degree or
medical background certification, since many departments are making this a
requirement before one is allowed to apply due to the increasing standards of
medical training.
In addition to
Rexroat’s busy forty hour work week, he is a husband and a loving father of
three small children including two girls and one boy all ranging from the ages
of three to ten years old. Some of his
hobbies include hunting, fishing, and helping coach his daughters’ softball
team with his wife. During the summer months he especially enjoys going on
vacation with his family.
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