Ken Klumb

“When we first moved to Jackson in 1942, there were 300 people living here. Now it has 6,500,” Ken Klumb says.

That’s not the only change that Ken has seen in his 60 years as a resident of Jackson, and in his 50 years as a member of the fire department.

When Ken joined in 1959, the Jackson Fire Department had three trucks. Today they have 10 active trucks and an antique pumper from the 1930s.

“Everyone says that I must’ve joined before that truck. That’s the joke,” Ken says.

Members of the Fire Department were notified by a siren when he joined. Now, in 2009, they are paged by Washington County dispatch.

The progression from the siren to pagers happened in large part thanks to Ken, who was first trained in electronics when he served in the Army. After he became a firefighter, he took care of the paging system and even built a radio communication tower on the Village Hall (it still stands today). He also converted the Fire Department from the siren and low band pagers to a high band paging system, which is still in use.

“My full time job as a Communication Technician helped my job on the fire department,” Ken says.

Ken retired from his job after more than 40 years. However, he is still active in the Jackson Fire Department and doesn’t plan on leaving that job any time soon.

“I don’t see 55 years being a problem,” he says with a smile.

For Ken, being a firefighter means being an active member of the department. Over the years, he has held the positions of Treasurer, First Assistant Chief and Lieutenant. Though the village has taken over many of those responsibilities, Ken is still at the fire house every Monday and at meetings, trainings and calls.

“Whatever is required,” he says. “I’m there.”