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CANFIELD -- Longtime firefighter Joe Morell said he lived to serve and welcomed each challenge.
The Cardinal Joint Fire District Board of Directors recently paid tribute to Morell, who retired from full-time service after 45 years.
"I have lived 45 years," Nikunj Patel, board vice chairman, said. "I can't imagine 45 years of (fire) service."
Fire Chief Don Hutchison said Morell joined the Canfield Fire Department in 1978 and served under Chief Howard Barnhouse, Chief Bob Tieche and himself over his time with the department.
"I have been blessed to have been able to do this," Morell said. "It has been a calling."
SAW MANY CHANGES
When he started in 1978, the department was a volunteer department. No one was paid to respond to fires and medical calls. It also was a time when firetrucks had long rear porches and grab bars.
"I thought it was the coolest thing in the world to go down U.S. 224 on the back of a firetruck," he said.
Morell grew up on Youngstown's East Side and when he moved to Canfield, a good friend, Kenny Kaschak, told him "he had to try this," referring to the Canfield Fire Department. He said he did try and was hooked. His fire career began.
Morell read down a long list of major fires he had covered in Canfield and neighboring communities. He said he was at the Boardman Plaza Stambaugh Thompson fire that saw the end of that business in Boardman.
Of all the fires and calls, he said the COVID-19 years were the toughest.
"The biggest challenge was when COVID hit," he said. "We made a (medical) run, then had to change and wash our clothes before heading out on another run."
Over the years, Morell saw the all-volunteer department move to a paid volunteer department and in 1990, it changed from the Canfield Fire Department to the Cardinal Joint Fire District, covering both the city and township as an independent fire district. Prior to that, it was owned by the city and would charge the township for services. That change, brought about through a voted levy, separated the fire department from the city and made it its own entity.
Morell was there when it began first responder / paramedic services in 2000, when it became a full-time / part-time department in 2002, when it purchased its first ambulance in 2015, and when it opened Fire Station No. 2 on Herbert Road.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this department would be where it is today," he said.
CHANCE MEETING
Members of the department became like Morell's second family and it was through a fire call that he met his second wife, Barbi.
"I met her on a medical call for her father," Morell said. "I saw her (in town) a few days after and asked her how her father was doing. That was all it took and we were married on April 23, 1999."
Barbi attended the recent fire board meeting to witness her husband being honored with a special wall hanging made from a fire hose. It bears the CJFD logo and reads: "Morell -- 45 years of service."
Representing both full-time and part-time firefighters at CJFD, firefighter Josh Grossman told Morell: "It was a joy to work with you."
"I never met a guy who would give you the shirt off his back, even if he didn't know you. We love you, Joe, and thank you for your service," Grossman said.
Poland fire Chief and CJFD legal counsel David "Chip" Comstock said: "This department has progressed from a volunteer department to part time, to a career department. Where this department has ended up was based on dedicated individuals like Joe."
STAYING ACTIVE
Morell said at age 70, he plans to keep working -- because he was invited back to a former employer. In October 2022, he was able to return to Schwebel's Baking Co. in Youngstown, where he will serve as fleet maintenance manager.
He also will be able to keep in touch with the fire service through his son, Joe Jr., who is fire chief at Fairfax Fire Department, and his nephew, Will Ferando, who is a captain at the Boardman Fire Department.
"I will miss my fellow firefighters the most," he said.