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Chief Russ Mason, of Central County Fire and Rescue, has sacrificed a lot to serve the residents of the fire district, and now residents throughout the state will benefit from his benevolence.
Mason, 51, of St. Peters, recently was appointed to the Advisory Committee for 911 Service Oversight by Gov. Matt Blunt.
Mason said he was recommended to the governor's office by the Missouri Fire Service Alliance because he is vice president of the Missouri Association of Fire Chiefs. He also is president of the Professional Fire and Fraud Investigation Association.
"A representative of each major group in the state get together and talk about joint issues related to fire safety," Mason said. "An opening for a fire service representative became vacant and I was chosen to fill the seat."
The husband and father of four has been with Central County for 14 years, and before that was with the Missouri Division of Fire Safety for eight years; he has 30 years of fire-related experience.
"I got into it (fire safety) as a volunteer firefighter growing up in North St. Louis County," Mason said. "The rest is history."
Mason said a career in fire safety was the last thing on his mind at first, until a conversation at a baseball game changed his mind.
"The local leagues needed a coach and I heard one of the guys was a volunteer firefighter and he told me about it and that was it," Mason said. "I knew what I wanted to do."
In 1977, he began his fire service career as a volunteer firefighter in Bolivar. In 1982, he was appointed chief of the Bolivar Fire Department.
Mason served as assistant chief for the Rolla Fire Department from 1985 to 1987. He then moved to St. Charles County after accepting a position as an investigator for the Missouri Division of Fire Safety.
In 1991, Mason was promoted to deputy chief and chief investigator in charge of the Criminal Investigation Unit for the Missouri Division of Fire Safety.
Mason joined the St. Peters Fire Protection District as an assistant chief in 1995. He was promoted to the rank of deputy chief in 1998 with the consolidation of the St. Peters and St. Charles fire protection districts. He became chief of Central County Fire and Rescue in February 2003.
"He's highly professional," Assistant Fire Chief Brian Ochs said about Mason. "He's very well versed on every aspect of fire service. He would be a great asset to the state committee."
Mason has a bachelor's degree in fire service administration from Western Illinois University. His appointment to the committee is subject to Senate confirmation for a term ending on April 9, 2010, according to a news release from the governor's office.
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