"Kind of pretty" is how he describes teeming gasses that have combusted around him. Crashing through a melting floorboard and nearly falling to his death was "really no big deal." Not the recollections you might expect after such harrowing experiences, right? Well, Tom Gough, CFC, a standout volunteer firefighter and a top employee at manufacturer Witt Printing Company in El Dorado Springs, Mo., is no ordinary man.
With 18 years notched in the document management industry, Gough is a trailblazer, so to speak, at Witt Printing. He steps in "wherever help is needed," he says, and serves the firm as a sales specialist, special estimator, safety director and compliance coordinator. As he sparks business for Witt Printing, Gough is on call as a first responder to emergencies within an 8-mile radius of El Dorado Springs, a town with approximately 5,000 residents. For the past 41Ž2 years, he has been a volunteer member of the El Dorado Springs Fire Department, sometimes risking his life at structure fires, auto accidents and hazardous-materials spills.
Firefighters often are heralded as heroes, but Gough says he's no Superman. His second job is just a hobby, he says, a way to give back to the community. Soft-spoken and humble, Gough speaks modestly of his risky firefighting efforts--even when they involve injuring his legs after falling through a hole in a burning floor or witnessing a "flashover." (That occurs when flame temperatures reach more than 1,000 F, causing gas combustion that ignites exposed surfaces simultaneously.) Firefighting is "exciting and rewarding," Gough says, "but I'm really not doing anything above and beyond duty."
Not true, says Owen Elliott, assistant fire chief of the El Dorado Springs Fire Department. He says Gough is one of the most versatile and dedicated volunteers he has worked with during his three decades of service. Gough is a "good man to have around," Elliott says. "He can perform nearly all of the duties, from driving the truck to educating the public on fire safety." The latter, Elliott believes, stems from the customer service and sales experience Gough has honed at Witt Printing. "He has great people skills," Elliott says.
Elliott speaks fondly of Gough's decision to become a Certified Volunteer, which meant travelling 40 miles round trip to and from Nevada, Mo., every Saturday for six months. Gough passed a series of grueling practical and written tests. "It was very noble for him to take it upon himself to become certified, as only a small percentage of our department is," Elliott says. "I just wish we had more like him."
--Sarah Wassner
