After almost four years serving as fire chief at the Clancy Volunteer Fire Department, Tracy Leibbrandt is leaving for greener – or at least familiar – pastures: his family farm in Danbury, Nebraska.
“I’m for sure going to miss the fire department and search and rescue,” Leibbrandt said. “It’s kind of what I’m passionate about.”
Leibbrandt said he’s been serving on volunteer fire departments for most of his life, and he will probably continue doing it when he moves to Nebraska.
“My wife, she says I can’t not do this. I’ve done it for 27 years,” he said.
One thing Leibbrandt, 46, has done since starting as Clancy’s fire chief in 2020 is modernize the department, including its filing system.
“When I became chief, the oldest generation of the department retired, and so they were just born and raised with everything being done with checks and all that,” Leibbrandt said. “When you were looking for something, it was a matter of file cabinets.”
Leibbrandt explained that when people in the department were looking for something like paperwork for grant applications, they would have trouble finding it amongst the paper in the filing cabinets.
“I grew up in a different generation where there’s computerized filing,” Leibbrandt said. “I’m used to typing something in – the computer does that for me.”
Leibbrandt also bought updated equipment for the department, including new breathing apparatuses, according to Jefferson County Deputy Fire Warden, Pat McKelvey. McKelvey was a member of the Clancy Volunteer Fire Department for 23 years, and describes himself as a hanger-on.
“You always need to design your fire department for what you have in your district,” McKelvey said.
McKelvey said that Leibbrandt got the department’s first four-wheel drive structure truck.
But what really set Leibbrandt apart was his dedication. According to McKelvey, because of Leibbrandt’s job flexibility as a project manager for BNSF railroad, he was able to be at the fire department a lot during the day.
“It was almost like having a full-time person there,” McKelvey said.
For Leibbrandt, being chief has been a second full-time job. According to him, he spends about 40 hours a week working as fire chief.
“The biggest thing I could tell you is about his dedication,” said Clancy Fire Department President Chris Kiser. “He’s put more time in than obviously any other member, but he’s rarely missed a call.”
Leibbrandt said that he might chalk his passion for firefighting up to genetics.
“I’m a fourth-generation firefighter and fourth-generation fire chief,” he said. “I was raised around it and in it.”
Kevin Harris, who has been with the fire department for about seven years, said Leibrandt will be missed.
“You couldn’t find a more dedicated guy,” Harris said. “He’s a wealth of knowledge and a fantastic guy.”
Leibbrandt says that one thing he says he’s proudest of is recruitment. He said that when he started, the average crew size was between 13 and 18 people, and now is between 20 and 23.
He also said the average age of the crew members is younger. When Leibbrandt started, the average age was mid-60s. Now, it’s mid-40s.
He said he isn’t sure how much he personally is responsible for the changes, but he sees them as positive. As far as recruitment is concerned, Leibbrandt said “our best recruiting tool is a fire. People see a fire, and say ‘here I sit, I don’t know what to do, but I could help.’”
Leibbrandt went on to say that many people think if they can’t fight a fire, they can’t volunteer with the fire department, but on the contrary, there are many duties within the department that need to be done so the people who are able to fight fires are freed up to do it.
“The general public thinks it’s just firefighting, but it’s a fully functional business,” Leibbrandt said. “I would like to see more people who volunteer with day-to-day type stuff.”
In his position as fire chief, Leibbrandt does a lot in addition to fighting fires. In fact, he said as fire chief, he doesn’t go into structures because he’s outside, acting as incident commander.
“A lot of chiefs will tell you they do everything that doesn’t get done,” he said. For Leibbrandt, this includes filling out grants, making sure the fire trucks get serviced, attending meetings and working with the department’s president.
“[Leibbrandt] is a very dedicated and loyal servant of the community,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Cory Kirsch. “Most people don’t realize how much work goes on behind the scenes to keep these volunteer fire departments running, especially for the leaders (chiefs, assistant chiefs, etc). [Leibbrandt] stepped up as chief many years ago and has served without hesitation. He will leave large shoes (boots) to fill by the next chief!”
Harris and Greg Robson are nominated to fill Leibbrandt’s vacancy in the interim, between October and December. The vote will take place at the fire meeting on the first Wednesday of October, and then a vote for the permanent chief will happen in January of 2024.
