Crime & Safety

Sunday Open House Will Honor Longtime Inver Grove Firefighter

Residents, city officials and fellow firefighters will be on hand to celebrate Jeff Davis' 40th anniversary as one of the "good guys."

Each year the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department welcomes the public to get to know its department a little bit better. Through education outreach with local students to local demonstrations and even parades, it's a community endeavor that brings the guys  and gals under those bulky helmets out into the spotlight. 

This Sunday, a special Open House at the Inver Grove Fire Department Open House takes a special turn Sunday, when the spotlight shines on one man. 

Residents are invited to come out and honor Inver Grove Heights paid-on-call Firefighter Jeff Davis for his 40 years of active service to our department and community. The open House will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 14, with a special program beginning at 7.
All events will be held at Inver Grove Heights Fire station #3 at 2059 Upper 55th Street.

From Fire Chief Judy Thill:  

Jeff is a very rare individual whose long-term passion and enthusiasm for community service is second to none! Where it is getting harder and harder to recruit paid-on-call firefighters because of the time commitment, Jeff continues to be an extraordinary exception. Paid-on-call firefighters are volunteer firefighters who get paid a stipend when they respond to calls and attend training. They all have jobs outside the fire department and perform as a firefighter “in their spare time”. Just one example of Jeff’s dedication is in his emergency call response.

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  • In just the past 16 years, Jeff responded to 6,379 calls (averaging 399 calls/year)
  • It is probably safe to assume that in his past 40 years, Jeff has responded to well over 10,000 calls for service.
  • He put in POC/volunteer Firefighter terms, that means - more than 10,000 times - Jeff Davis “stopped what he was doing” in his personal life to respond to calls to help out his community.

A second example is in Jeff’s training attendance. In those past 16 years alone, Jeff has attended 713 out of 722 regular weekly in-house  training sessions that were offered,  missing only 9 drills total!!  Jeff is consistently ranked at the top of the 60 member department for both emergency call and training attendance. 

One of Jeff’s specialties is in the area of public education. He has participated in scores of public education and community events for all age levels, but he has a special rapport with kids. He has always taken great pleasure in teaching fire prevention to school children, even taking time off from his full time job to help get the fire prevention and safety message to kids.

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For the past 40 years – Jeff has given his life to educating others in preventing fires and injuries, responding to emergency calls, and attending training.  As a result of the amount of dedication and the years of service, Jeff’s accomplishments can only be measured in “the thousands”. 

  • Thousands of hours educating children and adults in fire prevention and safety.
  • Thousands of hours responding to emergency calls – all hours of the day and night, in all kinds of weather
  • Thousands of hours training to become a Firefighter and keeping his skills and knowledge fresh.
  • Educating thousands of youth in the important messages of preventing fires and staying safe. 

Jeff is on his third generation of teaching youth fire prevention and safety! Even at 40 years of active participation and the countless hours of lost sleep and interrupted meals, Jeff still isn’t quite ready to call it quits. He plans to continue helping educate the community as well as respond to calls, even beyond his 40th anniversary. 

We hope the public can join us in honoring Jeff Davis for his exemplary and extraordinary community service to the Inver Grove Heights Fire Department and the City of Inver Grove Heights. He is an inspiration to all and a true public servant.


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