Fire Engineering and Fire Engineering Books mourn the loss of High Point (NC) Battalion Chief (Ret.) Rick Fritz, who passed away on August 26 at the age of 69.
Fritzalways wanted to be a firefighter. In 1973, he was one of the founding members of the Fire Explorer Post organized with the Penfield (NY) Volunteer Fire Department. In 1976, he enlisted in the Illinois National Guard as a crash-rescue firefighter. In September 1977, he was hired by the Muscatine (IA) Fire Department, beginning his career as a municipal firefighter. In 1981, he went to the Davenport (IA) Fire Department.
In 1995, Fritz retired and took a job as program director for the two-year degree program in hazmat at Scott Community College in Bettendorf, Iowa. Missing the fire service, he took a job at the Illinois Fire Service Institute in Champaign, Illinois. He then became program director for fire science at Harrisburg (PA) Community College…