Awards and plaques line shelves in the home of Charles “Doug” Braun, an emergency medical technician (EMT), treasurer and hall manager for Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company in Severna Park.
The President’s Award winner for helping the president with day-to-day operations in 2020 and 2022. Most hours in 2019, most training hours in 2020, member of the third quarter in 2021 and most standby hours in 2023 with 1,623.
He values recognition from his peers above individual accolades.
“Awards are nice, but I don’t do it for awards,” Braun said. “You can put awards on your wall and dust them off every month, but when you get a thank you, that is really special.”
Braun joined Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company in February 2019. He originally wanted to be a firefighter. A father of two children, then ages 3 and 5, Braun decided to help the station another way after consulting his wife.
“I’m not 29 years old anymore; I’m 69,” Braun said. “It’s a young man’s game.”
Instead of firefighting, he pursued the path of EMT. He passed the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians test, which gave him two hours, or 120 minutes, to answer 120 questions.
“I passed the test in 118 minutes,” he said with a laugh.
Braun enjoyed washing firetrucks for and with the career firefighters, and by summer 2019, he became the pseudo treasurer, helping Earleigh Heights catch up on bill payments.
He was later voted to be treasurer, which put his business expertise to use. Braun previously worked as a contract advisor with Northrop Grumman. He wrote and negotiated contracts, many of them for the U.S. Department of Defense, and he resolved conflicts.
The volunteer had no idea he would soon oversee the fire company’s finances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because the station relies so heavily on community events for fundraising, it was a daunting task to continue operations with no revenue and almost no savings, but Braun made it work, getting contractors to accept payment installments instead of full invoices.
Once Earleigh Heights got clearance to resume in-person activities in 2021, Braun got to work on hall rentals and invited food trucks to return.
He is currently renting the hall through 2026. The station can hold up to 400 people and it’s stocked with tables, chairs and a kitchen.
“We’ve done weddings and wedding receptions, quinceañeras, birthdays, funeral wakes,” he said.
Braun and other volunteers also stay busy with bingo events, bull and oyster roasts, and the annual July carnival.
As Braun explained, Anne Arundel County provides a budget for utilities and supplies, but the station is not county owned, so the career and volunteer staff fundraise for the apparatus they need.
“We don’t buy the ambulances, but we buy our firetruck, utility truck, chief’s truck, engines 121 and 122, and the rescue squad,” he said.
Because the fire station is old, it has its challenges, like leaks and issues with heating and cooling, but Braun loves working alongside the career firefighters and volunteers.
“It’s taken a lot out of my family as well; I hope people realize that,” he said. “When I’m at the station, my wife is at home picking up the slack for my now 7-year-old and 9-year-old.”
Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company Chief Dave Crawford said he and his team are very lucky to have Braun on their team.
"Our fire company has roles beyond responding to medical and fire emergencies,” Crawford said. “Doug stepped up and filled a critical need. He applied his business insights and experience to help analyze our processes and improve a key part of our fundraising operations. We depend on volunteers like Doug to support the success of the fire company."
Awards are nice, but Braun volunteers because he wants to give back to the community, he is retired and because it sets a good example for his kids.
“I think it’s important we support each other, because a lot of communities don’t have that support,” he said. “People seriously rely on us during possibly the worst day of their lives whether it’s stabilizing them and getting them to the hospital or putting out a house fire, saving their property and saving their lives.”
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