Lake Placid Fire Chief Mike St. Louis remembers looking up to Strack and Wasson when he joined the department himself 46 years ago.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without guys like Jerry and Jim,” St. Louis said. “The list goes on and on and on, the people that were mentors to me when I was a kid coming in here. You looked up to these guys, and you still do.”

It was 64 years ago when Strack joined the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department. The minimum age to join was 21, but they let him start a few months early. He never really wanted to be in office since his work at Central Garage kept him busy. However, he served on the squad team for more than twenty years and also served on a number of committees. St. Louis said Strack is the person who could always get things done.

Strack has seen his fair share of bad fires. He remembers the fire at Marcy Hotel in 1966, which killed five employees.

Wasson joined the LPVFD as soon as he turned 21 in the fall of 1964.

“The day the village signed, you were there,” Wasson said.

This was only a couple of years after he moved to Lake Placid. During his 60 years with the department, he has served as an EMT and in practically every council seat — except treasurer and secretary.

“I flat out refused that,” Wasson said with a laugh. In the meantime, he worked for the Hurley Brothers, later starting his own business selling fire extinguishers, which he still runs.

Wasson worked his way up the ranks and eventually became fire chief — three different times — in 1988, 2006 and 2017.

“They wanted me to go a fourth time. I said no, no way,” Wasson said.

That’s something about the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department. You see a lot of the same names come back around. Sometimes it’s the same people, sometimes it’s children of volunteers following in their parents’ footsteps. Jay Strack, Jerry’s son, has served 35 years with the department.

“We have a lot of fathers and sons, and fathers and daughters, and aunts and uncles and nephews. You know, there’s a lot of us now that are pretty much all related,” St. Louis said.

St. Louis can list nine family members of his who have served in the fire department.

“We were a big family,” Strack said, looking back at his time with the department.

Both Strack and Wasson get straight to the point when asked what they are most proud of. Wasson said he’s probably most proud of the merit certificates he got for saving people.

“Some things I got credit for, and some things I didn’t get credit for. It doesn’t matter,” Wasson said.

Strack said his work in the fire department simply comes down to service.

“That’s what I always pride myself on,” he said, “being able to help people.”