By SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
PRETTY PRAIRIE, Kan. — Dusty Tacha, a captain with Reno County Fire District No. 1’s Pretty Prairie station, has been named the September First Responder of the Month, presented by Eagle Media and PrairieStar Health Center.
Tacha has served with the Pretty Prairie Fire Department for about 10 years and is one of four captains at Station 10. The station has a roster of about 20 firefighters and typically responds to between 70 and 110 calls each year.
Tacha was nominated by Jessica Tacha, who praised his willingness to respond whenever the community needs help.
“He is always on alert and ready to run to when his phone beeps, signaling a fire or vehicle accident,” she wrote in her nomination. “He is always ready to save a neighbor in need and the community no matter how busy his schedule already is. I am so proud of him!”
For Tacha and other volunteer firefighters, responding to calls means being prepared to leave at any moment, whether a call comes in during the middle of the night or while sitting down for dinner with family.
“You don’t get to pick when accidents happen, when bad things happen,” Tacha said. “When the call comes in, that’s part of what we dedicated to go do, is to drop what we were doing and go help somebody in their time of need.”
Tacha also works full time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and serves as the state prescribed burn specialist for Kansas. His background in grassland ecology and prescribed burning helped lead him into the fire service.
He said the most rewarding part of serving as a volunteer firefighter is simply giving back to the community.
“At the end of the day, it’s community service,” Tacha said. “If somebody doesn’t step up and do these needed things, then we run into pretty hard times.”
Tacha said the recognition came as a complete surprise. Reno County Fire Administrator Travis Vogt and Pretty Prairie Station Chief Jake Graber devised a plan to get him to the station under the impression he was meeting with an electrical contractor about work needed for new equipment.
Instead, Tacha arrived to find out he had been selected as the September honoree.
“They caught me completely off guard,” Tacha said. “I was very surprised and am very humbled.”
