Kadel is Homer Fire Department’s new Assistant Fire Chief. Before working in Homer, Kadel was a Deputy Chief in Girdwood for 20 years.
Kadel says he is excited to get to work and wants to focus on capacity building.
He plans to start teaching an introductory firefighting class for about eight new recruits from Homer, the Anchor Point Fire Department and Kachemak Emergency Services.
Even though Kadel just got here, he has already received fan mail.
“This is a card I just received yesterday. It says, ‘You’re an angel, a star and a blessing,” Kadel read..
While working in Girdwood, Kadel recently received a call from a woman whose 90-year-old mother fell in the Tesoro station. Both previously lived in Homer, and when Kadel told them about his new job, they sent a thank you card to the Homer Fire station.
Handwritten on the card in black sharpie were the words “(Elton John)” in parentheses.
“Because her mother who is 90 thought I looked like Elton John and so I started singing in an Elton John-esque song,” Kadel says.
Kadel’s goals for the department is to help train new volunteers as well as developing skills of those already in the department.
For next year, Kadel aims to teach an EMT enrichment class to develop the skills of existing EMTs from Homer, Kachemak Emergency Services and Ninilchik.
