Michael S. Waters Onondaga County Fire Coordinator Lt. Colonel, USAF Honorary Member, Amber F.D. Mike Waters was the Fire Coordinator of Onondaga County from 1973 until his retirement in 2002, having served for 29 years. As Fire Coordinator he was in charge of all fire service related functions of county government. This included the dispatchers at fire control, fire investigation, fire inspection, code enforcement, and where we at Amber interacted with him the most… training, and responding to and fighting fires. Mike was also a long time member of the Dewitt Fire Dept, and an out of district active member of the Jordan Fire Dept. after he left the Dewitt FD. In addition to his fire service career, Mike also retired as a Lt. Colonel in the Air Force after having served for 34 years, including five tours of duty at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey during the Gulf War. Mike contributed greatly to the Amber Fire Department, so much that he was voted an honorary member, an honor bestowed on very few people in the entire history of the department. He took the honor very seriously and spent considerable time with us as a teacher, mentor, and most importantly as a friend. He never missed a department installation banquet, sometimes serving as emcee, or a speaker. He often attended drills, and training sessions, and always was at our “move ups” which were large scale training sessions involving several fire departments. As a professional photographer he took many high quality photographs of our various activities, which he often had published in the Syracuse newspaper, regional or statewide fire service periodicals. He also attended other fire department functions with us such as honor guard details for fire department funerals. After retiring as the county fire coordinator Mike maintained his affiliation and friendship with our department for the rest of his life. The positive impact he had on the Amber Fire Department is very significant and his legacy will last for many years. Mike had a painting in his home which he had custom painted by a well known fire service artist named John Goss, who was a firefighter with the FDNY. The painting depicts Mike in the center of it with a mustache, and a very distinctive, one of a kind helmet front shield. The front shield is a colorful eagle with the words Captain and Engine 1. It’s from when he was the Captain of engine company one in the Dewitt Fire Department. Upon Mike’s passing he wanted his long time friend Rich Flanagan from the Amber Fire Department to have the painting, and a few other mementos. Rich asked the department if they would like to have the painting displayed in the firehouse as a permanent honor and memorial to Mike, and his long affiliation with the Amber F.D. The department welcomed the idea, and a plaque honoring Mike was attached to the frame of the painting. We at the Amber Fire Department, especially the members who knew and worked with them, will never forget Mike Waters or two other honorary members: Deputy Chief Tom Laun, and Chief Mike Downes, both of the Syracuse Fire Department. They both worked for Mike as state fire instructors, and all provided us excellent training. The three of these well known and respected fire service icons contributed much to the Amber Fire Dept. The training they all gave us and the benefit of their vast experience created a strong foundation, and helped make the Amber Fire Department what it is today.
In this picture Mike Walters is in the upper right. He was joined by three former Amber Chiefs Kevin Kinne, Mel Simmons,and Rich Flanagan