After more than 30 years in service to the City of Lakeland, our very own Assistant Chief Rick Hartzog is announcing his retirement.
Looking for a career that gives “something more than a paycheck,” he started with the Lakeland Fire Department in January 1991. He looks to Fire Chief Doug Riley and his friend Larry Dobbs as his mentors.
Rick says that what he will miss the most are his co-workers. “The work will fade– the friendships will remain,” he says.
Relationships are an essential part of the assistant chief’s work at LFD, and he stresses that “without working relationships, nothing would ever get done.
”The most important quality in a successful firefighter is to have a servant’s heart, Rick states. “There is no greater act of kindness than to help someone with compassion in their time of need.”
“The first thing I’m going to do is [after retirement] is breathe.” Alongside his wife, he plans to travel around the United States and “not think about what comes next.”