Serving as a first responder in the community for decades, Chuck Montgomery, executive director of the Hall of Flame and retired deputy fire chief and paramedic, recently experienced a full circle moment while receiving care at the City of Hope.
Christy Lessnau, registered nurse at City of Hope, was just 16 when she was in a major car accident at 51st Avenue and Beardlsey. Caused by a drunk driver, both Christy and her mother Donna suffered life threatening injuries. Chuck Montegomery and his then-partner Rollie Garard were called to the scene of the accident and ultimately saved their lives.
Now, 28 years later, Lessnau is a part of the team working to save Montgomery’s life. Fighting lymphoma and leukemia, it was during one of Montgomery’s chemotherapy treatments that Lessnau overheard him chatting with a fellow firefighter.
Sharing she’d never forget the firefighters that saved her and her mother’s life, it was after saying their names that the pieces fell into place.
“It was truly a surreal moment,” Montgomery said. “I said, ‘well, Christy, I am the only person in the Glendale Fire Department to this day that’s ever been named Chuck,’ and she said, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s you!’”
Montgomery’s career
Growing up near a firehouse in rural Indiana, Montgomery was always curious about what was going on behind the scenes. When he moved to Arizona he got involved in a firefighting cadet program while in high school. Throughout his career he’s been involved in a number of different programs around the Glendale Fire Department. EMS has always been a strong emphasis on his career.
In the early 2000s, Montgomery partnered with physician Dr. Ben Bobrow and pioneered a new strategy called Compression-only CPR. “Him and I led that effort and it changed everything,” Montgomery said. “It’s changed the entire world. Compression-only is now the preferred and most effective way to deliver CPR.” They started the website associated with it, azshare.gov.
Montgomery also spent a number of years on a medical helicopter, AirEvac, as a flight paramedic.
Over the last few years while working with the fire department, Montgomery was also working with the Glendale Regional Safety Training Center (GRPSTC) when he was asked to be the honorary commander of the Luke Air Force Base. That's where he met the Getz family.
The Getz family founded the Hall of Flame museum in 1961. Asking Montgomery to get on board, the Hall of Flame showcases five exhibits, the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, a museum store, theater, restoration shop, collection storage building and administrative offices.
As the executive director, Montgomery works to fulfill the goals of the foundation: the collection, preservation and exhibition of objects relating to the history of firefighting, fire safety education, and the recognition of firefighters who have died in the line of duty or who have been recognized for acts of heroism.
Looking forward
As Montgomery continues his fight toward remission, he wants to express his gratitude for the city of Glendale and workman’s compensation for addressing his cancer as a line of duty exposure and helping him get the best care possible from the City of Hope.
“It feels like a fire that needs to be extinguished,” Montgomery said. “You use chemotherapy to try and stop that fire… You’re trying to use enough medications quickly enough before it takes you over. Especially mine, because lymphoma and leukemia are both blood cancers which gives them the ability to spread very much like a house fire that can just spread through the structure quickly. You have to find a place to try and cut it off.”
He asks that in supporting him, the community continues to support first responders.
“We need to be sure that the communities are continuing to provide them the equipment necessary to do their jobs effectively and, when misfortune hits like this, the community steps forward and supports organizations that help us.”
Firefighter Cancer Network and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have been a major support, he added.
“A firefighter without risk doesn’t exist. To save people it puts us in harm's way whether that involves getting them out of an engulfed car or out of a fire engulfed house or building,” Montgomery said. “Getting folks out of the hazardous situations that they find themselves in makes us join them in those hazardous situations. You can’t save a life without risking a life.”
Montgomery would like to invite anyone to come out, meet him, and check out the Hall of Flame. He’d also like to thank his wife Holly, his children and his grandson for all the support they’ve given him. For more information about the Hall of Flame, or to book a tour, visit hallofflame.org.
