Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
David Cohen
David Cohen has worked with the Mountain Brook fire department for about 20 years, including as the fire marshal for the last decade. He is retiring at the end of 2015.
David Cohen’s decade-long career as the Mountain Brook fire marshal is bookended by two major projects: Cahaba Village at the beginning and the Grand Bohemian Hotel at the end.
“That was an adventure because there was a lot of blasting involved,” Cohen said of the construction of the Cahaba Village shopping center. He added that the Grand Bohemian was a “beautiful project” to work on.
Cohen is retiring from his position as fire marshal on Dec. 31. He said he’s enjoyed the chance to learn about building safety and codes in order to guide Mountain Brook developers.
“I really love the job. It gives me the opportunity to work with a lot of interesting people,” Cohen said.
Before he was a fire marshal, Cohen started out as a paramedic and firefighter in Center Point. He later came to the Mountain Brook Fire Department’s Old Leeds Road station and worked up the ranks for about 10 years to become a captain, then the marshal.
He took classes at the Alabama Fire College about inspecting buildings, but Cohen said a successful fire marshal requires hands-on experience and constant learning. His job duties include regular building inspections, education, code enforcement, blast monitoring and working with developers on new projects.
While he doesn’t go out on calls anymore, Cohen said he has always been impressed with the way the city will respond to their neighbors’ needs after a fire. He remembered one house fire where a stranger offered his storage unit to the family thought he had never met them.
“It’s just an amazing community,” Cohen said.
Cohen believes Mountain Brook’s firefighters are as top-notch as their community.
“We expect our guys to go beyond the basics, and I think that starts at the top and goes all the way through the department,” Cohen said. “I would put our guys up against any department in the country.”
In his 30-year firefighting career, Cohen has seen firefighting change, especially with new technology to improve safety. At its core, though, Cohen said firefighting has the same job requirements: being ready to act at a moment’s notice to respond to any number of situations, many of them tragic.
“It still gets back down to putting water on the fire. That’s the bottom line. Our equipment has changed, our strategy and tactics have changed over the years, but it’s still the basics,” Cohen said.
There are two career highlights that make Cohen particularly proud. The first is a painting in his office of three firefighters battling a blaze. The back of their suits read M. Cohen, D. Cohen and K. Cohen. It was a gift from his two oldest sons, Matt and Kyle, who work with the Birmingham and Trussville fire departments. Cohen said he loves that his sons followed his example.
The second is a research project that Cohen completed as part of the U.S. Fire Administration’s Executive Fire Officer Program. His project was a study of fire alarm response for students with autism, including an analysis of a program at Crestline Elementary to teach special education students how to react during fire drills.
The program had a positive impact on fire safety and preparedness. Cohen said his research won Outstanding Project of the Year in 2012, and he was invited to share his findings at a conference on autism in Hawaii.
Cohen is training fellow firefighter Lee Rhudy to take his place as fire marshal on Jan. 1, 2016. However, his version of retirement is hardly taking it easy.
He currently works with a critical incident stress and debrief team, helping emergency responders handle post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the aftermath of tragic situations. Cohen wants to continue in that work, and in January he will go to Arizona for a stress coaching class. He’s considering starting a non-profit to provide counseling and stress services for local law enforcement and first responders.
Aside from trauma counseling, Cohen said he has already counseled some couples through his church and would like to continue marriage coaching for police officers and firefighters. He described it as challenging but satisfying.
“I’m not really going to retire,” Cohen said.
He’s also going to spend time with his family, including his wife Teresa who has “put up” with him for 32 years, Matt, Kyle and his youngest son John. In a 30-year firefighting career, he often had to sacrifice time with them to work the required 24-hour shifts.
“That 24 hours always falls on holidays or birthdays, anniversaries or your son’s ballgame,” Cohen said.
Cohen said it’s the “good people” at the Mountain Brook fire department and within the city as a whole that made him stay at the department for most of his career. His retirement may be even busier than his career, but Cohen said he still plans to make time if Rhudy or anyone else in the department needs him.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with all the men and women in the fire department and the mayor and city council, and all the people in the community,” Cohen said.
