Salem Fire Department's Official Historian Retires

Captain Blumenstein's dedication to the community and the Department will be extremely missed by all members of the Salem Fire Department.

Salem, Oregon Fire Captain Larry Blumenstein

(SALEM, Ore.) - Captain Larry Blumenstein officially retired on August 7th, 2007 after 21-years of service to the citizens of Salem. Captain Larry Blumenstein's first encounter with the Salem Fire Department occurred in 1976 when he printed 1000 copies of "History of the Salem, Oregon Fire Department" while working in his family publishing business; copies of that book are still available at the Marion County Historical Society in Salem. In 1980 he became a volunteer firefighter and Basic EMT with the Kotzebue Fire Department in arctic Alaska. During that same time he was involved with Kotzebue Search and Rescue and participated in a number of challenging air, land, and sea rescues, the longest of which was 100 miles (each way) by snowmobile in the dead of winter. In 1983 he began his Paramedic career with Buck Ambulance and one year later he switched to CARE Ambulance in Keizer, Oregon. Captain Blumenstein was hired by Salem Fire Department as a firefighter/paramedic in 1986. During his first year on the department he set a new world record of non-stop one-person CPR of 12 hours by performing CPR on a mannequin for 54 hours during an American Ambulance sponsored EMS Week event. During his 21 years with Salem Fire Department he was appointed as EMS Coordinator for 5 years and served on a number of special teams that included rope rescue, water rescue, and hazardous materials. He was then promoted to Captain in March of 2002. He also served as the President of the Oregon Fire Medical Administrators Association and volunteered with Oregon SAFE Kids, Salem Junior Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, and the Oregon Fire Service Museum. A lifelong love of history drew him to preserve the history and artifacts of the Salem Fire Department. After years of research and preservation, Salem Library invited him to design a SFD history web page for the Salem History Project. Due in part to his involvement with the Salem History Project he was appointed as the Official Salem Fire Department Historian in January 2003. Colleagues say Captain Blumenstein's dedication to the community and the Department will be extremely missed by all members of the Salem Fire Department.