A La Porte County Life in the Spotlight: Mick Pawlik

Mick-PawlikBorn and raised in Michigan City, Indiana, Mick Pawlik has always been a dedicated man. Dedicated to his wife of 34 years, Patti, their two children, Kristen and Donnie, and his two grandchildren, Landen and Laney, as well as being dedicated his friends and to his work as Fire Chief of the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department.

Pawlik has balanced his life between his family, his job at NIPSCO, and his work with the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department. After recently retiring from NIPSCO, he has had more time to spend with his family and to focus on his duties as Fire Chief.

Pawlik has served with the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department for the past twenty-five years, and has been Fire Chief for the past eighteen. After much insistence from Tony Pavlak, who is now the Assistant Fire Chief at the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department, Pawlik decided it would be a good idea to volunteer his time there was well.

"Somebody has to do it. If nobody does, then our area goes unprotected, and that can't happen," Pawlik said.

The Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department is actually a self-sustaining business, and Pawlik runs the Fire Department side of the business. On average, the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department answers one thousand calls a year. On top of responding to calls, Pawlik also holds regular membership and board meetings, fire training once a month, reports to the Board, and oversees all fire scenes.

Recently, Pawlik and his team were dispatched to an accident on I-94 where fifteen cars and semis had piled up on the icy roads. Pawlik was putting tile down in his house when the call came in and he had to rush out.

"I'm not a very religious man, but when I arrived on scene, I said a prayer for all those trapped in the accident," Pawlik said as he spoke of his experiences being part of the rescue effort on I-94.

Quickly he and his team worked with the Springfield Township Fire Department and the Michigan City Fire Department to free trapped passengers. As soon as the call came in to Pawlik, he got ahold of Springfield Township, who immediately dispatched workers to the scene.

"We always work hand-in-hand with Springfield, because we share responsibility of I-94 calls, so by the time I got there, Springfield was already working to free people," Pawlik said.

Two cases, in particular, jumped to the front of Pawlik's memories when he thought about that night. In both cases, the roof of the vehicle had to be cut off in order to reach the victims inside. However, while Pawlik and his fellow firefighters were easily able to remove the first victim, Judy, the second was another story entirely. Soon after rescuing Judy from her car, they found a man named Jeff trapped in his car, which was securely lodged between two semis. Pawlik engaged Jeff in conversation, trying to keep him calm as they attempted to extract him from the vehicle, even offering to take Jeff out for a beer when all of this was over. Pawlik worked tirelessly for almost seven hours, with the help of neighboring fire departments, to free all the accident's victims.

In his free time, Pawlik enjoys spending time in outdoors and with his grandchildren, Landen and Laney.

"I love spending time with my grandkids. They are my therapy. In fact, when I came home from the accident on 94, I just sat here and watched them. Instantly, I could feel the weight lifting off of me," Pawlik ended.