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The afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005, was among the loveliest anyone could recall on Upstate New York’s beautiful Lake George. Just before 3 p.m., the Ethan Allen, a tourist boat carrying 47 passengers from a senior citizens travel club, was hit by a rogue wave and capsized. Elderly passengers were tossed into the lake, some trapped below the boat. Among numerous rescuers rushing to the scene was Dan Davies, a broker-owner with Davies-Davies & Associates LLC in Queensbury, N.Y., and a volunteer EMT and firefighter with the North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company.
The Ethan Allen boating accident required multiple companies of rescuers to tackle a terrifying situation. “We pulled up the last surviving victims and eight dead over three trips back and forth to the boat,” says Davies, who saved three people’s lives. “That was a bad call [to receive]. I plucked them out of the water and did CPR on three or four of them.”
One Among Many
As unforgettable as the disaster was, it’s only one of many life-and-death situations that have called for Davies’ assistance. The North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company averages 28 water emergencies and typically five drownings a year in addition to 250 fire calls and 160 EMS calls, Davies says. He responds to about 70% of the calls, which is more than five a week.
“If your life is dependent on someone, you’re in an accident or fire, he’s the guy you want.”
–Chief Jeff Baertschi, North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company
“We’re in a resort area, the Adirondacks, three hours each from New York City, Boston and Montreal. We help people all the time,” he adds. “When you become an EMS provider, you lose track of those things.
“I’m on the majority of those calls. We had a boat explosion at a Lake George marina. I’ve been to a lot of big fires and mountain rescues. The fire department I belong to is focused on mountain rescues, water rescues and ice rescues. I’ve been on multiple calls where we saved lives on the ice, river, mountains and especially lakes.”
Many people don’t realize that volunteer firefighters are the first line of response across most of America. According to the National Fire Protection Association, volunteers make up almost two-thirds of firefighters in the U.S. Of the country’s 29,452 fire departments, 18,873 (64%) are all-volunteer, and 5,335 (18%) are mostly volunteer.
Thanks to the donated time from volunteer firefighters, the nation’s municipalities save about $46.9 billion per year. Call volume has more than tripled in the last 35 years, primarily due to an increase in emergency calls. At the same time, the numbers of volunteer firefighters in the U.S. have fallen, reaching a three-and-a-half decade low in 2020. Many local volunteer fire departments are hard-pressed to meet ongoing staffing needs.
Davies is such a valuable member of the North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company that for the past 24 years, he has been either the first or second in command, and currently serves under Chief Jeff Baertschi, who credits Davies’ mother with instilling his drive to give back to his community. “His mom was one of the nicest people you could ever possibly meet,” he says. “He got his mother’s traits.”
Baertschi describes Davies as having two seemingly contradictory personality traits. On one hand, he’s very driven. “He wants to get [stuff] done, get moving, knock this fire down, let’s move, let’s move,” he says. “But on the flip side, he’s one of the calmest under fire ... He’s one of nine divers on my dive team, and a great diver. If I had to pick a diver to dive with me to rescue someone, he’s the guy I’d pick.”
Called Home
Davies, 53, has been a volunteer firefighter since 1989, when he was 18—the same year he earned his real estate license. He attended Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y., earning a bachelor’s degree in finance, with a double minor in accounting and real estate, in 1993.
“I was going to go down to New York City and be in the securities world. My mom’s health failed, and I came back to help her. And I wound up staying and working for the real estate agency.”
Being part of a dive team came 10 years later, when North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company took over from a dive team that could no longer find staffers.
Davies also volunteers for other organizations, including real estate and environmental causes. Locally, he took on the role of president of the Albany MLS for four years. For three years, he served as vice president of the Lake George Association, the lake protection entity dedicated to safeguarding “The Queen of American Lakes.”
“You can volunteer and be a great neighbor, and also be a great real estate professional,” he says. “That’s very important. It’s the fabric of what America is built on. My dad was a volunteer firefighter, and my mom was a volunteer swimming coach. She was a volunteer coach of a lot of sports and was a REALTOR® as well.”
Unbeatable Record
As head of Davies-Davies & Associates, he manages 36 employees and oversees a $150 million to $200 million per year operation. He wants people to know that volunteering does not take away from his business but rather benefits it.
“The community gives back to me because they know I care,” he says. “They list with me all the time. I didn’t [volunteer] for that reason. But if you do care in a small community, they will give back and give back exponentially.”
How does serving his community make him feel?
“It’s an up-and-down situation, because you have some hardships, and hurtships, both physical and mental,” he says. “But when you can help somebody, there’s nothing better. You’re doing it because you’re a good neighbor. I was just part of a team that saved a 73-year-old heart attack victim. It’s not about you. It’s about a team that takes care of your community, making your community better in many ways.”
Dan Davies is broker-owner of Davies-Davies & Associates L.L.C. in Queensbury, N.Y. He has served 35 years on the North Queensbury Volunteer Fire Company.
