An amazing man during an amazing time in history of Du Quoin fire service

Capt. John Van Voorhis is retiring from the Du Quoin Fire Department. He is a great person who was part of something very great, the Du Quoin fire service.

At Du Quoin's city council meeting on Monday, Mayor Rex Duncan extended his deep appreciation to a gifted firefighter and a great family man. VanVoorhis is pictured above shortly after the city took delivery on its aerial ladder truck in 2003. The top photo shows the department (L to R) in 2003--Joe Riggio, Fire Chief Rich Fronek, Assistant Fire Chief Brett Crain, Bob Shaw (now fire chief) John VanVoorhis, Dave Durkota and Rick Loyd.

It was VanVoorhis, Durkota and Riggio who largely designed this truck and found a way to enlarge the onboard water capacity from 500 gallons to 750 gallons. Van Voorhis is an educator and he is pictured teaching students about fire safety.

In recent months he has landed $217,000 in grants for a new compressor, bunker gear and self-contained breathing apparatus for the department. John is too young to completely retire. In the months ahead, he and wife April will begin the complete restoration of a home they purchased. His woodworking skills equal the discipline and caring he brought to firefighting. The town owes you its gratitude.