Ed Hutchinson, great community servant
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talks to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed 'Hutch' Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company, at the fire station in Greensburg, on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
Joe Napsha
The memorial in front of Greensburg Hose Company No. 3, were Ed Hutchinson joined in November 1939. His father, uncle and grandfather were in the fire department.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Barry Reeger | Tribune-Review
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson (center) and other watch as the Greensburg Hose Company #8 fire department’s restored historic bell is returned to its long-vacant tower on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, in South Greensburg.
Former Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson
Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Lou Batistella (left), captain of the bloodhound team, and Pierra DeFelice Sr. Hose Co. No. 2 Captain, talk to Hose Co. No. 2 fire chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson, 94, during his final address after 63 years as chief of the company Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016, at the fire station in Greensburg.
Sean Stipp
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson, shown as he turned 90 in November 2011. He passed away April 15, 2018.
Greensburg Fire Chief Ed Hutchinson speaks to a crowd gathered for a Veterans Day celebration in his honor on November 9, 2006, at the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School in Southwest Greensburg.
Earl G. Dalton (left), retired chief of Latrobe Volunteer Fire Department and Ed Hutchinson, fire chief of the City of Greensburg, share a moment after being awarded the St. Vincent College Presidential Medal of Honor for their involvement at the scene of the St. Vincent fire on January 28, 1963, during a 50th anniversary ceremony at the Fred M. Rogers Center at the college on Monday, January 28, 2013. Brian F. Henry | Tribune-Review
There's been nobody like Greensburg fire Chief Ed “Hutch” Hutchinson.
“He was not only a fire chief, but a great community servant,” Greensburg Mayor Robert Bell said of Hutchinson's death Sunday at age 96.
Hutchinson became fire chief in January 1953 and didn't retire until the end of 2016. He still routinely went to fire scenes.
Hutchinson had a hand in an impressive number of firsts.
He started the Greensburg Fire Department dive team (1957), a bloodhound team (1969) and a tactical rescue team in the 1980s.
He was instrumental in starting the Mutual Aid Ambulance Service and found a landing site and garage for the first medical helicopter outside of Allegheny County.
Hutchinson was among those who in the 1990s built the first Aerobic Center at Lynch Field.
“He inspired the other firefighters in the community to be community-oriented,” said Greensburg Assistant Fire Chief Kim Houser.
And that service wasn't limited to the Greensburg area.
The fire department helped relief efforts at an island off Charleston, S.C., following Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and a major cleanup in North Carolina in 1996.
When 72 West Virginia coal miners were killed in 1968, the fire department responded with a fund drive for the victims' families.
On the night of the 9/11 attacks, Hutchinson led a group of Greensburg firefighters to New York City to assist in search efforts but were told they were not needed.
A group of Greensburg firefighters, under Hutchinson's direction, played a key role in rescuing nine coal miners trapped in the Quecreek coal mine in Somerset County in July 2002.
It's perhaps the greatest tribute to Hutchinson that the Greensburg Fire Department continues to operate the programs he developed, especially in an era when volunteerism is on the decline.
Rest in peace, Hutch.
