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.

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