Congressman Kevin Kiley honors nonprofit that gave Folsom Fire Department its therapy dog
Rocklin congressman Kevin Kiley visited a Folsom fire station Tuesday for an event that celebrated a dog — the second time he has done so this year.
Kiley ventured to Station 39 on Richie Street in Folsom to honor Hearts 4 Heroes, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prioritize the mental health of first responders, according to founder Shelley Martell.
On Tuesday, there were five pooches in attendance but Blitz, the Folsom Fire Department’s poodle mix, was the guest of honor. There was a ribbon cutting as part of a ceremony dedicating the dog to the department, according to Tyler Tate, a spokesperson for the Republican’s office. Blitz arrived at the station in February 2022 when he was 8 weeks old.
Martell founded the organization with her husband, Bruce Martell, a paramedic. Hearts 4 Heroes’ “Paw Platoon” placement program provides in-house therapy dogs to local stations and is one of five programs the nonprofit runs to achieve its mission.
“One of the things that you want to be able to do is have professional trainers that have already placed dogs within those therapy situations like counseling or hospitals,” Martell said. “Firefighters (are) kind of new in our area. We were the first to do that, the first to ever do immersion of a puppy.”
Chad Wilson, assistant chief of the Folsom Fire Department, said the biggest thing firefighters in Folsom do to take care of their mental health is talk to each other.
“I think as our industry has evolved, we need to take care of our members better,” Wilson said. “This is just a prime opportunity for us to do so. Day-to-day, having Blitz there as a therapy dog, just somebody to lean on, scratch his ear. It just helps immensely.”
In January, Kiley visited the fire department’s Station 35 to recognize three firefighters who saved a local dog and the girl scout who donated the pet oxygen masks to the department that allowed them to do so.
Other dogs at the ceremony included Boots, who will go into therapy for burn survivors; Ash, who is part of the Rescue Fire Department in El Dorado County; Blaze, a member of the Roseville Fire Department and Cinders, who works for Dignity Health.
Shelley Martell said she named every dog with a fire theme on purpose, but soon the organization will begin using namesakes. For example, she said she would name a dog in Garden Valley after the community’s own Roy Buchmiller, who died in February 2022 at the age of 59. Buchmiller founded the program that became “Every 15 Minutes,” a drinking and driving deterrent hosted at high schools by the California Highway Patrol.
She also received commendations from representatives of Assemblyman Josh Hoover, R-Folsom, state Sen. Roger Niello.
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Kiley, who was on hand with several members of the Folsom City Council and Chamber of Commerce, commended Blitz and the “Paw Platoon” and the support the Folsom community gives to its first responders.
“I admit I’ve gotten to know Blitz a little bit myself,” Kiley told the crowd. “I think we’ve bonded on a couple of my visits.”
Kiley said he would be open to supporting pet-forward laws that emphasize the well-being of animals.
“There was a bill called the ‘Right to Rescue’ to make it so that if a dog is trapped in a hot car, you have the ability to access the car to get them assistance,” Kiley said. “I’ve voted on legislation concerning giving people greater ability to bring their therapy dogs to different locations, whether that be travel, whether that be the workplace.”
Kiley said he and his older brother had pets growing up but never a dog like Blitz.
“When I was a small child, my brother and I had hamsters,” he said. “We’d actually breed them and raise whole — what’s the term — litters of hamsters? There was groups of them at once. We must have had dozens and dozens of little hamster sets at various points in my childhood, but I don’t think we ever had an animal quite like Blitz in the home.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 12:18 PM.