Fire chief directs TV production of National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Memorial Service. Watch the view from inside the truck.

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The title of this story could have very well been two Oxon Hill Volunteer Fire Department alumni lead National Fallen Firefighters Foundation television production. While I did know the man I have been dealing with for the last six months or so was a fire chief from Alabama, I didn’t know until 20-minutes before heading home from Emmitsburg Sunday afternoon that Spruce McRee got his start in the fire service at the same Prince George’s County, Maryland VFD where I had been a member. More on that in a moment.

Chief McRee and his son Patrick, as director and producer, called the shots from inside CrossCreek TV Productions truck positioned behind the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. They did so dressed in their uniforms from Alabama’s Briefield Fire & Rescue. CrossCreek is a McCree family operation (son Chris, also in uniform, operated one of the cameras), with Spruce as the president and CEO. They have seven production trucks. Their speciality is big sporting events for clients like Fox and ESPN.

This is CrossCreek’s first year in Emmitsburg. Over the months I have been working closely with the McRees in producing the pre-shows for the Candlelight Service and the Memorial Service. Believe me, that is the easy part of this production.

The hard part is coordinating the split-second timing needed to make the actual events appear seamless to the viewer. At the same time they have to make sure the telecast is done in a way that reflects what this weekend is all about.

I was able to spend some time in the truck watching the CrossCreek crew in action during the Memorial Service. The video I shot gives you just a little idea of how the events we streamed live over the last two days were put together.

You may notice two other fire service veterans in the video. Consultant and former fire chief, J. Gordon Routley and USFA’s Tom Olshanski were assigned to the truck as part of the duties for the weekend.

Now back to the OHVFD part of the story. It turns out that Spruce was a live-in member at Company 42 in 1972 and 1973. He had gone back to Alabama about six-months before I became a member at 21 in 1974. We had a great time this afternoon talking about some of the characters we knew.

Spruce’s first date with his wife Georgeanne (also part of the operation) was to the Saturday night dance at Company 21.

The only thing I can guess as to why NFFF Executive Director, and former PGFD chief, Ron Siarnicki never mentioned this fact when he introduced us earlier this year is that Ron figured if we bonded back then the proper creative tension might not be in place for the production.