By Beatrice Robin
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
NEW ORLEANS, — For three generations, members of the Bellanger family have devoted their lives to the community as firefighters.
It began with Charlie Bellanger, who began his career as a volunteer firefighter and member in 1956 at Marrero-Harvey No. 1 Fire Station. Then he went to Marrero-Ragusa No. 3 as a paid operator and stayed there two years. He returned to Marrero-Harvey No. 1 as a paid employee and remained there for 36 years, and retired there in December 2005.
He and his wife, Mildred, raised five boys, living on the premises of the fire station. They are Rene, Ted, Paul, Craig and Tony. They have six grandchildren.
Before he retired, he lost everything due to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The couple had to start all over in a modular home — it is the first time in their married life they’ve had a home of their own, and they said they love it.
Mildred was involved with firefighting, too, as a dispatcher with the Jefferson Parish Fire Department. She started working part time in 1981 and then went full-time in 1984 and retired in 2000.
Charlie Bellanger said, “I love serving the community” and the rewards from “saving people in the line of duty.”
He has received many awards during his time at the fire department, including from Hope Haven Home for the Homeless, in 1992, for services rendered. He was the Knights of Columbus Council No. 4222 Fireman of the Year in 1970. The Lions Club gave him an achievement award for heroic action in 1973. The Marrero-Harvey No. 1 Station staff gave Charlie his greatest award by retiring the Operator No. 1 number.
He is a lifetime member of the Louisiana State Firemen’s Association. He and his wife enjoy traveling now that they are both retired.
Their son, Rene, 46, is president of the Marrero-Harvey No. 1 Station. Craig, 39, is treasurer of that station.
Ted Bellanger Sr. started working at that station, then went to the Westwego Station and then to the Lafitte Barataria Crown Point No. 40 Station, where he is fire prevention chief and assistant chief. He has been with that station for 21 years.
He has received several awards from Fire Chief Linton Duet Jr., one for 20 years of service to the community, from 1986 to 2006; operator of the year for several years; and fire officer of the year for several years.
Every year since 1999, he has received an award for best-kept fire unit, and he has won a heroic award for saving a life.
Bellanger Sr. said, “It is an enjoyable profession because I like helping people, whether at a house fire or an accident. If you save a life, it is very rewarding.
“We are a family at our station and we watch out for each other. For the past six years, no one in our area has died in a fire, and I credit that to a great fire chief, Linton Duet., and a great fire prevention team with operators, firefighters and volunteers, including the many women in the department,” he said.
“I would not be where I am today without the knowledge given to me by my dad, Charlie, and the fire chief.”
Bellanger Sr. said, “I have always had the support from my wife, Melissa, for 21 years in all my endeavors.”
Melissa Bellanger is also involved in the fire station, where has been a volunteer firefighter for 18 years. She completed state certification at Louisiana State University and was presented the Cytec Award in 2006 for doing so much for the department. She is willing to help wherever she is needed.
Ted Bellanger Jr., 19, their son, is now following in his father’s and his grandfather’s footsteps. He has become a paid firefighter at the Lafitte station. He worked as a volunteer firefighter for six years. When he was 17, he saved a drowning child at a Gulfport, Miss., swimming pool. Veronica Dupont, a volunteer firefighter at the department who taught him first aid, presented him a Red Cross award.
Heather Bellanger, 17, Ted Sr. and Melissa Bellanger’s daughter, joined the junior firefighters when she was 13. On many occasions, she has assisted people who were in accidents. She also received a Red Cross certificate for saving a child from choking. Dupont and Duet presented the award to her. She plans to go to nursing school to become a nurse, because she also enjoys helping people.
Copyright 2008 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company