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Lake Geneva producer plans video about firefighting

LAKE GENEVA — Tom Laughlin wants to tell the story of a few good men and women and the dozens they help every day.

The Lake Geneva video producer is working on his latest project: a video tribute to the world of firefighting.

Not only could the video be used to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters, it could bridge the gap between fire departments and the communities they serve, Laughlin said.

“There’s a running need to help the community understand what it is they do,” he said. “You hear the sirens, you see the truck go by, and you wonder, ‘Are they going to a fire? A car wreck? A heart attack?’”

Laughlin plans to include a variety of footage from putting out a roaring house fire to extricating people from a crumpled vehicle to comforting people in the midst of tragedy.

“Those things only begin to tell the story,” he said.

Laughlin wants interviews with local firefighters.

“It’s about their motivation,” he said. “Why would anybody want to take on any kind of profession that’s not only potentially risky but life threatening? If you can find people willing to run into a burning building while everyone else is running out, that’s pretty serious.”

But Laughlin most wants to talk with ordinary people helped by firefighters in extraordinary situations.

“I really want to include are firsthand accounts of people who’ve had contact with their local fire department, whether their house caught fire or they were in a car accident or they had a medical emergency,” he said.

Laughlin said it’s that human element that will set his project apart from other documentary-type pieces about firefighting.

“I can talk to all the firefighters I want and get the story,” he said. “But I want to go to the other end of the story and talk to the people they helped.”

Laughlin hopes his video illuminates a profession most people know little about and convinces them that it’s a profession with as many rewards as risks.

“I want to tell the story of what firefighting is and why it might be the right career for someone to get involved in,” he said. “The more familiar I become with firefighting and the more I learn about it, I am absolutely amazed at the commitment of the men and women who volunteer for duty.”

Work on the project is just beginning.

Laughlin has interviewed members of the Lake Geneva Fire Department, and he is scheduled to talk to Janesville Fire Chief Larry Grorud. He shot footage of the Lake Geneva Fire Department in action at the mock car crash at Badger High School, and he has been invited to ride along with the Madison Fire Department.

He’s begun contacting fire departments throughout the state to give them an opportunity to be a part of his project.

Laughlin, 53, has been producing videos for 15 years. His previous projects include a video documenting the history of special education in Walworth County, a 28-minute promotional piece for Lakeland School in Elkhorn. He also has produced two documentaries about old barns in the Midwest, both 30-minute programs that aired on PBS.

He plans to start working on a video series on the history of the Geneva Lake area.

Laughlin anticipates his video about firefighting will be bigger than anything he’s done before.

“This firefighting project could turn into a larger animal,” he said. “It’s not going to be a little 10-minute piece. It’s going to be much more than that. I want to explain how the equipment works, what gear they wear, what calls they respond to, and that all takes a lot of interviews, a lot of shooting, a lot of editing.”