E & K Independent, LLC. is a fully licensed and insured company that began operations in June 2010 to provide inspection, maintenance, and testing of fire apparatus. Before this the members of E & K started formally educating themselves to insure that we were going to offer the best service possible. We have been to Darley, Waterous, and Hale's factory training sessions, as well as, obtaining several EVT certifications and countless seminars related to the maintenance and repair of fire apparatus. You could say that this was the beginning however, the preparation for this venture began well before the thought of such a business.
It began in 1972 when a graduate of Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics did not go into the aeronautics industry but rather became a heavy equipment mechanic. While wrenching on big trucks and back hoes this individual was drawn to the Fire Service as his father and grandfather were before him. 1976, was his first year of with the Maryland’s Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Service. While being a firefighter he also worked for Maryland Fire Equipment and was responsible for prepping for delivery, servicing, repairing fire apparatus, equipment and appliances from 1977 to 1980. During this time he tested for and was promoted to Technician for the Montgomery County Fire/Rescue Division. A technician served as the primary apparatus operator and was responsible for maintaining and performing minor repairs to station apparatus. Upon being promoted to Lieutenant, he was assigned as apparatus officer for the Rockville District. In this position, he supervised and assisted the Mechanic and his assistant in the district shop. Apparatus assigned to his shop included seven engines, two aerials, five ambulances, two brush trucks and numerous staff vehicles. Also in 1980, this individual was hired as a part-time instructor at the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Training Academy to develop an apparatus operators program meeting the new NFPA 1902 standards. Since 1980, he has kept active in teaching pump, aerial, and driver training programs in many different settings with a wide variety of apparatus often performing minor repairs during the class to get the apparatus to work properly. Moving to Ohio as Chief of the Mason-Deerfield Fire Company he hired and trained a truck Mechanic to maintain six engines, two ladders, a heavy rescue, tanker, brush truck, three ambulances, and a number of staff vehicles. As Chief of the Tiffin Fire/Rescue Division, he inherited a firefighter/mechanic maintenance program. He had to become more involved in the troubleshooting and repair of apparatus due to the limited experience and training of the firefighter mechanics. This experience served as the catalysis for starting E & K. Looking to pass these generations of tradition and training on, he has begun this journey of E & K with his son-in-law who is now just beginning his own life’s journey.
Please forgive our lack luster website. However, we at E & K believe that our resources are better spent in ensuring the latest product training and equipment. We also believe that it is important that our customers get the fairest prices possible. This is achieved by E & K though reduced costs associated with marketing and website design. We do however, seek to provide our customers with all information they need. So if there is any information that we have neglected to post on our site or it was not clearly communicated please contact us via email at info@ekindependent.com. Thank you for your interest in our company and checkout our links above.
