On June 25, 2022, the Idaho Fire Service lost one of its greatest champions with the passing of Deputy Chief Brad Trosky-Johnson. While Brad served in many roles over the past 30+ years, one role he always filled, was Instructor, Mentor, and Coach. Brad was always available if someone had a question or needed help.
Over his career Brad served in multiple departments as their Training Officer, many time during the day to a career department and at night to a non-career department. To Brad it did not matter if you were career or volunteer; the individuals he was teaching were all Firefighters or EMTs. Brad had the ability to talk to a person on their level, no matter what the level was. On a HazMat incident, he could talk to the PHD chemist and turn right around and talk with the new firefighter, each at their level.
Brad rarely had a weekend in which he was not helping another department within the State of Idaho, or one of the adjoining states, to provide some level training. It was not uncommon for Brad to leave late Friday night to travel and prep for a class to be delivered on Saturday, to turn around and travel to another part of the state to deliver a class on Sunday. Today, it would be truly difficult to find someone in the State of Idaho that did not receive training from Brad or someone he provided a train-the-trainer to.
One of Brad’s common go to terms, was “window lickers”. Anytime he was frustrated over something someone did or was doing he just call them a “window licker”, so he did not offend anyone.
Brad was also very respected on the Fireground. He enjoyed the emergency response, like the rest of us, but was always willing to help. If there was a challenging incident he was the one called upon to assist.
Brad could always think on his feet and “make it work” by rigging something up. If you think of the program MacGyver, you can get a good picture of how he operated. Duct tape, bailing twine and a few other parts he could fix just about anything.
Over his career Chief Trosky-Johnson was very active in many Fire Department Organizations including the Idaho Fire Chief and the Western Fire Chiefs, both of which he served on their Board of Directors.
Those of you who knew Brad also knew he liked whiskey and even made his own whiskey as a hobby. To continue his legacy, the First Responder Whiskey Society along with Liberty Call Distillery have created a commemorative bottle of whiskey for friends to purchase in memory of Brad. A portion of the funds raised from sales will be donated to the Brad Trosky Johnson Memorial Fund to be used to provide training opportunities to firefighters throughout the State of Idaho.
The First Responder Whiskey Society is a non-profit 501(c)(3)(EIN #87-3987483) charity with one mission: to support first responders and their families in times of need. The charity has a membership of 5500+ police, fire, military, medical, and family members from primarily the United States and other parts of the world. The values that guide our organization are camaraderie, loyalty, mental and physical wellness, and responsible consumption. Our motto of "Service Through Spirits" is something we take seriously. We prioritize charity and our members above all else and always strive to do what is best for those we raise money for.
If our values align with yours, we encourage you to join our family in our Facebook Group. Membership is free; the only requirement is a desire to help our first responders in need!
