BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Marshal knew what to do when Bethlehem firefighter Mike Kercsmar asked him the big question:
“What do you do if you catch on fire?”
Without hesitation, the 18-month-old hit the ground to stop, drop and roll.
“Good boy!” Kercsmar said, giving the doe-eyed Dalmatian a piece of chicken jerky.
“It wasn’t hard to train him to do that, especially since he’s so food-motivated,” said Kercsmar, who joined Bethlehem Fire Department in 2019.
“He’ll do just about anything for food.”
Marshal is a tri-colored Dalmatian owned by Kercsmar and his wife, Susie, of Bethlehem.
Joining Marshal this month at Schweder Fire Station in South Bethlehem was his friend, Lima, a traditional black-spotted Dalmatian belonging to Assistant Fire Chief Jim Lynn and his family, also of Bethlehem.
The pups were there to recognize National Fire Pups Day, celebrated Oct. 1 every year, as a nod to canine firefighters everywhere.
While the quintessential Dalmatian riding on a bright red fire engine is a thing of the past, the connection between the breed and firefighters will forever be a significant part of history.
Agile, sleek and swift
The origin of the breed is a bit undefined.
According to the American Kennel Club:
- As far back as 3700 BC, Egypt’s King Cheops, who built the Great Pyramid, was said to have owned one
- 2,000 years later, Greek frescos depicted both black- and brown-spotted dogs chasing a boar
- It also is theorized that the breed came from Dalmatia, an island in Croatia
- Early breeding may have been between a hound from the Greek island of Crete and a "white antelope dog" — agile, sleek and swift.
Whichever is accurate, the firefighters are familiar with the rest of the story.
"Dalmatians were meant for the fire station because they're very active," Lynn said. "They want to be involved with what’s going on.
"They were good with horses and eventually would run along horse-drawn carriages, training, before cars came along.
"They would guard the carriages," and also the packages during shopping trips when their humans left to go into another shop.
Lynn said Lima is like that, protecting the family and her territory, but also often mistaken for aloof when meeting people.
"She’s great with people, very friendly," he said. "She’s very nice to the firefighters, will come running up to them."
But their minds are always busy, and they can seem almost distracted around new people with everything that’s going on.
"He's interested in meeting people, but he'll sniff them and move on," Kercsmar said of Marshal.
"They're problem-solving dogs, and they can be very spiteful.
"He knows not to destroy anything, but if you come home and leave right away, he’ll make a point of letting you know he’s not happy.
Energy and then some, a 'difficult breed'
Both dogs have a structured and active lifestyle, with multiple daily walks, runs and even swims.
Susie Kercsmar had taken Marshal for a romp in the Monocacy Creek before giving him a bath for his firehouse visit.
"The breed is a very difficult breed," Mike Kercsmar said. "Super smart, very energetic, and they need to be exercised.
"A lot of people wanted one, when [the Disney movie] '101 Dalmatians' came out. Then they realized they're high energy, athletic dogs. We do walks, and 2-mile runs every other day."
Lynn's entire family, including their four grown children, take turns helping Lima spend her energy.
The polka-dot dogs' connection to firefighters started when horses started pulling water pumps to fires.
Agile, the Dalmatian would run alongside the engines and bark excitedly ahead of firemen, to clear pedestrians out of the powerful horses’ way.
"Nobody was going to take anything off the coach. The dogs were pretty much the security system."Bethlehem Firefighter Mike Kercsmar
They were a coach dog, designed to be friendly with horses, hence the fire service connection, when steam-drawn fire trucks came along, Kercsmar said.
"Nobody was going to take anything off the coach," he said. "The dogs were pretty much the security system.
"There was a lot of competition between fire companies back then, and they didn't want anything taken off the trucks."
Enjoying a good life
These days, other breeds have come into the fire and protective services industry, serving as arson dogs who sniff out accelerants before they evaporate.
Allentown fire department’s former arson dog was a yellow lab named Judge. Handled by Fire Chief Lee Laubach, Jr., Judge served from 2011-18.
He won the 2016 American Humane Hero Dog Award in the Arson K9 Category, found 61 types of accelerants, and helped reduce the arson rate in Allentown by 47%.
Though they may not be aware of their significance in history, Marshal and Lima enjoy the good life.
Lima, whose brown eyes are ringed with jet-black coloring, at 65 pounds, enjoys a raw diet.
"We make her food, beef, chicken, fish, vegetables," Lynn said. "Grind it up in a sausage maker. She eats kibble, too. We feed her twice a day. She’d eat food all day long if left it out."
When she's not accompanying Lynn on car rides, or camping with her human pack, Lima enjoys time in the back yard with her favorite toy, a plush (destroyed) otter,
She gnaws on her favorite chew sticks and sleeps in her favorite brown recliner.
Brown-eyed Marshal, currently 55 pounds, eats traditional dog food.
"Dalmations have history of kidney stones, so there's a genetic test for it," Kercsmar said. 'If they have a low uratic acid, they have less chance of developing stones."
Marshal seems to be just fine so far.
'They just kind of stick to you'
It isn't the first go-around with the breed for either firefighter. Kercsmar's parents had a Dalmatian named Belle. Kercsmar's father is a retired fire chief in Palmerton, Carbon County.
For 13 years before Marshal, Kercsmar had Tiller, named after the tractor-drawn fire trucks of the past.
Marshal is the first tri-colored Dalmatian he's had. His body is traditionally spotted black, but his head and legs from shoulder and waist down are spotted brown, or liver.
For Lynn, Lima replaced Ariel, who lived to 12 and worked public relations with Lynn often, helping with school tours at the station or going directly into schools.
"We wanted a clean dog, and some of it was that I was a firefighter," said Lynn, who has been with the department for 36 years.
"You're just suckered into the breed."Bethlehem firefighter Mike Kercsmar
Like Marshal, Ariel easily learned and demonstrated the stop, drop and roll.
"She had it mastered by age 2," Lynn said. Ariel took her place atop a fire engine in many a parade, not minding the noise at all, something Lima does not prefer.
"Once you get one, they just kind of stick to you," Kercsmar said.
"You're just suckered into the breed."
And, yes, Marshal was named after the "Paw Patrol" animated character, once Kercsmar's two young nephews laid eyes on him.
