Amador County – The Ione City Council last week joined other local council jurisdictions last week in proclamation honoring long-time fireman Butch Martin for his 48 years of putting out fires in Amador County.

City Manager Kim Kerr recommended adoption of the proclamation that “congratulates Charles ‘Butch’ Martin on his retirement from the Sutter Creek Fire Department” and “his public service to Amador County and dedication to the fire services in the County.”

The proclamation said “Martin is retiring from Sutter Creek Fire Protection District after 48 years of service. City staff, including Fire Chief Ken Mackey, City Clerk Janice Traverso, and Kerr helped construct the proclamation.

The proclamation said Butch Martin was born in Sacramento on May 28, 1946 to Joseph “Babe” Martin and Marie Martin. Butch Martin joined the Sutter Creek Fire Department in 1962 at the age of 16. After graduation from Sutter Creek High School in 1964, Martin became more involved with the Sutter Creek Fire Department.

In 1969, Martin “married the love of his life, Peggy Martin” and they have two children, Chuck Martin, Jr. and Lynie Harmoning and have two grandchildren, Dustin and Megan.

As a California Department of Transportation worker for most of his career, Martin was assigned to the Ione Cal-Trans maintenance yard. During that time he was always there to lend assistance to the city of Ione Maintenance Staff when needed.

Martin’s dedication to “Amador County fire services reflected in his desire to get full-time firefighters in each fire station to provide the necessary fire suppression and medical services to the residents in the County,” reflected by his “supporting the two sales tax measures to ensure funding,” including Measure L, which narrowly lost, and Measure M, which succeeded and is now funding fire departments county-wide.

The proclamation said “if Butch was in the area when an emergency call went out in the Ione area, he was always there to assist us no matter how long of a day he may have already had.” His “priority was always to help others, ranging from medical care to performing ventilation on a roof of a working structure fire or even the interior fire attack.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.