TROY – Helping others is a deep passion, a calling, and inherently natural for Fire Chief Mike Marlo of Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1. In fact, that service of lending a helping hand will not stop once he retires sometime in the fall but will continue in other to-be-determined ways.

“What I’m most proud of isn’t the titles or the years, it’s the people I’ve worked with and the lives we were able to impact along the way,” Marlo said.

As a teenager, Marlo says he knew he wanted to be a first responder, it was just a matter of whether he was going to go the police or fire route. Ultimately, he decided to become a firefighter but he was also able to achieve his “dream to be a police officer” while being a career firefighter. He graduated from the Police Academy and was a Reserve Deputy Sheriff with the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department and a Reserve Police Officer with the Wentzville Police Department.

Most of his career was spent with the West Overland EMS and Fire Protection District followed by five years with the Wentzville Fire Protection District and then five years at Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1.

Among some of his biggest accomplishments while serving Lincoln County was helping pass a capital bond and a 1/2 cent sales tax to build a new firehouse in Moscow Mills, hiring 12 more firefighters for that new firehouse, and buying new equipment.

But there was no bigger accomplishment than helping another.

“Chief Marlo is always concerned about the well-being of the firefighters and the community we serve. While on scene of a fire he would always make sure that he was able to talk to the victims of the fires and make sure that their immediate needs are met,” said Robert Shramek, Jr., assistant fire chief and training coordinator for Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1.

With the safety and care of people always at the forefront of his mind, Marlo says it has always been an honor to help others. Over the course of his career, he has assisted many but he says it’s impossible to know an exact figure. Reflecting back, Marlo says two particular events throughout his career are memorable.

Both stories, he says are miraculous.

When he was in West Overland, where he worked as a Fire Captain and later Chief, there was a call at 2 a.m. for a first alarm house fire in which two children were trapped on the second floor. This specific home was built after World War II for families of soldiers age and was small. But as families grew, the homes had additions. Specifically in this situation, Marlo knew that meant the stairwell could be anywhere in the house since the second story was likely an add-on.

Upon arriving at the scene, Marlo learned that one of the children was rescued by the father. As he made his way up the stairwell, he had no idea where the other child was.

“You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, extreme heat and all that,” Marlo said. “And when we have these situations, we do a search right hand or left hand so we don’t get lost. I went right and I couldn’t find the child. I go in the other bedroom but there was a voice. I believe in divine intervention. It was a voice that told me to go back in the other room. This time I did what you’re trained not to do. I come off the wall. And I went out into the center of that room and started searching out there, and then I found the child.”

When Marlo found the child, he was unconscious and in full cardiac arrest. He administered mouth-to-mouth CPR and the child was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Marlo was unsure if that child was going to make it. Nothing short of a miracle, he gets a call the next day that the child is doing better and a week later, was released from the hospital with no issues.

The second miracle that occurred was later turned into a 2019 movie called “Breakthrough” in which a kid slipped through an icy lake but eventually makes a recovery largely due to his mother’s faith and persistence.

At the time of the incident, Marlo was the Wentzville Fire Chief and it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He was participating in a parade and monitoring the radio when Wentzville Fire and Lake St. Louis Fire received a call about a kid that had fallen through the ice at Lake St. Louis. When Marlo arrived at the scene, he was informed that three kids were on the ice and all three fell through. One kid had rescued himself and another was clinging to the ice. The third kid was gone.

“All we knew was that we had a child out there on the bottom of the lake,” Marlo said. “The only way we could find this child was to take what we call pike poles or long poles and just pike the water and then pull up, poke the water and pull up. One of our firefighters, with the help of another firefighter was out there bobbing in the water, frozen ice and everything, just 20 minutes up and down bobbing, trying to find this kid with this pole. And this one firefighter put the pole down, pulled up and felt something tucking into it. So he pulls it up and it’s the child.”

By this time, the kid is in full cardiac arrest and is transported to the hospital but still not coming to after life saving measures. Then the mother of the boy says at one point in the hospital, according to Marlo, “Dear Lord Jesus, save my child.”

What happened next is truly awe-inspiring Marlo says.

“When she said that, the nurse looked at the monitor and there was a heartbeat,” he said. But the kid went back into cardiac arrest and a doctor eventually told the mother, all that can be done for her kid has been done and if he survives, he will be brain dead.

Marlo says the mother refused to accept that information and was determined he was going to live. Eventually, that kid made a full recovery. To this day, Marlo keeps in contact with the family.

Marlo received a Medal of Valor from the St. Louis County Fire Chiefs Association for the rescue.

It’s these situations and all the stories that have mattered most to Marlo. He says having a meaningful impact in communities he has served and in the lives of people is most important.

But it’s not just the life saving measures where he has impacted lives, it’s also in his own family life. His son, David Marlo works as a Captain at the Wentzville Fire Protection District and a grandson is following in his footsteps as a firefighter.

“My father’s lifelong dedication to fire protection is more than just a legacy — it’s a source of deep pride and personal inspiration,” said David Marlo. “Watching him serve for 50 years, I’ve come to understand that true leadership isn’t about rank or recognition, but about selflessness & consistency. His unwavering commitment to helping others, regardless of time or circumstance, has shaped how I view public service and has set the bar for what it means to live a meaningful life. His work wasn’t just a job — it was a calling, and that dedication echoes in the way I carry myself today, both personally and professionally.”

And to sum up his five decades his service, Mike said it’s been “one hell of a ride.”