Los Angeles County Fire Department Celebrates 35 Year Career of Blind Fire Shop Mechanic

Add Feedback

Share |

Los Angeles County Fire Department Equipment Maintenance Worker Mike Conrad works at the Fire Shops in Los Angeles rebuilding brake calipers and pilot valves for fire engines. The quality of Conrad's work is somewhat unique in that his parts have never failed, an even more remarkable achievement when one considers the fact that he is blind!

Conrad was born two months premature in 1951, before medical professionals were aware that failing to cover an infant's eyes during incubation procedures could leave them visually impaired. Despite his disability (Conrad prefers the word "blind") he was curious as a child and says that he liked taking things apart. Conrad was raised by his father in Long Beach and learned to read Braille by the first grade. He entered the workforce as an installer of grommets in sprinklers at first, until he was hired by the County of Los Angeles as a Helper I some 35 years ago fixing small motors for chain saws, vacuums and lawn mowers. "The Helper II test came up and I got automotive books in Braille to study for it," he says. "I ended up receiving the top score."

Soon, Conrad moved on to assignments in the County's automotive electric shop, testing diodes with a device that had a buzzer instead of a light to let him know they were good. In 1981, Conrad transferred to the Sheriff's transmission shop fixing Turbo 350, Turbo 400 and various Ford transmissions, and in 1988 he traveled to various locations to work on small motors for washers and driers for the County.

By 1995, Conrad had acquired a reputation for quality work and was picked up by the Fire Department to work in the Fire Shops. "I have been very happy ever since," he now says. "I get along very well with all of the people I work with." Only 25 percent of blind Americans are in the workforce, Conrad says, and he considers himself to be lucky. He owns a home in Paramount where he lives with his wife Belinda, a blind woman whom he met at the Braille Institute in Hollywood and married just this past March. "I would like to continue working for perhaps another four to five years," he says. "I take great pride in what I do, even though it takes me a little longer to do it."

Photo: Mike Conrad uses a manual press to install new seals in a brake caliper. (Photo by Doug Morrison; LACoFD Photo Unit)

Republished with the permission of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Author:Los Angeles County Fire Department