For the Schwartz family, the connection between Bullard and the fire service has spanned generations.

For more than 25 years, Virginia Schwartz has walked into the Bullard plant knowing the work she does could one day matter to someone’s husband, wife, parent, child, or friend.

Including her own.

That connection shaped the way she viewed her work at Bullard.

“When your family is in the fire service, you understand what’s at stake,” Virginia said. “You take pride in what you’re building because somebody out there is counting on it. You want people to make it home to their families.”

The fire service has surrounded Virginia for most of her life. Around the Schwartz family dinner table, conversations often centered around calls, training, firefighters, and the community they served. Over the years, she watched her husband leave for the station, her son follow in those same footsteps, and generation after generation dedicate themselves to protecting others.

Virginia’s husband, Richard J. Schwartz, joined the Harrison County Fire Department in Kentucky in November of 1980 and continues to serve today. He also served with the Cynthiana  Kentucky Fire Department from 1996 to 2020, holding the roles of firefighter, captain, and training officer throughout his career.

Their son, Allen Schwartz, grew up immersed in that world.

“I’ve been around the fire service all my life,” Allen said. “I was raised at the fire station.”

Today, Allen serves with the Cynthiana Fire Department and has spent 22 years in the fire service himself.

Watching his father serve the community helped shape the man he wanted to become.

“I decided to become a firefighter because of Dad,” Allen said. “I wanted to be the man that he was and follow in his footsteps.”

Service stretches across nearly every branch of the Schwartz family tree.

Richard’s great uncle, J.C. Carr Jr., was one of the co-founders of the Harrison County Fire Department. His uncles served across both departments. His younger brother, David Schwartz, serves with Harrison County Fire Department.

Across generations, service became part of the Schwartz family story both inside the firehouse and beyond it.

At Bullard, employees come to work every day knowing the products they help build will be worn by someone going to work in demanding, dangerous, and unpredictable environments. For many employees, that responsibility means something deeply personal.

For Virginia, the connection between Bullard and the fire service has never felt distant.

It’s her husband. Her son. Her family

And after 25 years at Bullard, that sense of responsibility still walks through the plant doors with her every day.

Because somewhere, someone is putting on that equipment before heading into the unknown and somebody is waiting for them to come home.