DETROIT – Customized. Meaningful. Making a difference.
That can sum up Detroit Shields – a local business started by a Detroit firefighter for firefighters across the country.
“As firefighters, our helmets and shields say a lot about us, it’s our badge of honor,” Tom Suchora of the Detroit Fire Department said. “They can tell a story about where a firefighter has been and what they have done.”
Detroit Shields is owned and operated by two Detroit senior firefighters including Suchora and Don Woods, who have been serving DFD for 20 years each.
“There’s some great stories on our helmet shields, and at DS we want to help Firefighters tell those stories,” Suchora said.
Suchora bought and took over the company from another fire fighter when he moved out of state. As of this year, Suchora already has 21 different fire departments, country wide, wearing his shields.
“Modesto, California uses us, we do a lot of Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” Suchora said.
Locally, the city of Livonia just signed on for new shields. The reason? Lead contamination.
“They had a range fire a couple of years ago and all of their equipment was exposed to lead including their leather helmet shields,” Suchora said. “Everything had to be replaced because the porous material contaminated everything, so they decided to switch to us because our shields can be cleaned.”
Suchora makes much more than just ID shields for fire fighters. Add Breast Cancer Awareness and Autism shields to the list.
“Southfield Fire Department ordered set of pink shields last October for breast cancer awareness month and $5 from every shield was donated to breast cancer awareness,” Suchora said.
For Woods, this business that he runs out of his garage, is a passion and not a money maker.
“It’s an honor to make them and I am so happy when I see people wearing them,” said Suchora. “On the back of my shield I have a picture of my family embedded into it so they are always with me.”
Suchora even customized these two shields for Lauren Podell, to show that anyone can have one.
Learn more at their website and visit the Detroit Shields Facebook page.