It's not the end...only a pause

Well, my time as interim chief came and went almost as quickly as I had hoped. For the experience and knowledge, I wouldn’t have minded the term lasting quite a bit longer, but I’m glad that the responsibility weight was lifted. The county came in, pulled the fire contract, took over the operation, and began making what they felt were necessary changes. These changes included a new administration. The night of the disbanding of our fire department, I learned who our new administration was and of some changes that had taken effect without warning.

 I learned that the new fire chief was one of the men serving as battalion chief, which I didn’t have a problem with. I also learned that the new assistant chief was one of the former captains who resigned from the department back in December.  A captain was appointed along with a training officer, which I also didn’t have a problem with. What I did have a problem with was that each Lt was pulled from their position and placed back as a regular fireman, myself included. I can say, for myself, that I spent the last 2 and a half years dedicating half my life and working hard for the organization. Learning that I was demoted after all of that, plus taking on the interim chief position when no one else would, left me feeling disappointed. What made it even worse was that they promoted the man that decided to leave the department a few months prior. What kind of leadership is that??

As a result, after 5 years of service, I turned in my gear and hung up my helmet. I’ll still be a fireman, but as of right now, it won’t be for the same people. In almost 11 years, I’ve seen much turnover, policy changes, time changes, and administration changes. I’ve left departments for less and stuck it out for more. This does not stop me from what I love. My membership to the adjoining fire department is coming up this week and I am excited to see what new experience I have in store for me here. There already looks to be some things brewing. I only hope I can provide the help they need and want in their organization.

Until next time..

Keep fighting the good fight.

A rung up the ladder

Calls have slowed down for the most part. The weather has played a factor on both sides of the fence. It has caused some to slack off and others to happen in multiples. Just the other morning, what started out as a single vehicle rollover ended up (2 more calls later) turning into a 3 vehicle accident and a diesel spill….all on a major interstate. Lately, the heavy rains have kept the oils washed off the roads and the drivers slow. The application I submitted to the neighboring county was finally approved after 2 weeks of waiting. Probably the longest I have ever had to wait to be able to volunteer before. You would think that as scarce as volunteers are, the process wouldn’t take that long. I’m looking forward to improving my skills and knowledge though.

 Speaking of improving skills and knowledge...

I have talked before about climbing the ladder, wanting to be Captain and eventually Chief. Temporarily, I may have got my wish. Last week, a meeting was held that ended with some major department changes and the resigning of the 2 highest chiefs. For an entire day and a half, no one could definitely answer who was actually in charge of the department. Some would say that it was me since I was the next elected official in line; others would say that it went down to the next chief officer. Just this past Thursday, the decision was made. During the discussion part of this topic, some of the board members brought it to the appointed Assistant Chief to run the department. After his denial, and 6 or 7 other officers, it came down to me and 2 other Lieutenants. Rather than continue falling down the ladder, I chose to accept the responsibility and work on moving the department forward. I felt that the department needed a leader, instead of another officer content on bailing out. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were others that couldn’t take the position due to conflicts in their career or board positions. But would they have taken the job? And were they the best choice for the task?

In just the last few days, I have learned that being the interim chief of a volunteer department protecting a small city is no easy task. There are board agendas, personnel management, equipment management and maintenance, record keeping, politics, and liaising with board of directors and other members of emergency services from around the area. That’s just the admin side of it!! There’s no doubt that it’s stressful, but the learning experience I hope to gain from it will be beneficial to me in the long run I’m sure. In these last few days, I have recieved quite a bit of support from department members, board members, and even the girl in my life. To anyone thinking of one day being the Fire Chief, I urge you to shadow yours for a while. Get with your Chief and come up with an “internship” to learn what the job is all about. The experience will come in handy if you ever have to serve in the position yourself. Now that I think about it, I urge anyone wanting to be an officer to try on the boots for a while before making the move. The knowledge and experience you will gain could make you a better officer from the beginning. I have had to learn the trade as I have went along. This is my advice to those beforehand.  Try on the shoes before you take a walk, you’ll be glad you did.


On the personal side, and against the advice of a friend, I created another account on plenty of fish and decided to give it another try. Not long after getting started, I met a girl quite a bit younger than me. Keep in mind, quite a bit still means over 21..but not much. We talked about past love and agreed that the best thing anyone could do when thinking about relationships is to establish a strong friendship in the beginning. It has been roughly 2 months and I can say that I’m real happy without even being in an actual relationship. When it felt like the whole world on my shoulders on top of everything else in life, she was the only one that brought me back down to the ground. It can only get better from here. She has been extremely supportive of my service to the community and me taking on this extra responsibility,  she has stood by me through everything and continues to each day, she stands beside me in faith as I do her, and she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. There are negative things said about something being easy, but there is nothing that says this is wrong. I hope it stays just like this.

Until next time…

Can't keep a good man down

In my last post, I spoke of balancing the time I have off between the live in girlfriend I had and the fire department. I was able to do so and lived a very short and meaningful life with them. My days usually consisted of helping her and the kids get ready for school, sleeping (if I had worked the night before), handling some fire department business if I was off, picking up the oldest from the school bus and taking care of her, and getting dinner ready for us all to eat when her and the youngest got home. I felt I was living the life I wanted. Not long after Halloween, I noticed that things were not the same with her, she was acting distant. Fearing complacency had set in; I tried to keep the fire alive as much as I could. Unfortunately, I failed. Shortly after Christmas, she decided that she was not into the relationship anymore and opted to leave. Once again, I felt like my world was crushed again.

As with any break up, I began receiving the "you deserve better" and "she doesn't know what she's lost" type texts. I believed this, but it didn't help the hurt much. One day, I realized that I had made a mistake. I had went behind one of my best friends and dated the woman that just broke his heart, I had fallen for someone almost as fast as a stage 5 clinger, and I had moved her and the kids in way before I should have. How could I have been so stupid? I knew, right then, that this could not happen again, I knew better than that. After a short period of time, I returned to my normal routine of handling fire department business for most of the day on my off days, aside from handling errands and personal business. I started meeting new people again and spent some quality time with some very good friends, and I even started attending church again regularly. Life wasn't any easier, but I felt that by making a few lifestyle changes, maybe I could begin moving it in a better direction. So far, I'm still in a good place.

Calls have been jumping from week to week. Some weeks are decent, running quite a few a day or well above average for the week, while some days and weeks are quiet for the most part. I've gotten the motivation to improve my education and experience as much as possible. This week, I've applied to volunteer in the neighboring county to help their growing community, to gain additional experience by running more calls, and have additional opportunities for classes. Plus, it will give me an extra place to go when I don't feel like staying home. I've also started looking into instructor courses and another officer course. I've learned that having the education, no matter what field it is, takes you to more places. The more you can learn in the field you are in, the more you can accomplish. Take this coming from a guy that dropped out of school at 17. If I've said it before, I'll say it again and if I've never said it before, then I'll say it now... just because you dropped out of school does not mean that you cannot accomplish good things in your life. I've been a rookie fireman, an experienced fireman, dispatcher, corrections officer, fire department lieutenant, leader, and now working on being an educator. With the same drive, determination, dedication, and moral compass...anyone in the position I was in at 17 can do the same things. Don't get complacent.

Until next time, keep fighting the good fight.

Lt Will