Firefighting is a young man's occupation, Bella Vista Fire Inspector Jim Neal said.
Neal is retiring this week after more than 25 years of service with Bella Vista.
A drop-in reception is planned for Neal from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday, July 25, at the Fire Department training room at Station No. 1 at Town Center.
Gary Bowman, Bella Vista firefighter and emergency medical technician, will take over for Jim Neal in the role of fire inspector.
Bowman started with the Fire Department in 1989 as a volunteer and was hired on as a full-time firefighter-EMT in 1999.
He received his fire inspector license in 2006, and is also trained in fire arson investigation, alarm systems and vent hood, Fire Chief Steve Sims said.
Three years ago, when he was feeling his age through his work, he realized he should retire or take on a new challenge. And when he was offered the position of fire inspector, he knew it would be just that.
Neal started with the Fire Department in 1980 as a full-time emergency medical technician. After two years, he went another way, running a bait and tackle shop, working as a fishing guide, cleaning chimneys. When he and his wife decided to build a home and then adopt two children, he realized he was "doing OK, but needed a steady paycheck," he said.
In 1989, then Chief David Spring hired Neal back to the department.
In the early 1990s, he went to paramedic school and spent most of his days working at Station No. 3 in the Highlands.
He recalled the early days of the department when the firefighters on duty were just the drivers of the ambulances, and volunteers made up most of the department.
When he became fire inspector, Neal said the switch from shift work to a Monday-through-Friday position took some getting used to. When he worked 10 24-hour shifts a month, he had a lot more time on his hands to do other activities he enjoyed.
"But I also enjoyed sleeping in my own bed," he said.
Fire Chief Steve Sims said he has worked with Neal for 20 years, and has always known Neal to have a reasonable personality and be very professional and good with the public. Those traits made him the best fit for the job of fire inspector, Sims said.
"He was eager to take the job, and he's done a great job putting together the inspector position," Sims said.
There was very little fire-related code enforcement in Bella Vista until the city adopted the state's fire code, Neal said. As the first full-time fire inspector, it was something new to Neal and to the city, its businesses and churches.
His day-to-day duties at first entailed inspecting for fire code compliance in the nearly 400 existing commercial buildings within the department's jurisdiction, including checking for fire extinguishers and proper emergency exit lighting.
"Up to a couple of months ago, I kept track of all the violations I had found. It was approaching 1,300," he said.
Most have been remedied, he added.
The job evolved as the city continued to grow, and he now participates in plan reviews for new construction and meetings with contractors and architects.
"I take calls every day for different questions about the code," he said.
The job involved a little more than he anticipated, but he likes it. The people were receptive to the things he asked them to do, for the most part, he said.
"He's been an excellent employee, a great firefighter and a great paramedic," Sims said.
Deputy Chief Bryan Wolfgang, who went to paramedic school with Neal, agreed, and said if Neal was at a station, no one ever needed to worry about things getting done.
When Neal first started at Bella Vista, two people manned Station No. 1 at Town Center and one worked at the old Station No. 2 on Trafalgar Road.
The chief worked during the day and the rest were volunteers, Neal said.
The medical aspect has changed over the years, he added, and so much more can be done now compared to then. There are more opportunities, more people, more training.
Neal was good at the medical aspect of the job, but never really preferred it through the years. When you're fighting a fire, he said, people's lives are not typically directly in your hands; your job is to put out the fire.
Neal paused to remember the things he's seen during his quarter century in the business, and he said some things never leave you.
It will take a few years for the young generation of firefighters and paramedics coming into the field to understand this, he said, to understand what it means to spend your life in such a career.
"Become as proficient at their jobs as they can," Neal said he would offer as advice to the next generation of firefighters. "I was going to say don't take it home with you ... but you really can't do that."
In his retirement, Neal said he will play golf and fish first, then take care of his farm second.
He's got some horses, some chickens and a couple of miniature donkeys -- "My wife said they make her smile," he shrugged.
If he gets bored, there are a lot of things he can find to keep himself busy. Maybe he will find a way to make the donkeys do a little work, he said, as he grows his garden.
General News on 07/23/2014