By Louie Graves
News-Leader staff
He says he’d never given a thought about being a fireman until he started dating the fire marshal’s daughter.
And last week, Michael Staten — now a nearly three-veteran of the department and married to the fire marshal’s daughter — was chosen by his fellow firemen in a secret ballot for the Fireman of the Year honor.
Staten says he clearly remembers his first fire call — a house fire in Nashville — and he says he appreciates the comaraderie and professionalism of his fellow firemen.
Staten received the coveted award last week at the department’s annual Christmas party.
Other awards were handed out at the event:
*Former chief Terry Ray, now an assistant chief, was presented his 28-year service pin. The department stops counting years of service after 28 years.
*Special recognition for another former chief, Cliff Petty, for his dedication to National Fire Prevention Week child safety activities at schools for nearly a quarter-century.
*15-year service pin to Roger Bennett; 10-year service pin to Jeff Westfall; five-year service pins to Andrew Westfall, Justin Thornton, and Josh Worley.
Fire Marshal Harwell said that the face of the department had been considerably changed in recent years.
For one thing, firemen are no longer ‘volunteers,’ but are considered to be parttime, on-call employees of the city. They are paid $35 per call. They have continuing education and other mandatory training.
At one time, in order to be selected to fill one of the rare openings in the department, hopefuls had to go meet members of the department and lobby for their approval. Now, someone who wants to be a fireman needs to fill out an application which is available at Harwell’s office at the main fire station.
The department includes 25 individuals, up from previous years, but the manpower needs are greater now because many members have jobs that prevent them from answering every call.
Harwell said, also, that there were no applications in 2016.
Since the Fireman of the Year Award was started, winners have been:
1987 Roy Blakely
1988 James Daniel
1989 Terry Ray
1990 James Dyer
1991 Cliff Petty
1992 Ronny Woods
1993 Jerry Harwell
1994 Cliff Petty
1995 Roy Blakely
1996 Jimmy Mixon
1997 Bobby Chambers
1998 Jimmy Mixon
1999 Joe Dallas
2000 Gary Funderburk
2001 Alfred Neeley
2002 Matt Smith
2003 Mike Kinkade
2004 Terry Ray
2005 Matt Smith
2006 Jeff Westfall
2007 Jeff Westfall
2008 Jimmy Mixon
2009 Jeff Westfall
2010 Jeff Westfall
2011 Jeff Westfall
2012 Josh Worley
2013 Josh Worley
2014 Russell Sparks
2015 Andrew Westfall
2016 Michael Staten
