Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9503240062
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEWART MacINNIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Or was it the time he gunned a fire engine past a county deputy who supposedly was leading him to a fire?
No, says Thomas ``Gene'' Wagner, none of these was the high point of his 36 years as chief of the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department. None is what made the endless hours of volunteer work worthwhile.
The people he works with, he says, are what made it all worth it.
``Volunteers are the most outstanding people you can get,'' he says. ``I can't say enough about them. There's just something special about people who give so much time for free.''
Wagner turned over leadership of Station 6 in the Roanoke County system of volunteer and professional fire companies to Colin Gee on Jan. 1.
Wagner, though, is still called chief by the 23 members of the company.
``He's been chief for 36 years,'' says Gee. ``It doesn't matter who has the badge. He will always be the chief.''
And that's not because he was made honorary chief of the department and of Roanoke County during a recent surprise banquet. It's because of the deep respect others hold for him. It's a respect that Wagner makes clear is entirely mutual.
Wagner says he is amazed at the effort the volunteers put into the department.
``I'm a volunteer, but this is no part-time business,'' he says.
Firefighters devote enormous amounts of time to training and professional development, as do the volunteer rescue squad members who share Station 6 with the fire company, he says. They put in far more than the required training time each year. Half of the firefighters, for example, completed the difficult training needed to be certified as emergency medical technicians, and all are certified in hazardous material response, he says.
``When we're out on a call fighting a fire, people say `That's what they get paid for,''' Wagner says. ``But there's no pay. It's really surprising how many people don't know that it's strictly volunteer.''
Wagner took over leadership duties when the department's first chief suffered a stroke before the department, which was organized in 1955, even got its first piece of equipment.
He didn't get the title, however, until 1958 when the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, trying to improve fire and rescue services, appointed chiefs for the five volunteer companies.
With the appointment came a small stipend that Wagner used mainly to hire someone to answer the phones in the fire station.
``When [that individual] went on vacation, I had to cover the phones,'' he says. ``I`d sleep on the hose bed of a truck at night. When people called, they needed you in a hurry.''
Things got easier in 1962 when Wagner had emergency phone lines installed in his home and business. He and his wife would telephone firefighters to muster them at the station. Today, the volunteers have pagers and are dispatched by the county's 911 communications center.
Wagner is the last of those original chiefs. Tommy Fuqua, Roanoke County's chief of fire and rescue, credits Wagner with helping the county make a smooth transition to a system of paid and volunteer firefighters.
"That potentially rough transition was smoothed considerably by Wagner's easy manner and the high level of respect he has from the volunteers," Fuqua said.
Fuqua said he has learned a lot from Wagner and that a lot of fire personnel "look up to him for guidance and assurance."
Wagner's watchful, nurturing attitude earned him status with the volunteers, Gee says. ``He's the father figure and a good friend. We're all real close - closer than any family. And his wife, Betty, is our mother.''
Wagner makes a point of giving the firefighters, who others overlook, a pat on the back .
``Most volunteers are just like babies,'' he says. ``Keep them warm, keep them dry, keep them full, and they'll be happy. When they get hungry, you just have to feed them.''
He also agrees that his wife has been a key factor in his long service with the fire company.
``She's just been real supportive,'' he says. ``She knows everything I'm going to do - she may not like it, but she knows. I've had it all. You've got to have it all to make it go. No, I don't have any complaints.''
Wagner grew up in the Mount Pleasant-Garden City area. Only wartime service on the battleship USS Wisconsin kept him away from the area for any extended period. He had already worked at the American Viscose plant for three years when he volunteered for the Navy at age 17. And before that, he carried three newspaper routes.
After the war, he went to work as a mechanic at a service station. and later opened his own garage on the ground floor of the same building that housed the fire department.
Eleven years later, he built a new garage on Jae Valley Road, and the fire department later moved into new quarters right across the street.
Wagner sold his business last year and entered anything but a quiet retirement. He spends time in his woodworking shop and plans to spend time on his three-acre garden. And, not surprisingly, he continues his work at the fire department.
``I love these people,'' he says of the volunteers. ``I'm not going anywhere till they cart me off.''
by CNB