Fire chief recalls 27 years of duty

McSwain says retirement won't extinguish ties to 'his people'

The worrying has taken its toll.

Lawrence Fire Chief Jim McSwain announced Tuesday he will retire in September from the department that he has led for 27 years.

“I have been in this business since 1962 and it just seems like the stress and the worry about my people have become greater and greater,” McSwain said. “Every time I hear a siren, I really worry about whether they are coming back.”

McSwain, 62, said it’s not that the profession has become more dangerous over the years. Instead, he thinks his growing concern is a function of becoming older, and a sign that it is time to pass the reins to someone younger.

“I had a good (firefighter) friend in Salina that was going through the same thing,” McSwain said. “The average tenure of a chief is only about five years, and I have been here 27 years. I just think it is time.”

City Manager Mike Wildgen said the city would conduct a national search for McSwain’s replacement, and also would consider promoting from within the department. He said a new chief likely would not be in place by the time McSwain leaves the job Sept. 19, but deputy chief Mark Bradford could lead the department in the interim.

During his tenure, McSwain oversaw the 1997 merger of the city’s fire department and the county’s ambulance service into the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Department. His department also fought high-profile fires at the former FMC plant in North Lawrence in the 1980s, Kansas University’s Hoch Auditorium in 1991 and a blaze at the Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop in 1997 that McSwain was “sure” was going to decimate an entire downtown block.

But McSwain said his proudest moments at the department have much more to do with the people than any fire that he helped squelch.

“I think the best thing that has happened is that we built a department that is well-trained, well-qualified, well-respected and one that people want to work for,” McSwain said. “That’s not the case all over the country.

“We have graduates of KU here who said they would take this job until they got the job they really wanted. And then they fall in love with this place and stay because they’re treated well. I’m very proud of that.”

McSwain’s biggest disappointment, though, also has to do with “his people.” McSwain said he still carried a heavy burden over the death of firefighter Mark Blair, who died in a 1986 house blaze when the second story of the home collapsed while he was battling an intentionally set fire in the garage below.

“When you become a fire chief, if you are worth your salt at all, you tell yourself that you are going to leave this position without ever losing a firefighter,” McSwain said. “I wasn’t able to do that.”

A progressive leader

Praise for McSwain poured in following his announcement Tuesday. Wildgen said that McSwain, who came to Lawrence after having been an assistant professor in firefighting techniques at Oklahoma State University Technical Institute, was a consummate professional.

“He always has had an extreme amount of professionalism and innovation,” Wildgen said. “He never just let things sit and fester. He has always been one to attack the problem and find solutions. He is really a great leader.”

Fire Marshall Rich Barr, a 28-year veteran of the Lawrence fire department, said McSwain was viewed as a “young progressive chief” when he took the job in 1978. Barr said he quickly implemented changes. Promotions in the department became based less on seniority, standard operating procedures were formalized, and the department became one of the first in the country to have a hazardous materials unit.

But Barr said McSwain’s ability to deal with people also was a great asset.

“The chief is the chief and you always knew who the chief was,” Barr said. “He has a real ability to get people to do things. He was not a micro-manager, though. He left you alone, but if things didn’t go right, he would be the first to tell you that things needed to straighten up. And he usually told you in a way that got your attention.”

An adopted firefighter

Firefighting got McSwain’s attention at a young age. As a young boy growing up in Montgomery, Ala., he was like many others who dreamed of becoming a firefighter.

Long-term servants

Here’s a look at other longtime Lawrence department heads and when they began their careers with the city.

¢ Fred DeVictor, director of Parks and Recreation, 1970
¢ Ron Olin, police chief, 1971
¢ Rehelio Samuel, executive director of Human Relations/Human Resources, 1972
¢ Mike Wildgen, city manager, 1974
¢ Roger Coffey, director of utilities, 1975
¢ Linda Finger, planning, 1978

Note: Coffey last month announced his plans to retire from the city in September.

McSwain ended up forming a special bond with a group of firefighters in the city after his father died when McSwain was 12 years old. He frequently stopped at Fire Station No. 12 because it was along his newspaper route, and the firefighters gave him grocery lists and other errands to run on his bicycle.

“They kind of adopted me and I kind of adopted them,” McSwain said.

After serving a stint in the Marine Corps, as a firefighter, McSwain joined the Montgomery Fire Department. The camaraderie that drew him to that station in Montgomery exists in Lawrence, too, he said. McSwain said he and his wife, Rachel, will continue to live in Lawrence, which he said will allow him to stay in touch with department members. But McSwain said he will miss being part of the team environment that exists in the department.

“You work in teams in this business,” McSwain said. “You don’t work as individuals. It is something else to go into a building that is 800 degrees and you can’t see your hand in front of your face. But you’re in there as part of team. You are there with three or four other people, and you have a captain telling you it ‘is all right, it is all right.'”