Urbandale's first full-time fire chief retires after 25 years with the department
The first full-time chief of the Urbandale Fire Department is retiring after having led the city's firefighters and paramedics from becoming an all-volunteer force into a professional department of career staff.
Chief Jerry Holt can remember the challenges of having an all-volunteer department after he started as Urbandale's fire chief in 1998. There were times when even as chief, Holt said he would have to respond to a call because he was the only person on full-time duty during the day.
The fire department was founded in 1935 and had ground broken on its first fire station in 1943. In 1994, Urbandale was considered to be the largest city in Iowa with an all-volunteer fire department, according to a city news release.
It started transitioning to paid staff six years later.
The transition into a career department took years. Since 2000, the city grew by more than 17,500 people — a 60% increase, according to U.S. Census data. As the population grew, so did calls for emergency services. Today there's typically 18 people on during a shift, and a third fire station was built at 15100 Meredith Drive three years ago.
Denny Danford, a retired assistant chief who was with the department for 34 years, said Holt led by example.
Transitioning the department from a volunteer to career force was not as simple as just hiring all the previous volunteers — Danford said Holt had to find people committed to training and schooling in order for the department to have the best on staff.
"He totally understands the commitment to education and training," Danford said.
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He also said Holt successfully secured city funding for a professional department and a budget to hire more full-time first responders.
The evolution of the department continued even as Holt prepared for his last day Aug. 4 — he was still working toward the department's first-time accreditation, something his successor will pick up when he's gone. Departments get accredited after they're peer reviewed and have met met standards on everything from response times to fiscal responsibility.
City spokesperson Derek Zarn said Urbandale is interviewing candidates for its new fire chief.
Holt plans to stay in Iowa, says costs and staffing are challenges for fire departments
Holt's last day was scheduled to end with a public reception at Urbandale Fire Station 42 and a final ride home on a fire truck. The Urbandale Police Department, fire department, friends, family, community and colleagues were to escort him.
Holt's path to Iowa 25 years ago brought him from Eufaula, Alabama, located on the Alabama-Georgia line, where he was a training officer.
He left to become Urbandale's chief after he saw the job opportunity in trade journals. His children were 5 and 10 years old at the time, and "I never considered that my children would have children."
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He plans to stay Iowa because it's where his grandchildren live.
After 40 years as a firefighter, Holt said he has no definite plans for his next chapter. He said it will be strange not to be engaged with as much as he has been, but he plans to enjoy more time on his photography hobby.
He said the future of the Urbandale Fire Department does have some challenges, with rising demand for emergency services, increased costs and difficulties finding enough qualified applicants for open jobs.
But Holt said he is proud of arrangements he made to partner with Clive and Windsor Heights to staff Urbandale's most-recently opened fire station, share the costs of building a new training center in 2009, and have the department that's closest to an emergency respond to a call.
Phillip Sitter covers suburban growth and development for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at psitter@gannett.com. He is on Twitter @pslifeisabeauty.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Urbandale's first full-time fire chief Jerry Holt retires
