Assistant Fire Chief Terry Smith retires from Rock Island Fire Department

Rock Island Assistant Fire Chief Terry Smith is saying goodbye to fighting fires and hello to retirement.

Smith is retiring today after 28 years with the Rock Island Fire Department. He has a total of 30 years of firefighting under his belt and was a volunteer firefighter for the Village of Hampton. The department is holding a retirement party for him this afternoon.

One thing that sticks out about Smith’s career is the unpredictable nature of fires. “It’s interesting to me because you never know what they’re (fires) gonna be and what they’re gonna do to you. I spent nine years on an ambulance here at Rock Island as a paramedic; I still hold my paramedic license today. I always enjoyed helping people, assisting.”

As expected, Smith has seen some unusual things on the job over the past three decades. “I’ve had the ammunition go up on me inside of pot houses. I’ve had people being inside houses that weren’t supposed to be there during a fire. They come running out and take off running.”

Smith already has his post-retirement life planned out “I got two grandkids and I’m going to spend a lot of time with them, gonna be a grandfather. I’m going to do some traveling; my wife is also retiring August 2 ^nd so we’ll both be retiring about the same time. We got a cruise planned, a Panamanian cruise that goes to the Panama Canal.”

He’s not entirely giving up the firefighting gig though. “I’m probably going to join the Second Alarmers in Moline,” Smith said. “I live right up the street from there, still keep my feet a little wet. I still get to go to the fire scene to see all the guys that I’ve worked with over the years.”

Smith has things he’s going to miss and some he’s not going to miss about the job. “I’m going to miss the camaraderie, all the all the guys. It’s a giant family here. I’ve been really lucky; I’ve had a lot of excellent guys to work with. What am I gonna miss the least? The late night stuff. I only usually sleep four to five hours a night anyway when I’m on duty or when I was on duty, so I was an all nighter pretty much.”

These days, Smith is feeling grateful for his career and the people on his crews. “I’d really like to thank everybody I’ve ever worked with. Working with me can sometimes be a challenge,” he said. “We all have our own independent thoughts and everything else. I just talked to a guy that retired about 20 years ago, he was one of my first lieutenants. I just hung up the phone from him and we talked about old times, what we did then. A lot of people, he’s worked with have become chiefs and lieutenants and captains and everything else, moved up the ranks.”

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