Fire chief's "hobby" a lifelong dream come true

Marion Rural Fire Chief Billy Wallace’s 50^th anniversary as a volunteer firefighter is quickly approaching and for the fireman the only thing that could have made his years of service any better is if he’d been able to do it longer.

The longtime volunteer said being a firefighter is, “a hobby,” for him. Since a very young age Wallace always wanted to be a fireman. His father, a South Carolina Highway Patrolman, had a good friend who worked for the City of Marion’s Fire Department. Wallace quickly fell in love with the fire station and at the age of 14 he was already hanging out at the fire department and riding along with the firefighters as they responded to fires.

“They kind of took me under their wing,” he said. “Anywhere they went I went.”

On his 18^th birthday, his childhood dream came true and he became a volunteer firefighter. Sitting in Wallace’s office watching him tell of his first time suiting up, is like watching a kid in a candy store. The excitement in his eyes is visible, as one could almost see his life stories passing by in his eyes.

Wallace is nearly moved to tears as he describes arriving at the scene of an automobile wreck or fire in where someone had lost their life.

“It’s hard to say, because you’ve seen some sad times and you’ve seen some happy times,” he said of his experience as a firefighter. “You see people who are critically injured because we had to answer a wreck call and quite a number of fire deaths -- and that always works on your mind.”

The scenes are tough to forget.

 “We always wonder what we could have done to get there a little quicker, but 99 percent of the time the house is already destroyed.”

Wallace said he hates to say the job is enjoyable, because he doesn’t want people to think he takes pleasure in other’s misery. However, he likes to know that he did everything in his power to help them save and get everything they need.

Being a firefighter is like a hobby for him, Wallace said. He doesn’t know what else he would do with his free time if he wasn’t a firefighter. Since he became a firefighter, Wallace has never been paid a dime for his efforts. However, he doesn’t expect to be paid either. He loves being a volunteer and wouldn’t give it up for anything.

“Fire service has come a long way, but I wouldn’t give up one minute of all the years I spent with it,” he said. “It’s been worth it.”

Firefighting is a lot different from when Wallace first began in 1961. Training in those days was on the job and firefighters learned by jumping right in and tackling a fire, he said.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years,” he said, adding that when he started all they had was a rubber hip boot and a rubber raincoat. Now everything is state of the art.

 “We didn’t have air packs in 1961, at least the department I was on didn’t have them,” he continued.  “Back in those days everything was made out of cotton or wood, where now, everything is made out of that synthetic stuff and it has all these poisons and stuff.”

Firefighting has engulfed such a large part of Wallace’s life that his family has taken it up, just so they can spend time with him.

Wallace said his wife Judy is also a firefighter. They have been married to for nearly 20 years and she became a firefighter, because she would always go on calls with Wallace.

“After three years of riding along she decided, well I’m already going to the fires, why not just become a firefighter,” Wallace said. “So she did and she has been one for 17 years now.”

His eldest son is currently a firefighter in Horry County.

Wallace, in addition to being a firefighter, was a lab tech at Marion Memorial Hospital since 1964. He said his friend asked him one day if he would go to school with him and he did. They attended school in Nashville, Tenn.

“It was something to put bread on the table,” he said about the lab tech job. “I didn’t make money as a firefighter, but I still had to provide.”

March 16 will mark his 50^th year as a volunteer firefighter, Wallace said, adding the Marion Rural Fire Department has just purchased a new tanker trunk, which he sees as an anniversary gift to himself.

The fire department received a $190,000 FEMA grant for the new truck, which cost a little over $238,000. Wallace said the rest of the money was raised over the past five years from different fund raising activities the fire department held.

Wallace said he will continue to be a firefighter until it’s no longer fun for him.

“It’s fun and I enjoy it,” he said. “The day I quit enjoying it I’ll leave. As long as I’m able to go. When I become a burden to them I might as well give it up.”