Springdale Assistant Fire Chief Jim Miller Retires

Last updated Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:34 PM CST in News

By Trish Mehaffey
The Morning News

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"The man (father) was found at a window after we got the fire out. That was a tough one. It took awhile, but then you get another fire and you do help someone."

Miller said there were many memorable moments but some he won't tell about.

He remembers one fire that was tough to tackle at a paint company on Sunset Avenue. He crawled in the back door and the room was engulfed, but he got it cooled down and then paint cans started exploding.

"One would explode and then another. That was kind of crazy."

One highlight in Miller's career came early on. He was asked to be a guest speaker at a Firehouse Magazine event in Baltimore back when he was the Tontitown volunteer fire chief. He was the first chief of the volunteer department and the magazine asked him to share his views about rural association membership dues.

Miller said the magazine called him after a volunteer department in rural southern Arkansas refused to respond to a fire because the homeowner didn't belong to the association and hadn't paid dues.

"One of my guys wrote the magazine and told them about me and they asked me to come and speak. I was really surprised. I think they wanted me to say it was OK that the department refused, but I said 'You do it.' That's what we do as firefighters. It doesn't matter about money. You help your neighbor. They had to find someone else to argue for the other side."

Miller was looking forward to hunting, fishing and playing golf after retiring, but said he will miss all the camaraderie with the firefighters and other officers. There are many mischievous pranks, involving Miller, that were pulled over the years, but again, he declined to share.

The stories he did tell explain a lot about Miller's humor.

"One of my firemen fell out of the attic and hurt his shoulder, so his wife calls and wants us to send an ambulance, but asks for us not to come with lights and sirens because he's a firefighter. So, I tone out everything and use full lights and sirens," he says laughing.

Another story involved the same thing. A firefighter's wife called in a flue fire and didn't want a crew to come with lights and sirens but Miller, of course, did because that firefighter was on duty and he just couldn't resist.

"They couldn't say anything because I just followed protocol," he said with a big smile.

What's Happening

Retirement Party

A retirement party for Assistant Fire Chief Jim Miller and Capt. Tommy Phillips will be held at 4 p.m. Friday in the training room at Springdale Fire Station One, 417 Holcomb in Springdale.

Timeline

Jim Miller's career at Springdale Fire Department:

1977 -- Volunteer firefighter

1977 -- Hired full time as firefighter, paramedic

1982 -- Lieutenant/Captain

1986 -- Battalion Chief

2000 -- Assistant Chief

Miller also became Tontitown Volunteer Fire Chief in 1979 and served for 13 years.

Source: Staff Report

At a glance

What Co-Workers Remember About Jim Miller

* Cybernovice

"I'll just say it, Jim is not computer literate," Springdale Captain Pat Lee said.

Lee was on light duty last year with a knee injury and was asked to map all the hydrants and mutual aid areas. He worked on the project with Miller. Lee used a global positioning gun, which shoots out a laser and takes the coordinates that he would then he type into the department's system. The project took several months.

"So, its hard for me to get in and out of the car because of my knee, so I start making Jim do it. All he had to do is squeeze the trigger. Well, one day when I was out, he got the bright idea to go out and do it on his own. He screwed it up so bad. It took three days to fix it. We had to call a representative from the company in California to reset it and reprogram it. I told him never to touch my machine again. It was great because I got to boss him around and he had to listen. He's a great guy and good friend."

* Loud Sleeper

"There are very few people who can make more noise when they're sleeping than Jim," Springdale Fire Chief Duane Atha said.

Back in the day, the firefighters slept in dormitory settings with six or nine to a room, so nobody could escape Miller's snoring. Miller would try to stay awake until everybody was asleep but Atha couldn't sleep once the snoring began. It was "Earth-shattering." The guys ran fans trying to drown him out but nothing worked.

**** Burned Tomato Soup

Miller came up the ranks quickly and was also pegged as one of the mover and shakers of the department.

"He's prone to accidents. Kathy (his wife) will have her hands full," Springdale Fire Marshal Kevin McDonald said.

Miller hasn't had an injury on duty but has broken his ankle falling off a ladder, opened a radiator cap and it blew up in his face and had an appendicitis attack during a Colorado snowstorm.

McDonald, his dad and brother, Miller and another man went elk hunting in Colorado and McDonald and his family left Miller in the woods with an appendicitis attack. McDonald's grandmother died, so Miller was left in a camper for two or three days while the other man went hunting. Nobody, including Miller, knew he had a ruptured appendix and he wasn't taken to the hospital for about three days. He had emergency surgery when he did go.

McDonald burned tomato soup in the camper before leaving and Miller always blamed that for his attack because the doctor told him it was caused by "BTS," which Miller interpreted as Burned Tomato Soup.

"I will miss him around here. He's been my supervisor for most of my career. I think it's only nine months out of 18 years he wasn't. He's always been fair and was able to keep us all in line -- I'm sure we were a handful."

* What's That Smell?

"His car smelled moldy," recalls Eddie Davis, retired Springdale fire captain.

Miller's department vehicle started smelling moldy and he thought maybe rain had leaked in and gotten into the floorboard. This went on for a month or two and it was rank. He finally had some of the firefighters help him clean it out and they found two pounds of bacon in the trunk. Miller had bought the leftover bacon from the Fire Department's pancake breakfast and forgotten about it.

* Millerisms

Did you ever hear of a "Millerism"? The firefighters on his shift called Miller's rules or quirks "Millerisms." He was particular in the way he wanted things done.

"You couldn't go to bed until 10 p.m. If you were in bed, you had to get undressed. You could read a newspaper but not a book when manning the radio and phones. In the old days, we dispatched our own calls and everyone had to take a turn for an hour or two. Every shift had it's own personality and Jim was a perfectionist. He always did a good job. He was a mentor to me."

Source: Staff Report

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