Growing up, Gary Kimball didn’t give a second thought to a career fighting fires. He thought even less about manning an ambulance.
“While we were in college, I had a conversation with a girl from my home county who was doing a ride-along with the ambulance service,” Kimball said this week. “She’d tell us about some of the things they did.”
Kimball’s response?
“I told her it’d be a cold day in hell before I did that job,” he muttered.
But something funny happened once he gave it a try. Turns out he liked it.
Kimball joined the Iola Fire Department on Aug. 1, 1988. On Friday, his 35-year career as deputy fire chief with IFD is coming to an end. The Department will host a reception for Kimball from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday at 408 N. Washington Ave.
“I know a few who have worked here longer than I have,” Kimball said, “and I know a lot of volunteers who have been there longer than I have. But 35 years I figured was a good number to stop.”
KIMBALL grew up in rural Franklin County.
“I was just a kid on a farm,” he said.
His plans to farm changed after high school. Kimball was attending what then was Allen County Community College in Iola, when his father died.
It was about then that Kimball also met a local girl, Karen, who would soon become his wife.
But if he were to stay in Iola, Kimball needed a job.
Kimball was hired by former fire chief Clarence Hydorn, not quite sure how long he’d stick around, or even if he’d be any good at it.
“I was hired at a time where you didn’t have to have any training or certification to be hired,” he recalled. “Got all my training, schooling and technician education while I was here.”
Turns out Kimball was (a) a quick learner, and (b) a hard worker.
“Coming to work became a good habit,” he explained. “And once you get established, with a good work ethic, you can get comfortable doing it.”
