Friday, September 5, 2008

Allen Fire Chief Bill Hawley finds job exciting/challenging

By Minnie Payne

Allen Fire Chief Bill Hawley

ALLEN — Bill Hawley, 42-year-old Allen Fire Chief, has been working full-time since he was 15 years old.

“Because my father deserted my mother with four small children when I was in third grade, times were tough” he said. “I worked at a gas station at night and went to high school during the day.”

“Mom worked part-time and put herself through college and became a teacher.”

Hawley grew up in Denton, graduating from Denton High School in 1984. He attended Collin County Community College from 1986 to 1989 and in 1993 he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of North Texas, as well as a Masters of Public Administration in 1996.

“When I graduated from high school I worked at different jobs for two years and then enrolled in Collin County Community College, taking two basic courses a semester,” he said. “In 1986, I started to work for the Plano Fire Department, and they basically put me through college through the tuition reimbursement program.”

Hawley said that he was interested in the medical field, so he took EMT classes at Collin County Community College, thinking that he could go to work as an EMT.

“A lot of students in my EMT class were testing as firefighters for the Plano Fire Department, so I decided to give it a try,” he said. “When I completed a six-month rookie training program, I went to shift work, living in the firehouse, and served as a fire rescue specialist from 1986 to 1995.

“I was assistant fire chief from 1995 to 1996.”

After leaving the Plano Fire Department, Hawley served as deputy fire chief of EMS/Training for the Town of Addison from 1996 to 1999 until he was promoted to deputy fire chief of operations, serving from 1999 to 2002. He became fire chief for the city of Allen in 2002, at age 36.

“When I left the Town of Addison, I could probably have landed a job with three times as many firefighters, but I wouldn’t have known their names,” he said. “I wanted a department that was big enough to have variety, but not so big that I couldn’t be involved with the firefighters.

“The city of Allen has everything that I’m looking for.”

He said that the Plano Fire Chiefs advised him as to what college courses he should take if he wanted to become a chief.

There’s so much knowledge, he said, that a chief has to gain from college and the business world that it’s almost imperative to have a college education.

“The philosophy in fire service is that you can take a great firefighter and give him an education and you’ll have a much better fire chief,” he said.

The present operating budget for the fire department is $10 million and there are 99 staff members, with 96 being firefighters.

Service to the community takes two different forms, he said, the first being emergency response and the second being educating citizens as to how to prevent fires. Several educational programs exist which include school programs, working with seasoned citizens, the Vial of Life Program and the Citizens Fire Academy.

“It’s actually better if we can get out in the community and teach how to prevent fire,” Hawley said.

Since every day is different, the variety of being fire chief, he said, is what he enjoys most.

“Outside of scheduled meetings, I never know what I’m going to do until I get to work,” he said. “It’s definitely fluid, exciting and challenging.”

For 20-plus years, he said he has served in the fire service and he is always remorseful when someone loses a loved one or home.

“It’s tough when you can’t save everyone,” he said.

Kurt Hall, Allen Assistant Fire Chief, has known Hawley as a friend and co-worker for 12 years.

"Bill displays a high degree of integrity, responsibility and ambition," Hall said. "I've enjoyed both a professional and personal relationship with him as he has served as a supervisor, mentor and friend."

Hawley has been married to his wife, JoAnna, 15 years, and they have three children, Kathryn, 11, Andrew, 10, and Trevor, 7.

Related stories

• Pegasus News Week in View: Aaagh-Ike! edition (Sept. 11, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Citizen Profiles
• Politics and Government > City Government > Allen
• Pegasus News Exclusive

Comments

Dallas Spohn Verified

This was a good story, Thanks Minnie Payne.

1 year, 2 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )