NC Fire Chief Steps Down after Nearly 50 Years in Role

Jimmy Miller has resigned as chief of the Rock Ridge Fire Department, a position he held for 48 years.

Miller, 72, joined the department in 1963 at age 16 while he was still a student at Rock Ridge High School.

“I have had a great group of guys to work with through the time, but I felt like it was time for me to give it up to someone else,” Miller said in an interview at the main Rock Ridge fire station last week. “As a leader, I would hate to ask somebody to do something that I wouldn’t do myself. I wouldn’t think that would be fair for anybody.”

Four generations of Millers have been part of the Rock Ridge Volunteer Fire Department legacy of service.

Miller’s father, Abner Miller, joined the department when it was formed in 1961 and served as a lieutenant.

Miller’s son, Jim Miller, a Wilson Fire-Rescue Services battalion chief, joined as a teenager and still serves Rock Ridge as an assistant chief. Jimmy Miller has two grandsons, Cody Miller and Michael Bailey, who are young firefighters at the Rock Ridge department.

Miller has resigned his chief position but hasn’t retired from the department.

Changes in fire service

When Miller became chief, the department had 26 men, a pumper and a tanker and received $100 per month from Wilson County to help run the department.

“We used to go around once a year asking for donations,” Miller said. “I had one fellow to offer 50 cents, an elderly guy. The fire service has come a long way over the years.”

Today, the department has 44 members with five trucks at the main station and two at the new Buckhorn substation.

Back in the day, things were considerably different. Radios were not part of the equipment when Miller started.

Abner Miller used to run a general store in the community where there was a chalkboard up front.

“He or whoever was the first one that was here would write on that where the fire was, and we would go from that. When they came down to get a truck, they would look at that chalkboard,” Miller recalled.

The trucks used to carry small bags of flour as part of their signaling equipment.

“If we were going down the highway and took a right, we would drop that flour so the next ones coming would see that flour in the road and know to turn,” Miller said.

Notable calls

Miller said structure fires at somebody’s home are among the worst fires.

“It is bad to see somebody lose everything they’ve got in just a few minutes’ time,” Miller said.

Miller said the largest fire for Rock Ridge was when the Roney Williamson Store on N.C. 42 and Airport Road burned on Feb.10, 1995.

“The store and the gas and diesel tanks were on fire. When it caught on fire, it was bad,” Miller said. “Those tanks, some of them ruptured. We were there all day and the city of Wilson came out. There were several departments there.”

Miraculous saves

Rock Ridge firefighters have saved lives.

At a fire on what’s now Hawley Road, which wasn’t in the Rock Ridge district at the time, the department was the first to arrive at the scene.

“My son and cousin each brought out a child that had got overcome by the smoke,” Miller recalled. “It was hard on everybody, but especially on the younger ones that it’s the first time they are seeing something like this.”

One call Miller will never forget was on June 6, 1994, when his two firefighters responding to a structure fire lost their brakes and turned over in the truck.

Miller’s son, Jim, was one of the firefighters.

“That was scary,” Miller said.

'Valiant effort'

On Saturday, Jim Miller recalled a wreck at the intersection of Governor Hunt and Lloyd roads.

“We were coming over an overpass on a bridge coming to a T-intersection. I was riding officer of the truck, and the guy was driving. He just looked over and said, ‘We ain’t got no brakes,” Jim Miller remembered. “At that point, there was not a whole lot said. He just kind of made the decision to go straight through the woods or try to make the turn to the left or the right.”

Miller said it was obvious the truck was going too fast at that point to try to make the turn.

“The truck rolled over 3 1/2 times, according to the witness behind us, but neither one of us were ejected,” Miller said.

The truck landed on the driver’s side when it came to a stop, and the driver couldn’t get out.

“I thought I was going to get out and help free him, but when I got out, the water sloshing in the truck caused it to roll half again, pinning me between the cab of the truck and the ground,” Jim Miller said.

Miller said the next thing he remembered after that was seeing his father’s face.

“I was in a fetal position pinned with the truck on my back, and my father looked down under the truck and said, ‘We’re going to get you out of here,’” Jim Miller recalled. “He stayed with me asking me to talk to him and try to remain conscious while they were trying to free me from the truck. I wasn’t able to say much because of the pressure of the weight on my back.”

Chief Miller and his crew used a chain to lift the truck up enough to pull his son out as gasoline started leaking onto the ground around the young firefighter.

“We didn’t want the chain to cause a spark. That was the most scary fire I have been to, but we pulled the truck up enough and got him out and everything worked out fine,” Chief Miller said.

“It was a trying event, if you will, but he was there by me the whole time in transport to the hospital,” Jim Miller said of his father. “He had decisions to make at that point to call resources to cover our portions because we were responding to a house fire, and obviously we were out of service because of this. He was valiant in his efforts to try to save us and then still continue his response to the community members that were needed.”

Chief Miller said, “Sometimes folks question what you do at times, but you do what you think is best because you don’t have but a few seconds sometimes to make the decision if it’s right or wrong and then live with it.”

Jimmy Miller said he’s enjoyed working with his fellow firefighters.

“They have stood behind me for several years,” Miller said. “We have a great group, and I am proud of them and proud of the department.”

Walt Williamson Jr. is the new Rock Ridge fire chief.

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