Bob Coleman watched Morris grow up around his fire department

There was a time when the Morris Fire Department was a volunteer organization made up of 25 firefighters, each of whom had their own day jobs and careers.

The firefighters had to drop everything when a fire call came in, and their employers were fine letting them. That’s the kind of community Bob Coleman is happy to be part of, and one he spent more than 50 years with first as a volunteer firefighter and then fire chief for more than 30 years. By the time he retired, Morris had a fully staffed, full-time fire department.

Coleman said this happened because of the people around him, rather than something he can take credit for by himself. He was sworn into the Morris Fire Department in June 1960 with Tommy Bryant and Glenn Bright, although Coleman still had four months left serving in the army reserves.

“Tommy’s dad was a fireman, and Glenn’s uncle was a fireman, so it was kind of if your dad or another relation was a fireman, it’d go through the families back then,” Coleman said. “They kind of have their family.”

The department grew from 25 volunteer firefighters to 30 volunteer firefighters at that point, and then it went from 30 to 35 in the late 1970s.

Coleman said it was a brotherhood in those days, as it is now, although they were volunteers back then. They weren’t paid, so if someone got sick, they made sure to take care of each other.

The department continued its growth in 1990, when the voters opted to turn Morris from a municipal-and-rural fire department to a fire protection district. From there, the Morris Fire Protection District had five trustees who would run the department and make financial decisions as far as making improvements and getting new vehicles. Coleman said the firefighters would make recommendations as to what was needed, and the trustees would decide what got done.

It grew further in 2006, when Coleman pushed to build the then-new fire station at 2301 Ashton Road.

“I designed that station,” Coleman said. “We had the architect sign the papers, and I knew what we needed between the firemen and me. And the whole thing is, we paid for it when it was built. There was no financing. The taxpayers didn’t have to come up with any money. It was paid for at the time. We saved and saved and saved and saved that whole time.”

The growth of the Morris Fire Protection District into what it is now took decades, and Coleman said the people behind the fire department worked tirelessly to make it happen. It wasn’t just him by himself. Current Fire Chief Tracey Steffes was one of his deputy chiefs, and Bob Wills retired only recently. Coleman had the help of many people who knew what they were doing, and they were brought up through the ranks.

It was at the time the new fire station was built that the trustees decided to start paying firefighters part time.

“It was a nominal fee,” Coleman said. “The wages didn’t go with the job. Then they started paying me part time, and of course that‘s increased over the years, but I was never a full-time fire chief. I had my own business as a Realtor.”

Coleman was a part owner of the Coleman-Hornsby Century 21 Real Estate agency in Morris while serving as the Morris fire marshal. He was the fire marshal until 2022, and he retired from that at the same time as former Mayor Richard Kopzcek.

“I’d be showing a house, and the fire whistle would go off and, you know, back in the day, I’d say ‘I have to catch you later,’” Coleman said. “‘Go ahead and look at the house,’ and then I’d be back later in the day. And it worked.”

Coleman recalled some of the worst fires that kept him at the scene for a while, one of which took place at Equistar, where Lyondell-Bassell now is located.

“In 1989, we had two big explosions, one in the spring and the other in August, as they were bringing the plant back up,” Coleman said. “The one in August was a fatal fire. I think we lost three people.”

The Morris fire district and other fire departments in the area had trucks and equipment at the scene for seven days, and Coleman was at the scene for 17 days. It took seven to get the plant to a point where it was safe for people to start doing building investigations, and the Environmental Protection Agency and attorney general all showed up, which makes things take a little longer.

It’s amazing how things come to you when you’re looking for answers, and your people sometimes give you the answer, you know? It’s not always you. It’s your people.”

—  Bob Coleman, retired Morris fire chief

Coleman recalls another fire that took place in the early morning on Easter Sunday at Marben’s Clothing Store.

“It’s 3 in the morning, and I’m out there and the guys are working, and I’m trying to think,” Coleman said. “They go to Easter church with their families, so I’m trying to think of what I’m gonna do. The Lord answered me, and he said to have church on the street right there for your guys.”

Coleman got on the radio and called dispatch at 6 a.m. to get him a priest from the Catholic church, and pastors from the protestant churches in town so his firefighters didn’t have to miss church on Easter Sunday.

“It’s amazing how things come to you when you’re looking for answers,” Coleman said. “And your people sometimes give you the answer, you know? It’s not always you. It’s your people.”

Cal Hammond was one of those people, and to this day, he has drawers full of newspaper clippings recounting the fires they’ve put out.

“I liked the business of it,” Hammond said. “After I got out of the Army, I went down to the fire house and joined in 1964.”

Like Coleman, Hammond did it because it was interesting, and it’s a job someone has to do whether anyone’s being paid or not.