Marseilles Fire Chief Mick Garrison retires after 45 years with department

Once you’re a firefighter, you always are. Firefighters are the basis and backbone of everything.

—  Marseilles Fire Chief Mick Garrison

For the last 45 years, Mick Garrison has been a firefighter. For the last 15, he’s been the Marseilles chief.

Now that he’s retired from the Marseilles Fire Department, he said he’s still a firefighter.

“They start out as a firefighter, and once you’re a firefighter, you always are,” Garrison said. “Firefighters are the basis and backbone of everything.”

He said he’s done a little bit of everything a person can do within the fire department.

“You take on different tasks and some people work in every aspect of the department,” Garrison said. “The firefighters are the backbone and they get the job done. When you’re chief, you don’t get to go out and put out fires and that’s where we all started and enjoyed doing.”

Garrison said he’s most proud of all of the people they’ve saved over the years while allowing for few injuries.

“I wish the best for the district and I always will,” Garrison said. “I hope everyone stays safe. We’ve had a good safety record through the years, and that’s attributable to all of our members.”

Mayor and Deputy Chief Jim Hollenbeck started with the Marseilles Fire Department nine months before Garrison.

“We’ve got 45 years together and you know, you just get to know how to work with someone and get along with someone,” Hollenbeck said. “We’ve always had a good working relationship and I can’t commend him enough for being proactive and moving our department forward with training and equipment. I’m certainly going to miss him.”

Marseilles Fire Board of Trustees President Wayne Fleming said Garrison was responsible for much of the new equipment the department was able to get during his tenure. Garrison also was involved in bringing a program to Marseilles that installed free smoke detectors for residents.

“Everybody gets involved in those matters,” Garrison said. “It’s an honor to be part of the district for as long as I have. It’s a great service and for the time I’ve been here, we’ve come a long way.”

Garrison said he plans to spend his retirement traveling with his wife as they have through the years.

Dave Parrott is Marseilles’ new fire chief. Parrott has been the Wallace fire chief for the past 11 years.