After four decades in command, Fire Chief Armstrong says ‘goodbye’ to Prophetstown

PROPHETSTOWN — After 40 years of service, Prophetstown Fire Chief Gerald Armstrong retired Aug. 3.

Armstrong started working as a firefighter at the age of 23 and quickly worked his way up the ranks. He served as Prophetstown’s assistant fire chief for more than 10 years before being appointed chief six years ago.

“Working my way up the ranks, each one had a role,” Armstrong said. “As chief, one of mine is making sure everyone comes home after a fire.”

Armstrong said he had a lot of great memories during his career but there are some he wishes he could forget.

“I’ve been to several fatalities, most of them car accidents,” Armstrong said. “I’ve also been to a fire where kids died. Seeing children hurt is the worst.”

Armstrong has a special place in his heart for children. For the past several years, he has run the fire prevention education program for the local elementary schools teaching kids what to do in a fire.

“Sometimes I would bring them to the Carroll County safety house and we would fill the place with smoke and teach them the proper way to escape, what not to play with and how they can get out through windows and stuff like that,” Armstrong said.

When he was not fighting fires, Armstrong as chief had another battle to contend with – the department’s budget.

“We don’t have a lot of money and I have three fire stations to worry about with over 40 personnel,” Armstrong said. “I’ve got to make sure they have the right equipment and the trucks are maintained. Doing that while staying within the budget is the biggest challenge sometimes.”

Armstrong said the district covers 132 square miles and includes Hooppole, Lyndon and Prophetstown. During his time as chief, Armstrong managed to get a new fire truck for Lyndon and improve Lyndon and Prophetstown’s fire stations while expanding training opportunities.

“We now offer Fire Basic at our station,” Armstrong said. “It’s for anyone in or around our station and gives them the chance to get their certification and move up in their career.”

According to the Illinois Fire Service Institute website, Firefighter Basic certification consists of 23 subject areas covering safety, fire ground search and rescue, firefighter survival, preserving evidence, hazardous material awareness and more.

“As a volunteer, you need to know a lot because you don’t have just one job like in some paid departments,” Armstrong said. “We do it all, the search and rescue, the engineering and command from the ground. It’s not easy but it’s rewarding.”

Mike Thompson has taken over as the new chief. Armstrong said he will miss being part of the fire department, but he plans on staying involved by driving ambulances for the district when he is not traveling with his wife.

“Ever since I was a kid, watching the fire trucks go by I knew I wanted to help people,” Armstrong said. “This was my way to do it and I couldn’t be happier.”