Shelby Fire Marshal Retires

After more than 31 years with the Shelby Fire Department, Fire Marshal Phil Lovelace's last day on the job came Friday. I was able to sit down and speak with him Friday at his office at the Grover Street firehouse.

Tell me a little about your background and what led you into this line of work.
I never really thought about being a fireman, which has been 31 years and seven months ago. … Most firemen that come here are volunteers before they become full-time. … I got on the volunteers with the city and in 1975 they hired me on full-time. … In 1985 I went into prevention and, a year after that, Gary Borders was fire marshal and he left and took the job in Hilton Head. So I took his place and that’s where I’ve been.

What is it about this job keeps you coming back each day?
It’s always something different. It’s never the same. You’re dealing with the same businesses but it’s always something different. It does not get boring.


Aside from arson investigations, what kind of other work do you do?
Well as far as all the records for the fire department, the response times. We keep all the statistics and each year we turn out a report that goes to the chief and he presents it to council and it tells what the fire department has actually done as far as the runs. We average the run times. Just about anything you’d want to know about the fire department.

How have you seen the profession change?
I believe the economy has hurt the fire service a whole lot. When I first came here we didn’t run first responder but we had to all become EMTs. The economy has forced the fire department to do other things than what we did when I came here. And running first responder and medical calls are among them. … More rescue-oriented stuff. A lot of stuff that we did not used to do.


What made you decide to retire?
Well it’s been a long time. After a while you just decide if you stay much longer it’s not going to benefit you that much more. I thought maybe I would just try to do something else.

Any ideas right now?
Play music, which I already do. I play with Ocean Boulevard; I’ve played with them for about the past six years. I play saxophone. We’ve played uptown at Alive After Five. I don’t want to do anything full-time. If I’m going to go to work somewhere full-time why retire? I want time to enjoy my grandchildren, things like that. … I like to fish. I plan on trying to fish a lot.


Is there a specific moment or a series of moments that confirmed you were doing the right thing with your career?
Yeah, especially when I came into prevention. I wanted to do something more than just put out fires. And after I really got into that I got good at it and I thought I was pretty much meant to do this. And that’s the reason I stayed so long. I enjoyed doing what I was doing.

As far as fire prevention, is there anything you’d like the public to know that maybe they don’t?
… There’s a lot of misuse of drop cords. It’s intended to be used just temporary. I’d say the other one is cooking fires. It’s beyond me but some people will put something on the stove and then leave. One of the last fatalities I worked was a cooking fire … about four years ago.


How is the fire station now compared to when you came in?
I think we have a little bit different attitude now than we did. We’re more adaptable than when I came here because we’ve had to do so many different things. When I first came to prevention we had two full-time inspectors. I would say, as the economy’s gotten worse, we’ve had to cut back. I believe through the years fire service has just tried to trim down and get a lot done with a whole lot less. I’m not saying that’s good, I’m just saying that’s the position I see.

What would you say to those guys you’ve been working with for so long?
I’d like to say to the guys, I think it’s a long road to the retirement but to me it’s a worthwhile endeavor. I could be doing something else but I wouldn’t have seen the things I’ve seen. Another thing I would say to them is, if they’re new, go to a bigger place to where there’s more money and they can do a lot more with their career than in a small town.


So today’s your last day. How’s it been?
It’s been great. A lot of the men have talked to me about old times and made sure they would see me again. And I told them ‘Well, I’ll be back again. The only time I’ll ever stop coming back is when I come in the door and I don’t see any faces I know.’