(From WEEK News 25) - Assistant Fire Chief Greg Walters remembers the beginning of his career with the Peoria Fire Department like it was yesterday.
"When I first got on the fire department the guys at the beginning were saying, kid, the time on this job is just going to slip by" said Walters. "They were right, it went quick."
Walters wasn't sure what he wanted to do for a career 28-years-ago. He looked up to his grandfather, a firefighter, and replied to an ad in the Peoria Journal Star to become one.
"The first female firefighters were brought on the job with the group I was in," said Walters. "The fire protective gear has changed tremendously, how we attack certain fires has changed and safety is now paramount."
It is also what has come to define Walters' career.
"Safety is the key, and we drive home that point. My job is to make sure those young men and women go home tomorrow," he said.
Since 1994 he has trained nearly every firefighter on the streets of Peoria today.
"On this job, we grow up as brothers," said Fire Chief Kent Tomblin, who has worked with Walters his entire career.
"His level of expertise in training and safety issues, I don't have anyone to match it. I will brag, there are very few people in this state that can match it," said Tomblin.
Recently, Walters says his career came full circle.
"I fell directly into the fire and I was trapped down there for anywhere from three to five minutes, they think," said firefighter Blaise Stephen, who joined the department in 2008.
While fighting a fire on March 6, the floor Steffen was standing on collapsed, sending him into the fire below. He was hospitalized in Springfield's burn unit for 12 days, but lived.
"My training kicked in. The things they work on with us day after day, setting your device off, controlling your breathing, staying calm," said Steffen, 26.
"I tell you what, that hit me hard," said Walters.
"The things I taught in that class, not only did they learn, but he was able to use in a dire situation and come out of it alive. It was a great feeling, and at that point, I felt successful."
He says that success made the decision to retire, a little easier. But Walters says he will always be involved in fire services.
Walters' last day is Thursday. He will continue teach fire science at Illinois Central College.
