The Waterfront Volunteer Fire Department was started in 2004 and since then, the department has seen growth each year.
Dick McKinley is 85-years-old and has been the fire chief of Waterfront VFD from the start.
He’s is stepping down from his position, but is still going to maintain his status as a volunteer. He will be honored by the Waterfront Fire Department today (Saturday) during their annual meeting at 10:00 at the station.
“Michelle Edwards is taking my place as chief,” he said. “I’m still going to be an active volunteer for the department. Michelle has been with us since 2006 so she’s very qualified to take over.”
Mr. McKinley and his wife Barbara have been involved in firefighting for over 50 years going back to his days as a fire fighter in Michigan.
“I began working as a fire fighter in Michigan back in 1955,” he said. “Barbara and some of the other wives would help us run calls. Those were the days before we had radios of any kind.”
The McKinleys moved to Alabama in 1982 for work.
“The Chrysler plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, closed so we relocated to the one in this area,” Mr. McKinley said. “I continued working as a volunteer fire fighter when we got down here.”
Mr. McKinley began working for the Big Cove volunteer fire department in 1982.
He later joined the Grant VFD where he still volunteers today.
The McKinleys live on Preston Island and it was around 2003 when they decided to try and start a fire department that would serve their area.
“Until we started Waterfront, any fires in this area were worked by Grant or Swearingen,” Mr. McKinley said. “That’s a tough haul for either one of those departments.”
The McKinleys decided to get with the Preston Island neighborhood association and talk about forming their own volunteer fire department.
“Everyone in the community was very supportive of us starting the department,” Mrs. McKinley said. “And without them, we couldn’t have kept it open this long.”