Fire Chief Gary Baar is wrapping up 35 years of firefighting with the city upon his retirement at the end of this month. He has been the chief since 2006 and assistant chief since 2000 through a period of great change in a small-city fire department. On Monday, Mayor Scott Korthuis stood — in a chamber that included at least 12 blue-uniformed career or volunteer firefighters — and read a long statement of all that Baar has meant to the department, from his loyalty to his compassion to his service in professional organizations. Then the crowd rose to give Baar a standing ovation.