Tim “T.J.” Bell vividly remembers his first big fire.
It was at a Queen Anne mansion on West Chestnut Street, and flames were visible when the rookie Stillwater Fire Department volunteer arrived on the scene.
“I was sent upstairs to open up all the windows, to ventilate it,” he said. “When I came back to the stairwell, all I could see were flames coming up through the steps. There was no other way down — either wait for a ladder or jump.”
Bell, 71, who started working for the Stillwater Fire Department on Oct. 7, 1969, is believed to be the longest-tenured volunteer firefighter in Minnesota.
City officials marked his 50th anniversary by honoring him at the Stillwater City Council meeting on Tuesday night and proclaiming Wednesday as “Timothy J. Bell Day” in the city.