Sam Phillips is putting down the hose after spending two-thirds of his life fighting fires.
The Clallam Fire District No. 2 chief will retire June 30 after 42 years answering emergency calls and supervising those who do, he announced this week.
The native of Redding, Calif., started in his hometown as a volunteer in 1976, later serving on the Roseburg, Ore., Fire Department for 23 years before opening a regional training center for Marion County, Ore., Fire District No. 1, where he worked from 2001-05.
Phillips was a training chief and deputy chief of the Hillsboro, Ore., Fire Department in Oregon before he retired, moving to Salem, Ore., when he was hired by Fire District No. 2.
He is past president of the Oregon Fire Instructors Association and a life member of the organization, rounding out a vocation he has aspired to since high school.