Oskaloosa Firefighter Retires After 35 Years Of Service

Oskaloosa Fire Captain Tim Nance works his last official fire April 30th in the 300 block of North E St. in Oskaloosa.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Oskaloosa Fire Captain Tim Nance hung up his helmet for the final time this past week, retiring with nearly 35 years of service to Oskaloosa.

When Nance joined the department, Williard Ellis was the chief. Nance, along with his Captain Dave Christenson and firefighter Scott Howard are the last of the group hired by Ellis. Christenson and Howard still remain active on the department.

Nance has many memories of his time on the department, and has kept extensive scrap books of all the different calls the department has been a part of. Car accidents to structure fires are all archived in old Herald clippings. “There was so many,” says Nance, who was having difficultly thinking of any one particular call that stood out. “It’s not that I remember so much the bad calls. What I remember is when I first started. You know, you actually slid down a pole.”

Nance remembers after sliding down the pole, “You would run to the truck you was assigned to, and you’d get your gear on. Well, back then you could ride on the back of the truck.”

Riding on the back of the truck was memorable, but one intersection in Oskaloosa was more memorable than most. “You would go across A Avenue, which was a big dip then, and you’d better be hanging on,” Nance said smiling.

“Summertime, you could actually smell the fire before you got there,” says Nance. “You would get a few blocks away and smell it and go…this ain’t good.”

Even though he is now retired from the fire department, Nance will be staying busy with painting homes, inside and out.

The Oskaloosa Fire Department on April 30th, 2015. Captain Tim Nance is center front.