By Jake Batsell
The Dallas Morning News
Copyright 2006 The Dallas Morning News
In four years as Fort Worth’s fire chief, Charles Gaines was all business.
Chief Gaines, 49, was found dead at his home Saturday afternoon, apparently of natural causes. On Sunday, co-workers and city leaders remembered him as a driven, meticulous professional whose exacting standards made Fort Worth a safer place.
“I had hoped and expected that he would continue as chief here in Fort Worth for many, many years,” said City Manager Charles Boswell. “Chief Gaines brought a high level of professionalism, energy and leadership to this job, and will be sorely missed.”
Medical examiners did not release an official cause of death Sunday, but fire officials said the chief may have died in his sleep.
Memorial services are pending but will probably include ceremonies in Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, where Chief Gaines spent 21 years as a firefighter before arriving as Fort Worth’s chief in 2002. He was Fort Worth’s first black fire chief.
In 1995, he led the Oklahoma City Fire Department’s safety operations during the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Firefighters described the chief as polished and detail-oriented, qualities that reflected his military and executive training. He began his career as an Air Force fire-protection specialist and later earned an MBA while serving as deputy chief in Oklahoma City.
“Very early on, we found that when we’d come to him with a problem, he’d tell us, ‘Well, where’s your data to back it up?’” said Lt. Kent Worley, Fort Worth’s fire spokesman.
“He was all about the job,” said Maj. Doug Williams of the Oklahoma City Fire Department. “If it was given to Charles, he’d take it seriously.
“He was just a lot more analytical than most of us blue-collar guys.”
The chief emphasized staffing fire engines with a minimum of four people, which colleagues said probably contributed to Fort Worth landing on a recent top-10 list of America’s safest cities.
Flags were lowered to half-staff Sunday outside the department’s headquarters, where family members, co-workers and friends gathered for a news conference.
“The Lord has called home another good and faithful servant,” said his sister, Frances Lucas. “Charles is in a better place. I know he’s smiling down on us.”
Mr. Gaines’ girlfriend, Phyllis Johnson, called 911 Saturday afternoon when she could not reach the chief despite repeated attempts. Firefighters found his body after forcing their way into his home.
Tony Gaines, the chief’s brother and a Fort Worth firefighter, was on duty at the time and was summoned to the scene, Lt. Worley said.
Fort Worth officials selected Hugo Esparza, the department’s executive deputy fire chief, as the city’s acting fire chief. Chief Esparza, a 31-year veteran of the Fort Worth department, is scheduled to begin as Plano’s new fire chief in November.
When asked Sunday how the weekend’s events might affect his transition to Plano, Chief Esparza said his “total focus” in the coming days is honoring Chief Gaines and maintaining Fort Worth’s fire services in his absence.
While Chief Gaines had a serious demeanor, colleagues said, he could let down his guard and even laugh at himself - like when Oklahoma City firefighters once ribbed him for using the word “behoove.”
“A lot of people considered him, I guess you’d say, kind of stiff,” said Battalion Chief Jim Tate, president of the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association.
“After he got to know you, he loosened up,” Chief Tate said. “He was a funny guy. He was real easy to get along with.”
The firefighters’ union sparred with the chief during the early stages of his tenure. Union members twice discussed taking votes of no confidence against him. But in both cases, the two sides worked out their differences before a vote was taken.
Chief Tate said Sunday that he came to regard Chief Gaines as a man of integrity.
“He came here as an outsider, but in my opinion he left this world as one of us,” Chief Tate said.
In addition to his brother, Chief Gaines is survived by three sisters, three daughters and a granddaughter.
The department has set up a phone line for anyone seeking information about the chief’s memorial services: 817-392-6175.