By David Hotle
Muscatine Journal
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Just hours before Muscatine’s longtime fire chief Jerry Ewers officially retired, many of his peers and co-workers honored him at an open house Tuesday.
As Ewers stood at the front of the city council chambers in Muscatine City Hall, people filed in, either clasping his hand warmly or embracing him, to thank him for his service to the city. Ewers, only the eighth person to serve at Muscatine Fire Chief, earlier in April announced his intention to retire at the end of the month. Retired assistant fire chief Mike Hartman will serve as interim fire chief until the position is filled.
“We will be travelling to Texas initially to visit the daughter,” Ewers said of his plans for the future. “Otherwise, we have a couple of trips planned with my brothers to see some baseball games across the United States and continue to hunt and fish all over the place and spend time with family.”
He commented that firefighters are able to retire at 55 and he was eligible for retirement four years ago. He said his wife had been retired four years and he said this is the perfect time to retire while he is still young and healthy.
Ewers began his career with the Muscatine Fire Department on July 18, 1988, advancing through every rank: firefighter, EMS coordinator, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, and finally fire chief. His promotions included to lieutenant in 1996, captain in 1999, assistant chief in 2001 and fire chief in 2009.
The last call ceremony was at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Muscatine Fire Station.
Ewers moved to Chicago after being discharged from the U.S. Army, where he had served as a medic in an airborne unit. Unsure what his next move would be, he considered attending nursing school, then saw an ad in a local paper of firefighters in Muscatine with EMS experience.
“I thought that sounded exciting,” he said. “I had medical experience, and I thought I would give it a shot. I never thought I would get hired. I got hired July 18, 1988, and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve loved it. It’s been a great job and a great department.”
His first day was overwhelming, he recalled. At the time there was no recruit academy and little actual training for firefighters. People were expected to learn on the job.
“You got your uniform, badge and door keys and that was about it,” he said.
From there he went to college and learned as much as he could about being a firefighter. Since being on the department, his accolades include being named Firefighter of the Year by the Muscatine Journal and Career Individual of the Year by the Iowa EMS Association. He also contributed to the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ document Enhancing Fire-Based EMS.
Beyond his work with the department, Ewers also served as interim city administrator and interim deputy city clerk for Muscatine from October to December 2019 and as interim emergency management agency manager for Muscatine County from June to October 2018.
An active advocate for the fire and EMS professions, Ewers has been a member of the Iowa EMS Association Board since 2008, serving two terms each as president and vice-president. He also served as secretary/treasurer of the Iowa Association of Professional Fire Chiefs from 2017 to 2020.
Thinking back over the years, the largest change Ewers has seen in the department is the use of technology. When he arrived in 1988, the department didn’t even have one computer. He remembers it had a typewriter. He says everything now is computer-based.
Ewers says he will always look back on his career in the Muscatine Fire Department with pride. He has responded to several large fires and said he has had many experiences both good and bad.
‘There were a lot of great experiences and some that weren’t so great,” he said. “When you have loss of life or tragedy, those things stick with you forever. Most firefighters remember we didn’t cause whatever event we are handling and that we are just there to take care of it and make it better.”
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