On Saturday, Blytheville fire chief Ivory Diamond officially will be a 29-year member of the Blytheville Fire Department.
On Nov. 1, he officially will be retired.
On the DROP plan, Diamond has announced his plans to retire next month, ending a long career in public service.
Blytheville Mayor Barrett Harrison said the city will chose his replacement in the near future.
The mayor appoints the police chief and fire chief, but in the past Harrison has asked the Blytheville City Council's opinion on who should fill the posts.
"I've had some ups and downs in my career, but I'm thankful to say that I've had more ups than I've had downs," Diamond said. "When you do a job that you really love and you really enjoy, then you get paid for doing it, that's a real blessing to be able to be in a position like that. I want to thank the mayor and the Blytheville City Council for giving me the opportunity to serve as fire chief."
Diamond worked most every position at the fire department. He began his BFD career on Oct. 16, 1981. He was promoted to driver 4 1/2 years later, then to lieutenant Aug. 1, 1988. Diamond moved up the ranks twice more before becoming full-time chief five years ago.
He was promoted to captain in 1995 and named assistant fire chief/fire marshal on June 1, 2000. Diamond served as interim chief from March 2003 until April 2004 while then Chief Gary Perry was on active duty in the military. On March 3, 2008 he was appointed fire chief .
"I've always wanted to be a firefighter," Diamond said. "It got in my blood when I was in the United States Navy in 1969."
At age 19, Diamond battled ship fires in the Navy, which is a little different than structure firefighting, he said.
"It was dangerous; they had to have somebody with a low enough IQ that wouldn't weigh out the danger and go ahead and do it," he joked of being a firefighter in the Navy. "I guess that was the purpose of the series of test they gave you (in the Navy), to make sure your IQ is low enough."
Kidding aside, Diamond said has enjoyed being a public servant.
"I really think it's a pleasure to be a public servant," he said. "I get a lot of enjoyment knowing I've helped people. I'm going to miss the camaraderie with the firefighters more than anything."
Diamond noted when he moved to the fire chief position, he took on more of a counselor role, helping firemen with personal issues and keeping them on the right path, career-wise.
"I diligently studied the Bible and that has really helped me with being a counselor," Diamond said, noting he also took courses at Arkansas Northeastern College.
It takes a special individual to be a firefighter as well.
"Almost every emergency that involves the fire department, people are trying to get out of the way of it, and the firemen are trying to get to where it is," Diamond said.
A firefighter could be in a warm bed one minute, then the pager goes off and he has to leave his family.
"Five minutes later he's somewhere struggling to save his own life to help somebody else," Diamond said, noting fighting fires in the winter often leads to some type of sickness.
Diamond may not be at fire scenes after Nov. 1, but he'll stay busy.
He plans to do some work on his properties and work on a long honey-do list.
"I've got one as long as I am tall," Diamond quipped.
He also plans to do some small game hunting, trading a fire hose for a riffle.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com