After 32 years of fighting fires and serving his community, John Wilson is retiring from the El Dorado Fire Department Volunteers.
John started with the volunteers in February of 1989, just three months after his brother, David, signed on.
When asked how he got started, John laughed before beginning the story. He said as his brother tells it, John said, “I’ll do it if you do it,” but there is a little more to the story.
John recalled being at the lake with Volunteer Firefighter Zeke Reed’s sons when a big storm was coming in.
“Zeke’s wife, Shirley, said I need to join the reserves,” John recalled. “I don’t know why she said it.”
But it caused John to go to this brother. “I probably told him ‘if you do it, I’ll do it’,” he said. “It was because of Shirley telling me I needed to join the reserves. He got in three months sooner than I did, and I stayed two years longer.”