When Auburn Fire Chief Lee Lamar was growing up out on Wire Road, he never thought, 'When I grow up, I'm going to be a firefighter.'
Today, Lamar said he couldn't imagine doing anything different.
"I got involved with this with some friends right out of high school," Lamar said. "It was something that I would never have dreamed of."
Lamar has been the chief since 2008, but he's been with the department since the late 1970s, first as a volunteer at the Southwest Lee County Station.
After going through six-week recruit school at Auburn, he began working full time.
"The best seat in the house is riding backward in an engine car," Lamar said. "You're fighting fire, you're right there, you're hands-on."
In 2005 Lamar became the deputy chief, and in 2008 he took over as fire chief.
"At some point, I realized that my role in the organization--I was pretty good at teaching, and I started developing the skills in management and those things," Lamar said. "This was just another challenge."
That challenge includes planning, staffing and a host of other duties that Lamar sums up as "manage the organization"--a leadership position over the 106-person fire department.
"It can be a little bit daunting, but it's also part of the fun," Lamar said. "I feel like I thrive in high-pressure situations."
Lamar said his passion for the job comes from a sense of knowing he is helping people.
"That's what the job is," Lamar said. "They didn't call us because everything went right. They called because something went wrong, and they're calling you to come help."
David Koski, Auburn firefighter, said Lamar is adept not only at helping others, but he is a force within the department as well.
"He actively fights for new equipment," Koski said. "We're getting a new fire engine this year ... There are constant budget cuts and everything, but we still feel like he's helping out the fire department."
Aside from fighting for the department, Lamar said there's not much else to which he devotes his time.
"I'm very wrapped up in what I do," Lamar said. "I'm not a workaholic, per se, but we're on call 24/7, so we kind of live a different lifestyle."
Lt. Dennis Carlisle, head of Station 1 on Ross Street, said one of Lamar's strengths is that he's easy to talk to.
"It doesn't always mean that you're going to see eye to eye, but ... he will listen to you," Carlisle said.
Lamar said he enjoys working with the people in the department.
"It's very much like a family," Lamar said. "It can be just as dysfunctional as any family, and yet it functions so well when it counts."
But Lamar said what really keeps him going is the knowledge that he has made a difference.
"I know without a doubt that I've helped people," Lamar said. "And I know that I'm going to continue to do so."
It's a commitment others have noticed.
"He's good for the community," Koski said. "I feel like he's a good chief and a good administrator. Most everyone around here does."
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