Morris Deputy Fire Chief Bob Wills retires after 44 years of service

MORRIS – Bob Wills said he can still remember the day he discovered his passion for the fire service when his grandfather, Howard Fread, took him into the firehouse and he witnessed his first fire call.

“The lights and the sounds, you know as a 6-year-old, you don’t just get over that. The doors lifted up and up. At the time, we were alerted by a big fire siren,” Wills said. “Just the sights and the sounds and watching the guys jump on the fire trucks and put their gear on and boom – out the door. Then there is a sudden stillness in the firehouse and the guys’ shoes are on the floor.”

“You have to experience it to really understand it. I still get that way today. I can still feel it,” he said.

Wills followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and joined the Morris Fire Department as a volunteer in May 1978. After nearly 45 years of serving, teaching and protecting the residents of Morris, he is retiring as the deputy fire chief.

“Every man and woman has to decide when it’s time to go and for me, it’s time. I know my limitations and when they are going to prevent me from doing what needs to be done. That decision is made for you and it’s time for me,” Wills said.

Wills is not just leaving behind his own legacy, but his family’s. His grandfather retired after 43 years of service, and his son, Keith, was in the department for 13 years prior to a work conflict. All together the Wills family has dedicated 100 years of service to Morris.

“It’s pretty incredible to think about. I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s pretty cool to think about. I have been a member of this community my whole life,” Bob Wills said.

He began his career with the department as soon as they would allow him to join as a volunteer at age 21. Throughout his time with the department, he has held the positions of lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, and first and second assistant, and in 2012, he was promoted to deputy fire chief.

Wills said the aspect of the job that has changed the most is technology, mentioning thermal imaging cameras that can be used to see “the heat and the victims” and allow first responders to find the safest route to control the blaze and rescue potential victims.

Wills said this technology has helped decrease the injuries for firefighters and recalled a time when they didn’t have enough self-contained breathing apparatus for every firefighter because they were an all-volunteer department.

“There were times we had to go into smoke without help, it’s just the way it was. It was the expense. We had to have fundraisers to get our equipment. So we struggled to get a lot of stuff,” he said.

The Fire and Protection District began paying firefighters per call in the late 1990s and fully transitioned to the career fire department in November 2006 when Morris Fire Protection District 2 opened on Ashton Road in Morris.

Wills answered various calls during his decades of service, but in June 2021, he experienced one of the largest battery fires in United States history when more than 200 tons of lithium batteries caught fire in a warehouse and more than 3,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes.

“It was complex. But, the key to that was we had a lot of help. We had police officers running around doing the evacuations. We had all of our mutual aid partners putting our heads together to come up with a plan,” Wills said.

Wills said there are many calls that will stay with him, but the one he carries every day is the March 18, 1985, basement fire.

“I lost my best pal Jimmy Allen and another firefighter from Northern Petrochemical was injured,” he said.

According to the March 20, 1985, edition of The Times, the Morris Fire Department was dispatched to a basement fire on Southmor Road in Morris. While battling the fire, two firefighters became trapped on the ground floor of the home and three were trapped in the basement.

James Kenneth Allen, 24, was killed when a backdraft occurred in the basement, which is when a fire is starving for oxygen and looks for it elsewhere. His father, Kenneth Allen, was battling the fire when he learned of his son’s death. Roger Christen, a fire chief with Northern Petrochemical was injured when a brick wall fell on top of him, according to The Times article.

“We both were trapped in the basement. It was a backdraft situation. I made it out and he didn’t. That was a very dark time for me. But, we got through it and I stayed. I certainly believed Jimmy would have wanted me to stay, but that was a very tough fire,“ Wills said.

Wills said there have been many incidents in which he doesn’t know how “he got out,” because of the diverse nature of the fire district. It spans 144 square miles and covers rail, river, highway, factories and refineries. But, he would put his firefighters “against anyone anywhere.”

“I suspect any fire chief wants to feel like his people are the best and Chief [Tracey] Steffes, Assistant Chief [Jeff] Wilson and myself know and believe in our people. We trust our people, and we know they are going to do the job,” he said.

Wills doesn’t have any plans to leave the fire department as his passion hasn’t burned out quite yet. He said retirement for him will include sticking around the firehouse to do some paperwork.

“The key for me is I don’t have to go around fires anymore. I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night anymore. But, I will still be around,” he said.

Assistant Chief Jeff Wilson will be promoted to deputy chief and Captin Dave Wiechen will be promoted to deputy chief effective Jan. 1.

“Bob has brought leadership, friendship, guidance and a strong foundation to this department throughout his 44 years,” Wilson said. “He gets the job done and he gets it done safely. We grew up together in the fire service and I followed him up. He has taught me so much.”

The years have passed quickly for Wills, but he said he is proud to have been a part of what he considers the greatest job in the world.

“The years have gone by. I mean people tell you all the time – be careful what you wish for because the years pass so quickly and for me they did. I can’t believe I’m here. I can’t believe I made it to this point,” Wills said. “I am leaving a proud man to have done what I did. I have touched so many lives throughout my time and that’s a proud moment for me.”