Volunteer fire chief loves his work
Published 12:00 am Monday, April 5, 2004
James Stewart Corley is a Craig Field fixture. As property manager and purchasing agent for Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority responsible for the 2,000-acre site occupied by the former Craig Air Force Base, he has his hands full. But his great love, serving as chief of the Craig Field Volunteer Fire Department, is one that brings no financial remuneration. Yet it is the activity that brings him the most joy and sense of fulfillment.
Corley says that the work of the volunteer firefighter has its own rewards. If it doesn’t one does not do it, at least for very long, he said, citing the occasional recruit who comes for about a month and then decides it’s not for him or her.
Corley first came to Craig Field with the Air Force in 1966. In 1971, he joined the Selma Fire Department. In 1974 he moved to the base and joined its fire department. In 1978 he was made chief of the Craig Field Fire Department, still fully paid. But in 1981, the unit became a volunteer fire department, and Corley continued on as chief, but without pay.
Corley said the unit averages about 100 fires per year of all different kinds. Also the Craig Field unit responds to bomb threats, medical calls, wrecks and extrications of injured persons from vehicles.
They are well equipped, he said, even though most of the equipment is &uot;vintage,&uot;
with one exception, the newest addition, a 1989 L-1 truck which was purchased used for $69,000. It’s the pride of the rolling stock, he said. The fire company has a neatly maintained firehouse by the 8,000-foot Craig Field Airport runway that has six bays and nine trucks , pumpers, tankers, aircraft fire truck, rescue truck, brush truck and a spill response truck.
The unit has 14 volunteer firefighters, most of whom live nearby but one who lives in Prattville. Corley said the racial composition is about 50/50 and that there have been women on the force in years gone by, but not presently. &uot;We would love to have some women back on the team,&uot; he said.
The unit is well trained. Over the years, Corley himself has earned an associate degree from Wallace Community College Selma in fire science and a BS degree in fire science management from Troy State.
Corley is proud of the fact that along with several other fire fighting units that after a recent inspection, the Craig Field Volunteer Fire Department will have an improved rating, which will in turn improve insurance rates in the area.
Corley, who devotes an enormous amount of time to the activities related to maintaining the Craig Field Volunteer Fire Department, also manages to be active in other community activities, including Cooper Christian Church. He has been married for 34 years and he and his wife have two grown children and four grandchildren.
Corley is well-liked by his fellow workers at Craig Field and those on his fire fighting team. He has unbounded enthusiasm for fire fighting and pours himself into it. His rewards are great.