Posted: February 5, 2010

Ed Powers and William Gene Myers

William Gene Myers, or "Uncle Bill" as he's known to many, wanted to go into aviation when he joined the Air Force at 18.

"I didn't want to be a firefighter at first," Myers said. "But they wanted me to be a firefighter."

Myers joined the fire service in the military, starting his nearly 40-year career in emergency response and currently works as fire chief for the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Elizabeth City.

"I enjoy helping people. Firefighters are at their best when everyone is at their worst," Myers said. "In emergency response, it's extremely rewarding when they need someone to come in and help them put things together. It's very fulfilling. I've seen a lot in my years - a lot of tragedy - but someone rational needs to be there to put things back together."

After his stint in the military fire service, Myers moved on to a station in San Francisco and then to a U.S. Coast Guard base in Alaska. Myers was one of the first African-Americans to hold the assistant fire chief title in the Coast Guard. And he did all of this while raising three daughters on his own. A heart attack in 2003 brought him back to the East Coast to be closer to family and the position as fire chief in Elizabeth City. Being fire chief is quite different from working as a firefighter, Myers said.

"As fire chief you're providing the vision and direction for the department," he said. "It's challenging because it's not as much fun as climbing ladders and riding trucks - you're dealing with policy and personnel - but someone has to do it. Someone has to understand the system and the politics of the fire service and be forward-thinking about the department."

Myers is in his 38th year of government service and is looking forward to retiring next year.

"One of my greatest successes is being a great father," Myers said. "Fire service is a secondary thing for me. Being a good father was primary."