Fire Chief honored with retirement reception

By Randy Bell

Blackledge chats with Alderwoman Beverly Olliver at his retirement reception.

Jeff Blackledge has touched a lot of lives during his forty years serving the Clinton Fire Department. And, on May 22, many of those friends and colleagues turned out at the Olde Towne Depot to wish Blackledge well as he prepares to retire as fire chief.

“It is nice seeing all these people come back,” Blackledge said during the reception. “It makes me feel wanted, and I appreciate that.”

Blackledge spent his first nine years in the fire service as a volunteer. He’s been chief since 2016. He announced last September that he would be stepping down June 30.

“It’s been a good ride,” Blackledge said. “I’ve enjoyed it. But it’s time for somebody else to take the helm.”

A newly-elected Board of Aldermen will likely make choosing a new chief one of its first priorities when it takes office in July.

Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge meets with current and former firefighters during his May 22 retirement reception.

And while some of the members won’t be the same, Blackledge is hoping the Board will keep a prior commitment to give Clinton firefighters a substantial raise in the coming fiscal year.
“I’m confident that they’re going to do something,” said Blackledge. “I am putting together a pay plan right now to let them know what kind of money we’re talking about. Whether they will do it or not, I don’t know.”

But he warns that unless Clinton starts offering its firefighters pay that’s comparable with other nearby cities, the department will see more of its personnel leaving for jobs that earn them more money.

Blackledge said he has no plans to continue working after retiring as chief.

“I’ve talked to my wife, [and] we have decided we’re going to do some traveling. I want to take an Alaskan cruise. That’s been on my bucket list. [And] we’re going to visit the grandkids more than we have been lately.”

Memorabilia from his career is displayed during a retirement reception for Fire Chief Jeff Blackledge.

But he’s also planning to stay active in the community—as a volunteer.

“I want to buy a tractor with a front-end loader and a grapple on it, so I can go out after storms and help people clean up.”

Blackledge said his intent is not to compete with commercial tree cutters, but he recognizes that some storm victims won’t be able to pay a company to have their debris removed.

“I’ve seen what they charge these elderly folks that are on fixed incomes,” the chief said. “I want to be able to go in and take care of that for them for nothing. I don’t know if that’ll work or not. But we’re going to try it.”