THOMASVILLE, Ala. — Charlie Dixon, a volunteer with the Thomasville Volunteer Fire Department for more than three decades, has been honored as a statewide leader in fire prevention, receiving the chief advocate for prevention award at the 10th annual Alabama Fire and Life Safety Summit.
The recognition came Sept. 10 during the summit at the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa. The award recognizes people who have shown leadership in fire prevention, public education, outreach and community risk reduction — work that, in Dixon’s case, has stretched from the streets of Thomasville to volunteer fire departments across Alabama.
A Volunteer Since 1992
Dixon started out as a volunteer firefighter in March 1992. In the years since, he has served in Clarke County and across the state, and he has held a visible role within his home department, including serving as the Thomasville Volunteer Fire Department’s public relations director.
His focus has not been limited to his own station. Dixon’s efforts have been aimed at improving resources, training and opportunities for volunteer fire departments throughout Alabama — the small, often rural companies that provide fire protection to much of the state and depend on residents who give their time without pay.
Volunteer departments in small towns and rural areas typically rely on a mix of local fundraising, grants and state programs to buy equipment and keep members trained. Advocates like Dixon who work on the statewide level help those departments reach resources that a single small company might struggle to secure on its own.
Benefits for Volunteer Firefighters
One of the accomplishments cited in Dixon’s recognition is his role in establishing an annuity and benefits program for volunteer firefighters. The program provides benefits that previously were not available to volunteers through a statewide program. The announcement of his award did not detail the specific steps he took in that effort.
In Alabama, the statewide vehicle for firefighter retirement benefits of this kind is the Alabama Firefighters Annuity and Benefit Fund, a special fund for providing retirement allowances and other benefits to its members. It was created by Act 2010-726, which Gov. Bob Riley signed into law on April 30, 2010.
Firefighters actively serving a department in Alabama, including volunteers, may join the fund and remain members as long as they continue to serve. The fund provides retirement, disability and death benefits. Under state law, a member who has reached age 62 and completed at least 25 years of qualified service is entitled to an annuity benefit, with the monthly amount set by the fund’s board based on actuarial recommendations. Alabama taxpayers can also support the fund through a voluntary check-off on their state income tax returns.
For volunteers who may spend decades answering calls at all hours while holding down full-time jobs, a benefit of that kind represents a meaningful recognition of their service.
A Safety House for Thomasville’s Children
Dixon’s work also helped the Thomasville Volunteer Fire Department secure funding to buy a safety training house. The unit simulates house fires and severe weather situations and is used to teach children how to respond during emergencies.
Fire safety houses are a familiar tool in fire prevention education. They let children practice what they have been taught — such as recognizing the sound of a smoke alarm, staying low under smoke, checking doors for heat, getting out and going to a family meeting place — in a setting that looks and feels like a real home, without the danger of a real emergency. Because the Thomasville unit also simulates severe weather, it can be used to teach children where to take shelter and what to do when a storm threatens, a relevant lesson in a state that regularly deals with tornado warnings.
That kind of hands-on education is at the heart of the award Dixon received. Prevention and education programs are designed to reduce the number of emergencies before firefighters ever have to respond to them.
A Long List of Honors
The chief advocate for prevention award adds to a long list of recognitions Dixon has received over his career. Among them:
- Recognition from a local civic club
- Firefighter of the Year honors from the Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire Departments
- Firefighter of the Year honors from the Thomasville Fire Department
- Statewide Firefighter of the Year recognition
The Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire Departments represents volunteer fire companies across the state, making its Firefighter of the Year honor a recognition from Dixon’s peers in the volunteer fire service.
About the Summit
The Alabama Fire and Life Safety Summit is a one-day gathering for people who work in fire prevention, public education and life safety. This year’s event, the 10th, was held Sept. 10 at the Alabama Fire College, which partners with the National Fire Protection Association to host it. The summit is free to attend and is built around networking and professional development for the fire and life safety community.
The Alabama Fire College, formally the Alabama Fire College and Personnel Standards and Education Commission, is located on Phoenix Drive in Tuscaloosa. It is the state’s training and certification institution for firefighters and emergency medical services personnel, serving career firefighters, volunteers and EMS professionals throughout Alabama with certification programs and continuing education.
What Community Risk Reduction Means
Community risk reduction, one of the areas the award specifically recognizes, is an approach the fire service has increasingly embraced. Rather than focusing only on responding to emergencies, departments identify the risks most likely to harm people in their own communities — such as home fires, severe weather or other hazards — and then target education, equipment and programs at those risks.
In practice, that can mean school visits, smoke alarm programs, public safety events or tools like the safety house Thomasville’s volunteers now use with children. For small volunteer departments, prevention work is a way to multiply their impact, since every fire that never starts is one their members never have to fight.
Thomasville and Clarke County
Thomasville is one of Clarke County’s largest communities, and like much of rural southwest Alabama, the area depends heavily on volunteer firefighters for fire protection and emergency response. Departments like Thomasville’s are staffed by residents who train on their own time and respond when the pager goes off.
Dixon’s recognition at the state level places a spotlight on that tradition of service — and on one volunteer whose work over more than 30 years has reached from a single fire station in Clarke County to firefighters, and children, across Alabama.