By William Smith
Matt Trexel has been the face of the Burlington Fire Department for more than a decade.
But the department has been the face of Matt Trexel’s life for far longer.
Trexel, 55, is officially retiring at the end of the year. A retirement celebration is set for Dec. 27.
He’s going to miss the place. More importantly, he’s going to miss the firefighters.
“I’ve hired over half the people who work here,” Trexel said. “They’re my friends. I love to go down to the kitchen and tell stories. We’ll talk about our families and our hobbies. My whole life has been the fire department. I have my blood family, but this is my other family.”
A Lone Tree native, Trexel moved to Burlington with his father when he was a junior in high school. His father moved to attend gun-smithing school at Southeastern Community College.
Though he didn’t grow up here, Trexel felt at home in Burlington and wanted to stay. He worked at Godfather’s Pizza during the summer and graduated from Burlington High School the following year.
Trexel went to school with his future wife, and they connected while working at Godfather’s Pizza. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps after high school in 1989.
“I decided to follow my dad’s footsteps since he was in the Marines,” Trexel said.
Trexel then started working as a correctional officer in Mount Pleasant. He had plans to become a police officer and work part-time as a security guard while taking criminal justice classes at SCC. He ended up working at the Burlington Fire Department.
Trexel did his best to choke back tears during his retirement speech Monday at the Burlington City Council meeting.
“I’ve loved this job. I found meaning in it,” he said.
It took Trexel four years to get hired. The employment scene was quite different in the 90s. Unlike now, police and fire agencies had far more applicants than they could use.
“I had no firefighting or EMS experience, and there were a ton of people. I don’t remember exactly how many, but there were a lot of people that applied, and that’s kind of why I think it took so long,” Trexel said.
Life in the fire department is quite a bit different now than it was then. The 24-hour shifts are still mandatory, but the firefighters’ sleep time is much looser now.
“Back then, it was very regimented. You went in at 5 o’clock and you made your bed in the dorm room. Then, at 9 o’clock, you could go to bed,” Trexel said.
Things are busier for the fire department now – partially because of Iowa’s aging population. Catching shut-eye is more a matter of convenience than ceremony now.
The fire department also serves more areas than it used to, such as Henderson County.
“If it’s 2 in the afternoon and we have a slow period, you can go in there and take a nap. You were way more likely to get some sleep back then,” Trexel said.
Trexel is closing down a 27-year career at the department and spent the first eight years as a general firefighter/paramedic. From there, he was promoted to captain and then battalion chief.
“I did a lot of training the first eight years, going to EMT school, going to paramedic school. Getting all the firefighter training,” he said.
Becoming captain put Trexel in a training role, and captains get to go out on most of the fire calls. As fire chief, Trexel makes his way to nearly every fire call he can.
He likes to joke that of all the big fires he fought, he missed the biggest one — the night First United Methodist Church burned to the ground.
“That was the one fire I was out of town for,” he said. “I was in an officer class in Des Moines.”
Other standout fires include the Horace Mann Middle School Fire, the Tama Building fire, and a lumberyard fire.
“I remember pulling up there (the lumberyard), and it was a huge inferno. It melted some of the gauges on our trucks. It was my first time where it was an all-nighter, you know, we’re out there all night. We’re back the next day, you know, mopping up things,” Trexel said. “You just don’t forget those kind of calls.”
Trexel became fire chief in December of 2012 while juggling a personal life that consists of a happy marriage with four children – including an adopted daughter from Ethiopia. He even has a grandson now.
“My kids are all grown adults now,” Trexel said.
Trexel also wants to spend more time with his grandson before he becomes full-grown. Being a fire chief is a 24/7 position. Downtime is precious and often unavailable.
Despite that, Trexel was able to accomplish the most significant task of the year before retiring – pushing through a bond referendum for a third fire station. The voting public overwhelmingly agreed with the need for a new station, though Trexel will no longer be with the fire department by the time it’s built.
He’s okay with that. He’s lived one life for the fire department. Now, he’s going to live another life for his family. And he may just fit some hunting in there.
“I am more a watcher than a hunter these days,” he said with a laugh. “I just like to sit in the stand.”