After serving overseas in the military, Bill Farr returned to Missouri in 1974. Wanting to serve his community, Farr became a volunteer firefighter in Brookline near Springfield. Little did he know that would lead him on a path that eventually took him to the rank of state fire marshal.
Farr will retire Friday from full-time public service as he leaves his post as Cole County Emergency Management director.
"Who would have ever thought, as a volunteer, your career could have been as good as this?" Farr said.
The emergency management coordinator helps oversee the activities of the emergency response agencies in Cole County, including Jefferson City.
Farr was confirmed to the position of Missouri state fire marshal in May 1996, after his appointment by then-Gov. Mel Carnahan. Gov. Bob Holden reappointed him, and Gov. Matt Blunt kept Farr as acting fire marshal.
After 20 years serving the state, Farr served 13 years with Cole County.
He said the events that occurred in 2019 were probably what he'll remember the most of his time with the county.
"You know, I looked at retiring last year, but I thought I would stay on one more year," Farr said. "When the tornado hit on May 22, then I thought, 'Yeah, I'm going to retire,'" he said.
Having lived in the Springfield area, Farr had been through two tornadoes.
"It's something I'd seen, but when it gets dropped in your own lap, the responsibilities are multiplied," he said. "Then we had the flood, too. It hit on my 69th birthday, so it's one I'll never forget."
Farr believes the amount of training law enforcement and emergency services personnel received paid off in their response to these natural disasters.
"Working with this community has been one of the best things I've dealt with," Farr said. "When I first came on, we had already started a program to send those folks to an emergency management institute in Virginia where they teach you all-hazard conditions, and they hit you with everything that could possibly be affected after a man-made or natural disaster.
"So when we have to get around the table to make decisions, it's not county versus city, it's what do we need to do for our community."
Through this training, Farr said, local emergency workers have gotten to know their partner agencies at the state level, which helps in a crisis situation.
"I got a call the day before the tornado hit from the Red Cross director in St. Louis asking if we needed a shelter set up to help those affected by flooding," Farr said. "I told her no, but that next day I called back and said we would need one. It was an example of being able to quickly contact an agency leader so we could get help right away."
Farr was also involved in a years-long process that ended in December with the installment of a new outdoor warning siren to serve the downtown Jefferson City area. It was installed behind the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce building on Commercial Way.
"It was the 31st outdoor warning siren we've installed in the county and city since 2012," he said.
The Cole County Commission contracted with Meyer Electric in 2012 for sirens to be placed in unincorporated areas of the county and in communities that signed agreements to help pay for sirens. Communities such as St. Thomas, Russellville, Taos, St. Martins and Wardsville got sirens after agreeing to chip in funds. Sirens were also placed in unincorporated areas such as along Country Club Drive, Scott Station Road and Zion Road in an effort to reach as many people as possible.
At the same time, the Jefferson City Council approved replacing several sirens in town. At that time, city officials said the city's siren system was similar to what had existed in Joplin when a devastating tornado hit the area in May 2011 - and that system was a failure.
The new sirens are digital, with no moving parts, making maintenance much easier. Digital models also send a clearer signal and cover a larger area.
"Coming from Southwest Missouri, I realized how important an outside siren was, and we didn't have those in many areas when I came on," Farr said. "We couldn't have done this without the support of the Cole County and Jefferson City leaders as well as the smaller communities in the county."
In December, the County Commission hired Sierra Thomas to take Farr's position after his retirement. She is a native of Cole County who has worked with emergency services agencies in 13 Mid-Missouri counties and has completed many Federal Emergency Management Agency training courses.
Although he's leaving the day-to-day operation, Farr said, he still plans to be involved in the community, as he will continue to work with the hazmat and emergency response teams.
"When I came up to Jefferson City in 1994, I was only supposed to be around for two years," Farr said. "Then Gov. Carnahan asked me to stay on longer, and I've been here ever since. It's a great community and people. There's a lot of helping hands out there - all you have to do is ask."