David Woods has been a volunteer firefighter for the Wagner Volunteer Fire Department for the past 11 years. Woods is the current Assistant Chief for the department. This time next year, Woods will be chief of the department. An interesting detail about the Wagner Volunteer Fire Department is that serving as an officer is a six-year commitment starting with the secretary/treasurer position then moving to assistant chief and finally chief, serving two years in each position.

Woods first became interested in being a firefighter after Jason Von Eschen approached David about joining. After a little bit of thought on the subject, Woods saw joining the department as a way to be involved with a great organization within the Wagner community and meet new people.

As the Assistant Chief, Woods, is also tasked with being the training officer. The Wagner Volunteer Fire Department tries to do a monthly training taught by Woods, does walk throughs of Wagner buildings and apartments and spends time educating the Wagner Community School students and staff and local daycares about fire safety. The building and apartment walk throughs are very important because it gives firefighters a real-world perspective of local building layouts in order to be prepared should their services be needed.

Every year there is Fire School, which is a state-wide weekend training. It is always up to individual members whether they wish to attend or not, but Woods actively encourages and recommends that members attend. It is a great refresher course for everyone and is also packed with the latest innovative information and tools to give firefighters an even broader breadth of knowledge. The fire department plans to do a refresher training on the pin location of race cars in order to know how to easily disassemble one in preparation for the upcoming racing season. Woods is also hoping to do a grain bin extraction training in the near future.

Having school aged children, one of Wood’s favorite fire department duties would be Fire Safety Month when he and his fellow firefighters share their knowledge about fire safety with the younger students at WCS. It is such an important duty because they teach children the basics such as having a set meeting place with their family, staying low to the floor as smoke rises, etc.

When asked what is the most important duty of a volunteer firefighter, Woods responded time. It is a commitment that should not be taken lightly, and it is vital that when the fire whistle sounds that a volunteer firefighter is willing and able to take the call. Becoming a firefighter has also changed Wood’s perspective on life and family. After seeing the devastation, hardships and trauma that a fire can cause, it really puts things into perspective, and a person gets to see what is really important in life and just how lucky they are.

One aspect of the Wagner Fire Department that community members may not realize is that the department is run like a business. It is up to the three officers to keep everything up to date and running efficiently. It is the chief, assistant chief and secretary/ treasurer that make sure the equipment is up to date and is in good working order, attend fire district meetings, work on the funding of the organization and plan fundraising activities. These wonderful volunteers do this in addition to their careers and daily life obligations.

David is married to his wife, Rachel, and they have three sons Jackson (12), Alex (10) and William (5). Woods is a General Contractor for Scott Doom Contracting. Besides being a volunteer firefighter, Woods is active in the community coaching 10U baseball and 6th grade basketball. He enjoys coaching his children’s sports. With his children being very active and involved in many sports and activities, Woods spends any free time watching and being a part of their activities.

Thank you, David, for your service and dedication to the Wagner community.