More than three decades have passed since the City of Houston Fire Department has had a new fire chief.
But that streak ends this week, as Don Rust steps down after 31 years at the helm and Joey Moore takes over.
“I’ve enjoyed all of it,” Rust said. “It’s just time to step back and let the younger guys do their thing.”
Rust joined the department in 1976 and became chief in 1983. A veteran of 16 years with the department, Moore was the department’s No. 1 assistant chief since May 2011 before being appointed to the top spot by Mayor Don Tottingham after Rust announced his intentions.
Effective Thursday, Moore becomes the department’s fourth chief since its formation in 1952.
“It seemed like the next logical step and I feel like I was qualified and able to do it,” Moore said. “If I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have accepted the position.”
Moore resides in Houston with his wife of six years, Julie, and works for the Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) as a probation and parole officer in the agency’s office at North U.S. 63 and Oak Hill Drive.
A graduate of Houston High School, Moore earned a degree in criminal justice administration from Missouri Southern State University. After graduating college, he joined the Lamar Police Department in October 1995 and ended up befriending a fellow officer who was also a volunteer firefighter.
“The fire station was right next door to the police department and I ended up talking a lot with some of those guys,” Moore said. “That’s what got me interested; if I had stayed there longer, I would have joined their department.”
But Moore returned to his home turf in Houston and worked as a deputy under Texas County Sheriff Dean Belshe beginning in January 1997, before moving over to the state DOC in September 1998. When he moved back home, two acquaintances were volunteers with the Houston Fire Department – Robbie Smith (then a dispatcher with the TCSD) and Josh Campbell (a city police officer).
“They got me talked into joining,” Moore said.
During his tenure as chief, Rust was instrumental in helping the department progress and worked hard to outfit it with the best and safest gear available and to help its firefighters be as prepared as possible.
“He really helped improve our training and equipment,” Moore said. “I just want to carry on that tradition. It’s hard to provide a good service if you don’t have the right equipment to back it up with.”
One thing Moore expects to focus on as chief is creating a way to regularly upgrade the department’s fleet.
“The average life of a fire truck is about 20 years,” he said.
“It would be nice to get on a rotating schedule so you’re replacing a truck every 10 years or so.”
One way Moore said that might be possible is through the extension of an 1/8-cent retail sales tax that for about two more years will go toward paying off the department’s state-of-the-art ladder truck.
“It would be nice to have the money in the bank to go buy a truck or whatever else might be needed, rather than get a loan and be paying interest,” he said. “I know that would require voter approval, but that’s just sound financial management. Also, right now it takes about $2,500 to properly outfit a firefighter, and that’s just their protective gear – it doesn’t include their other equipment.
“And the federal grant money to cover that kind of thing just isn’t there like it used to be.”
Moore also hopes to grow the department’s roster from its current level of 17 active, qualified firefighters to 25 or more.
“We definitely need more personnel,” he said. “And it’s not just the city department, it’s the rural, too. Most of us are on both departments, so we share a lot of duties.
“We have a couple of new guys going through Firefighting 1 and 2 training right now, and that will help with guys who can make entry on a house fire. But we need more help, big time.”
Moore envisions a scenario where days and nights are both adequately covered by crews that more or less work separately.
“It would be great if we could have enough personnel to have a crew that could respond in the daytime so firefighters who work during the day wouldn’t have to,” he said. “I know there are people out there who work the night shift, but getting them to fill out an application is a different story.”
All Missouri fire departments are required to have a chief and two assistant chiefs. Now that Moore will wear the chief’s white helmet, second-assistant Jon Cook (a veteran of 13 years with the department) will move up to first-assistant and Capt. Jeremy St. John (17 years) will be second-assistant.
His predecessor figures Moore is ready for his new responsibility.
“He’ll do fine,” Rust said. “He’s already been taking care of all of it for several months now, so he knows the ins and outs.”
“There’s a lot of administrative work behind the scenes that most people – even firefighters – don’t see,” Moore said. “I’ve gotten to see a good bit of it over the past couple of years, but I know how much more of it Don did, and I look forward to the challenge of keeping up with it.”
Moore said it’s critical that there be a good relationship between Houston’s city and rural fire departments, and that he likes the current condition of that relationship.
“I think it’s headed in the right direction,” he said. “We just need to keep it going that way.”
Rust, 62, plans to remain available and help out whenever he’s needed. He said that after so long, being a firefighter is sort of in his blood and he’s still willing to take the good with the bad.
“You always know you’re needed, because of the volunteer aspect of it,” Rust said. “And I’ve always enjoyed working with everybody. The best part is getting to work on a good sized fire. The worst part is cleaning up afterward.”
Moore said he hopes people of Houston and the surrounding area will continue doing one thing he thinks they’ve done well in the past.
“Support us,” he said. “We’re there to protect and serve the public, so we ask for the public’s support to help us do that.”
A reception honoring Rust is scheduled for 6:30-8:30 p.m. May 9 at the Houston Storm Shelter on First Street.
For information about becoming a City of Houston volunteer firefighter, call Moore at 417-217-0230.
It seemed like the next logical step and I feel like I was qualified and able to do it. If I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have accepted the position.”
On Jan. 3, 1976, Don Rust stopped by Houston City Hall to follow up on a job he had just completed for the city. Before leaving the building, Rust was approached by city clerk Joyce Campbell, who asked if he would be interested in becoming a firefighter.
“I guess I could do that,” Rust said.
“Fine, I’ll put you on the roster,” Campbell said.
Little did Rust realize the impact that statement would have. He stayed with the City of Houston Fire Department for 38 years and went on to become chief for 33 years until his retirement became effective this week.
In 1982, Rust was serving as assistant chief of the City of Houston department. Houston Rural Fire Chief Warren Gobble (who had led that department since its beginning) retired, and Rust took over the reins. Then when city Chief Bob Dunn stepped down in 1983, the mayor appointed Rust to that position. Serving as both city and rural chiefs, while simultaneously running his excavating business and dealing with family responsibilities, was overwhelming.
In 1984, Rust resigned as rural chief in order to devote more time to the city department, and quickly established an agenda to improve training, upgrade and replace antiquated equipment and obtain better compensation for the volunteers. In the early 1980s, calls were divided into two categories: dry runs and wet runs. If water was sprayed on a fire, it was considered a wet run and firefighters received $5 for the call, while dry runs paid $2.50.
Today, a daytime call pays $35 and all others $25. This helps compensate firefighters for clothing replacement, fuel and – in a small way – their time in serving and protecting the community.
All did not run smoothly early in Rust’s career. He felt the city leaders had not taken his suggestions seriously and were not making efforts to remedy the problems. After some issues had been tabled for more than three years, he resigned as fire chief at a city council meeting in January 1986. After a lengthy meeting, the council admitted to a communication breakdown and felt the differences could be worked out. Rust was asked to reconsider and agreed to stay on as chief.
Rust obtained his Firefighter I certification in 1991. The training was offered through the University of Missouri Fire Training Institute and consisted of 120 hours of classroom work, a day of practical training and a written exam. Rust also received training in incident management, hazardous materials, fire officer and emergency driving. Today, all fire department officers are required to have Firefighter I and II certification along with HazMat and numerous other forms of training.
As his tenure progressed, Rust realized the future of the department would depend on attracting young volunteers. In 1992, he got approval to start a Junior Firefighter Program in which recruits ages 16 to 18 would receive thorough training and have the chance to support firefighters at the scene of a fire without placing them in harm’s way.
One of Rust’s protégés, Robbie Smith, went on to become a professional firefighter and was recently featured in a national magazine.
City of Houston Fire Department accomplishments under Rust’s leadership include:
•Construction of a new fire station, which includes five truck bays, an office, a kitchenette and meeting room, a storage area, hose-drying racks, a washing machine and equipment to refill air packs.
•A 1950 Ford truck was replaced with a top-notch 1994 Freightliner demo truck from Precision Fire Apparatus.
•The Texas County Rescue vehicle was replaced with a heavy duty International style ambulance, better suited for the transport of equipment and personnel.
•In 2006 voters approved a 1/8-cent retail sales tax for the purchase of a new, fully equipped, Pierce Quint ladder truck which includes a state-of-the-art foam system. Rust’s former protégé Smith brokered the deal through Schumacher Fire Equipment.
•More aspects of the fire station, other vehicles, and most of the auxiliary equipment such as air packs, bunker gear, tools, and training were upgraded.
When Rust first became chief, Houston had an ISO Insurance rating of 8. In 1987, it went from 7 to 6. In 2007, primarily because of the department’s efforts, Houston received an ISO 4 rating, narrowly missing a level 3. This is practically unheard of with a volunteer department. (lower numbers translate to lower insurance rates).
Through the years, Rust sat on various boards and committees and served the community in various other ways, including serving as County Civil Defense Director, being a member of the Houston Planning and Zoning Commission and supervising the Texas County Rescue team. He was toss-ball coach when his sons were young and received the U.S. Presidential Service Award in 2007 (that recognizes volunteerism in fire service).
Rust married the former Janet Haney in 1975. The couple has two sons, Darren and David, who both followed in their dad’s footsteps to work as firefighters.
So what is Don Rust going to do with the rest of his life? He will still have a part in the City of Houston Fire Department, as he has agreed to stay on the roster to help out if needed. He still operates the family business, Rust Excavating (which he established in the mid-1970s), and he will continue to assist the public with plumbing, heating and cooling needs at his father’s business, Rust Utility Shop.
“Don Rust, you have served your community well and we thank you,” said incoming chief Joey Moore. “All of the firefighters from Houston and throughout Region G wish you the best.”
–– By City of Houston FD assistant chief Jeremy St. John