BEREA, Ky. (LEX 18) — The City of Berea welcomed its first full-time firefighter in 1966, after years of volunteers battling flames.
This past month, the city and fire department had to say goodbye to that first firefighter after he passed away in his sleep.
LEX 18's Kayleigh Randle was in Madison County where his family and former colleagues share their memories of the late trailblazer.
"This station, it used to be just a very small bedroom with a bathroom and a very small living room. That's all we had. And we had two trucks- three trucks in here at one time and that's all we had and it was a very small department. But we, it was a good department — it was a good department," explains Randall Rigsby, a retired Berea Fire Department chief and good friend of the late firefighter.
Berea Fire Department was first built in 1910. The station has been a home and a safe place to thousands across Kentucky. It was run by Berea College and volunteers until 1966. "So, the City of Berea took over in 1966 and hired a chief and firefighter, Hobert. To have him be the root of this department is a privilege to know him and give back to him and his service to this department," explains Lieutenant Brent Billings, who has been with the Berea Fire Department since 2010.
Charles Hobert Halcomb was the first full-time firefighter to honor the city of Berea and put his life before every person who lived there.
"Well the first time I met Holbert was the night they voted me into the department," describes Rigsby. "He knew his job well, knew the fire service well. He would cut up in the stations and play, but the minute the bell went off and we left the station it was all business. You understood him, that's the way it was."
"When I started you heard about Hobert," explains Billings. "I had the opportunity of meeting him one time and all of the stories and things that people told us, absolutely true."
Rita Williams, Hobert's daughter, says everyone in the community knew and loved her father.
Hobert retired from the station as a Battalion Chief in 1994. Taking on small jobs throughout his life until this past year when life took a turn for the worst.
"He developed a fever so when we took him to the hospital they said he had some kind of infection but they couldn't find it…but the doctor said, he is going to die and he will just gradually die," said Williams. "We told him how wonderful he was and how he'd been so wonderful to us and that it was okay for him to go on."
A week after his diagnosis, Hobert had passed away in his sleep at home.
"It hit pretty hard. I mean we were close throughout the years of working. We didn't see each other like I would have liked to afterward, but I thought the world of Hobert and it hit hard the day I found out," said Rigsby.
Before Hobert's passing, the station let him ride in the fire truck one last time. "Smiling from ear to ear, you could just tell all of the memories were coming back to him and he was just a kid again."
An official memorial was held on December 2, 2024 to honor Hobert and all the good he did for his community.
"They do a thing called the last call and that gets you, when they called his number for the last time and they'll do that a couple times and then they'll finally say, this is the last call for Hobert Halcomb," details Rigsby. "I was just honored to work with Hobert. He showed me so much of the fire service the years I worked with him. He was excellent at training you and showing you what you needed. And I'd just respect him for all he'd done."
"I hope that people remember what a good person he was and how he cared for other people and you know he had a lot of other really good firefighters work with him and he cared about them and you know I think he would have died for him and they for him," said Williams
