A Towering Influence: Remembering retired Fire Chief Bill Towers

Today, 71 of the 96 firefighters in Vestavia Hills are trained as paramedics. But when tragedy came in 1973, that wasn’t the case.

That year, three coaches from the high school were struck and killed by a truck at the corner of Montgomery Highway and Pizitz Drive. Fire Chief Bill Towers knew that it was time for a change.

Under his leadership that year, Vestavia Hills Fire Department became one of the first three cities in the state to deliver paramedic services. In partnership with Birmingham and Homewood, the department served not only its residents but also those all over the region.

“Chief Towers ushered that into Vestavia Hills, but it was not a common or popular thing for fire chiefs at the time,” said current Fire Chief Jim St. John, whom Chief Towers first hired in 1988. “There was a lot of resistance with firefighters whose mantra was, ‘we’re not doctors.’”

Throughout 37 years of growth, Towers, who passed away in May, was a pioneering leader, serving as fire chief for 28 years. Fire Station No. 1 on Montgomery Highway bears his name, but his legacy extends far beyond words on a building.

“He was a dedicated public servant,” said Mayor Butch Zaragoza, who served as Towers’ fire marshal and then deputy chief before succeeding him as fire chief. “I think that showed in the 37 years he served. He was well known throughout the state. I learned from him to tell the truth, and it will all take place if you tell the truth. He loved this community, and he would do anything he could to help the community.”

During Towers’ tenure at the department, he saw the staff of three employees grow to more than 70 and one station grow to four. By the time he retired, the once one-truck operation boasted four fire engineers, a ladder truck, a rescue truck and several pieces of reserve equipment.

Following the addition of paramedic services, many suburban communities continued to look to Vestavia Hills for an example through 1980s, when Towers led the department to also be one of the first in the area to become hazardous materials responders.

“Chief Towers saw the service become to the modern professional organization it is today with emergency medical response, hazardous material incident response, technical rescue, fire suppression and fire prevention,” St. John said.

Towers didn’t just lead by doing; he led by empowering those beneath him. In fact, 37 of the men and women he hired still work for the department, 16 years after his retirement.

“He wasn’t the only one that found new methods and brought them back,” St. John said. “He established a culture that encouraged people to find the best practices and if they made sense for Vestavia Hills, he would adopted them.”

In turn, that created leaders beneath him, many who would go on to become chiefs and senior officers in departments in surrounding areas.

“He empowered the people beneath him to do their jobs and didn’t hover over them,” St. John. “He was excellent at telling you what needed to be done and then letting you use your sense of initiative to get it done. It creates an opportunity for people to develop their own leadership skills.”

Towers’ leadership extended state-wide as well.

As past president of Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs, Towers hosted the summer conference for the organization in Vestavia Hills in 1980.

Regardless of the position, Towers’ leadership was often far from conventional.

“He was very creative and imaginative,” St. John said, recalling how once when a new service truck was needed, Towers found an old U.S. Army truck in Fort Rucker with a bad motor and convinced the mayor to let them use the City’s garbage truck to tow it back to Vestavia, provided they were back by dark. They indeed made it back and converted the Army truck.

Towers’ concerns extended beyond the station as well. According to St. John, he treated each firefighter like his own family.

“He was present at weddings and births and a whole range of things that a department that size goes through,” St. John said. “He didn’t miss important events in the lives of officers because they were a part of the family that he loved.”

It was Towers’ humility that stood out to Lieutenant Steve Hicks, who was hired by Towers in 1995 when he was 24 years old.

“He never expected anyone to bow down to him because he held that position for that long,” Hicks said. “He went to the grave not giving himself credit for his accomplishments for all the people.”

According to his obituary, Towers loved to attend reunions of “The Avondale Boys,” his closest friends from his former neighborhood in Birmingham, and he cherished his family’s vacations at their Seaside, Fla., condo. He was also actively involved in the community as a 60-year Mason, York Rite Mason, Scottish Rite Mason, and long-time member of the Zamora Shrine Temple Greeters Unit.