It’s been more than seven years since Pete Morrison experienced the worst moment in his nine years as a firefighter.
That moment occurred when his friend and fellow firefighter, Randy Jones, died in a wreck while the two were on their way to a house fire. While the years haven’t erased the pain, Morrison said, he remembers Jones every time the tones sound sending him on an emergency call.
“Randy was, and is, an inspiration to me and I still feel him with me every time those tones go off,” he said.
Morrison, 26, didn’t set out to be a firefighter. “I was never one of those kids that liked fire trucks,” he said.
Instead, he sought to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the military. There was one problem with that plan: His father was totally against it.
The fire department, he said, offered the next-best thing to being in the military. So, nine years ago, he joined the Cool Springs Volunteer Fire Department and found his calling in life.
“I loved everything about the fire department, the people and every angle of the job,” he said. “I loved it so much I decided to pursue it as a career,” he said. For the past five years, he’s been a paid firefighter with the Statesville Fire Department.
Morrison, a graduate of North Iredell High School, is just four classes away from his associate degree in fire protection technology. He plans on pursuing a bachelor’s degree after he receives his associate.
For Morrison, Jones’ death represented the loss of a friend and a mentor.
He said from the time he graduated from high school, he lived and breathed the Cool Springs VFD, and he began being fast friends with Jones, who was just a few years older. “I would ride with him almost anywhere,” he said, and that included fire and medical calls.
In July 2003, Morrison was a passenger in Jones’ pickup truck. The two were headed to Morrison’s house when the tones sounded — there was a house fire in the Cool Springs district.
“We were responding as quickly as we could, as we always did,” he said. In a curve, Jones lost control of the truck, and it began flipping. “Neither one of his had our seat belts on. We were both ejected from the vehicle,” Morrison said.
Morrison woke up a short time later at Davis Regional Medical Center. He was in tremendous pain, but the worst pain was yet to come, he said. “Someone came in the ER and told me that Randy didn’t make it. I was devastated. This is my best friend,” he said.
Morrison spent two days at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, recovering from his injuries.
The next few days were all consuming for Morrison. He remembers the torrential rain that fell as Jones’ body was brought back to Iredell County, and seeing the response from the community to Jones’ death. “People from all over the country came to support us in our time of grief,” he said.
Morrison said he keeps Jones’ spirit with him at all times and uses his experience in that July crash as a warning to others. “Wear your seatbelt,” he said.
Morrison experienced his worst moment early in his firefighting career. Other parts of the job are much more rewarding, he said.
Mostly, he said, helping people through his job and the bonds he’s formed with his fellow firefighters are the reasons he still loves the fire service.
Having someone he’s helped express thanks is a big motivator. “The most inspirational thing to me is every time I hear these words, ‘We really appreciate what you guys do.’ We don’t hear them that often, but when we do, it makes us proud to be servants of an appreciative community,” Morrison said.
Being away from his family, he said, is the worst part. “I have to spend a third of my life away from my family,” he said.
Training is also an instrumental and time-consuming part of the career. “There is always some sort of new training that I either have to teach or learn,” he said.
And like most firefighters, he works a second job — as a part-time firefighter at Monticello VFD.
With a full-time and part-time job, his duties as a volunteer at Cool Springs and a class schedule, Morrison spends what little spare time he has with his wife, Stephanie Sherrill Morrison. The two were married in October.
He also has an extended family of his parents, grandparents and in-laws.
Morrison is a member of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church and is also a member of the Statesville Professional Firefighters Association, a group of firefighters that helps a variety of charitable causes.
When he’s not working, in school or spending time with his family, Morrison said, he likes sports. Mostly, he plays softball and basketball, but does enjoying hunting and fishing. “I just love being in the wilderness,” he said.
Even after nine years in the fire service, Morrison said, he’s still just as avid about his career as he was at 18.
