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Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:12 AM Rock Ridge kid never outgrew his love for firefighting By Janelle Clevinger | Times Staff Writer Eight years ago, as a junior at Hunt High School, Doug Bissette became the first student in North Carolina's high school apprentice program to work with a city fire department, working for two years with the Wilson Fire Department. Today, he is a rising star in the Washington, N.C., Department of Fire-Rescue-EMS, having been promoted in January to the rank of lieutenant at the age of 24. He is also a lieutenant with Chocowinity EMS. Bissette is living out his dream of being a firefighter, a dream that began when he was a child. "Doug has wanted to be a firefighter all his life, since he was very small," said his mother, Debbie Bissette. "For someone to be able to set a goal for himself that young and get it done, well, that says something." Doug, and his identical twin, Jay, lived in Wallace from ages 2 to 5 years old, and the family went to church with the local fire chief. The chief would take a fire truck to various events, and the boys were able to play with the lights and sirens and even ride in the truck. When the family moved to Rock Ridge, they lived within a mile of the volunteer fire department, where they would hear the alarms and watch the fire trucks go by on their way to emergency calls. "I always remember wanting to be a firefighter," Bissette said. "I might have gone two weeks where I wanted to do something else, but I was the kid who was attracted to the lights and sirens." Bissette said that to this day, he is still as excited about getting on a fire truck as he was when he was a child. "When I first get in the truck, I still have that kid-like fascination," he said. "But 30 to 40 seconds into the ride, it kicks in and I think, 'I have to do this, and I have to do that.' But even riding from station to station I think, 'I'm riding on a fire truck!" Upon graduating from Hunt in 2002, Bissette enrolled in the 9th Regional Fire Academy at Wilson Community College. After finishing that 16-week course, he enrolled in the two-year fire protection degree program at Wilson Community College on a full scholarship awarded by the school. He was hired by the Washington fire department while earning his degree and completed that degree while on the job. He is one of only five members of the Washington Department of Fire-Rescue-EMS who has earned that degree. Bissette wanted to stay in Wilson to be near his family and work for Wilson's fire department, but the opportunity never arose. "Washington's fire department had an opening, and I had to make up my mind that I wanted to be a fireman and I would have to move to get that," Bissette said. "The biggest lesson I've learned is that you have to move on after disappointment. You can't always get what you want, so you move on." Bissette's recent promotion to lieutenant hasn't quite registered with him yet. "Sometimes I feel it hasn't even hit me," he said. "I've always wanted to be an officer in a fire department, and it's still kind of settling in that I'm a lieutenant and that I'm in charge." Bissette takes a lot of pride in the fact that he is also an Instructor Level II, which means he's a qualified fire instructor and a qualified live fire instructor. A live fire instructor is able to supervise the burning of real structures for training purposes. "Instructing people is something that makes me say, 'Wow, I'm really doing something useful with my life.'" Bissette is currently enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the four-year fire safety engineering degree program, which he is able to complete online. He says he still considers Wilson his hometown, and would love to be closer to his family, but it would be hard to move back at this point. "I'm engaged to a woman (Kimberly Williams) from down here, and she has a great job as a teacher in a great school," Bissette said. He said that he trusts God to let him know where he needs to be. One of Bissette's proudest accomplishments is being affiliated with the Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department in Lucama, where he volunteered before he left for Washington. His Crossroads' officer number was 810, something he thinks about every time he leaves the station on a call. "I keep a piece of an old Buick that spells out the number eight in the pocket of my Washington turnout gear," said Bissette. "It reminds me where I'm from and where I got my start." ON THE MAP runs on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. If you have a story that you want to share, e-mail jclevinger@wilsontimes.com or call 265-7811. If you have an event that you would like to enter on our community calendar, go to www.wilsontimes.com and click on the link for submitting information to the calendar. |
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Great Job! said...
I did not know this young fellow but anytime someone works that hard to achieve something like this I know it makes his parents very Proud. Way to go Mr. Bissett. Maybe other young people will read this and do something with thier lives.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:31 PM
I did not know this young fellow but anytime someone works that hard to achieve something like this I know it makes his parents very Proud. Way to go Mr. Bissett. Maybe other young people will read this and do something with thier lives.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:31 PM
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