Kingsport Fire Chief Scott Boyd and his brother were raised by civic-minded parents. Parents who ingrained in them the importance of volunteering their time, to help those less fortunate and try to make a difference in other people’s lives.

This mindset is what led Boyd towards a career in fire service. And now, 36 years later, Boyd has announced his retirement from the Kingsport Fire Department. “My parents brought my brother and I up to be civic-minded. They were in civic clubs and today I’m still in the Rotary Club and deliver for Meals on Wheels,” Boyd explained. “That was ingrained in me and was something that led me into my career.”

Boyd, 61, hails from Richlands, Va., and moved to Kingsport at the age of 4 with his parents and brother. He attended Miller Perry, Colonial Heights and Sullivan Central and was in the first graduating class of Sullivan South in 1981.

Boyd joined the Warriors’ Path Volunteer Fire Department at the age of 20, worked a few years at the Kingsport Press and then briefly in the fire department at Holston Defense. Then on August 8, 1988, Boyd joined the Kingsport Fire Department. You read that right, 8-8-88. To top it off, Boyd’s employee number with the KFD is, coincidentally, #88.

“Creepy, right?” Boyd said.

After starting out as a fire fighter with the department, Boyd eventually rose through the ranks, going from engineer to station officer to senior captain over training to assistant chief to chief in January 2018.

Boyd graduated from Columbia Southern University with a degree in fire administration and from the executive fire officer program at the National Fire Academy. During his tenure as chief, the Kingsport Fire Department maintained its accreditation, opened a new fire training facility, purchased a variety of new equipment and vehicles (including pumper trucks, engines and a ladder truck), while also moving forward on replacing Fire Station #2.

“After 36 years at the Kingsport Fire Department, I’m not sure I can say I’ve had two days exactly the same,” Boyd said. “It’s kept the job fresh for all of those years, which I’ve really valued and enjoyed.”

Over the years, a great number of changes have taken place within the fire service. When Boyd first started, firefighters did basic training but mostly learned on the job. Equipment has improved significantly, all of the vehicles are automatics and believe it or not, fire pants and coats were optional.

“When I started, we used to ride on the back of the fire truck going on calls. Not anymore,” Boyd said. “Today, everything is much safer than what it used to be and that’s all for the better.”

For the past 21 years, Boyd has been on the administrative side of the department. One of the things he missed most about the firefighting job is the hours. He still missed the 24-hour shift.

“You didn’t work two days in a row and it’s a different type of work. I miss helping people on a regular basis because you can see the immediate feedback of how you’re affecting people’s lives,” Boyd said. “I still pick up a call here and there and I do miss doing that on a regular basis.”

Boyd does not come from a family of firefighters. His father worked at the Kingsport Press, his mother delivered mail, and his brother works at Eastman. He and his wife live in Kingsport with two sons – one a senior at Dobyns-Bennett High School and the other working on his doctorate at East Tennessee State University.

After officially retiring on April 28, Boyd said he plans to stay in Kingsport, get some type of job (to stay busy of course) and still be a civic-minded citizen. And what he thinks he’ll miss most of all?

“The people for sure,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of great friendships through the years,
ones I’ll carry on throughout the rest of my life. I’ll definitely miss them.”