Clermont Fire Chief Carle Bishop retiring after 49 years with department
Now a booming
"When I was in high school, all my classmates said 'I can't wait to get out of this one-horse town' ... because there was nothing here. Orange groves, that's it," he said. "There was nothing to do and there was no place for them to work."
Bishop, however, stayed, found his niche in firefighting and went on to become the city's longtime fire chief. Now, after 49 years of service -- first with the city's volunteer force and, for the past 20 years, with its full-time fire department -- he's calling it a career on
City leaders credit the 67-year-old Bishop, who has served as chief for 29 years, for transforming the volunteer department into a career agency with about 90 employees.
In 2001, two years after bringing on paid firefighters,
Also under Bishop,
Officials said Bishop's crowning achievement was earning international accreditation, a stamp of approval from the
"It was a phenomenal thing for the city the size of
"What always impressed me from day one is his integrity," Mullins said. "You just trusted the man explicitly. You never questioned his values and honesty."
"I would say he's all-around fair," said Fagan, 32. "He's always considering the guys" in how he runs the department.
Bishop said one fire stands out: a 1994 conflagration at the former Dole Citrus Packing Plant, which was built with huge pine timbers. The heat reached nearly 1,000 degrees and was so intense it took the paint off a firetruck and melted a protective face shield stored in the truck cabinet.
"Once it got lit up there was no stopping it," he said.
When he started all those years ago while also working at the family business, Bishops Paint and Decorating in downtown
Nowadays, Bishop said, "The fire service is so much more technical. ... When someone comes now they go through hundreds of hours of training before becoming a firefighter."
He followed in the footsteps of his father,
He and his wife of 45 years, Wendy, have four children and 17 grandchildren (and one on the way), who represent the Bishop family's sixth generation in
A
But he doesn't join others who complain about the congestion created by new residents drawn to the area's rolling hills and proximity to
He sees the bright side of growth and understands why people want to live in
"I'm really not that nostalgic," he said. "I realize that progress is progress."
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