Jim Robbins is retiring after spending 39 years as a fire chief. He first served as head of the fire department for Lucerne, Calif., and later as chief of Northshore Fire Protection District, which he was appointed to lead in 2006 after Lucerne, Nice, Upper Lake and Clearlake Oaks all consolidated into one district. Courtesy photo.

LUCERNE, Calif. – After 39 years as a fire chief, Jim Robbins is preparing for his retirement.

Robbins, 59, is marking his last official day on the job as Northshore Fire chief on Thursday, but he said this week that, with the final selection of his successor still a few weeks out, he'll remain on the job long enough to help get the new chief settled.

“It's not that I really want to walk away from it, it's just that I feel that it's time,” Robbins said Wednesday of his plans to retire.

He's been on the job a long time.

At the age of 20, Robbins became the chief of the Lucerne Fire Department. In 2003, he became chief of the Northshore Fire Joint Powers Agreement, and was appointed chief of the newly formed Northshore Fire Protection District in November 2006.

He oversees a department with a $2.8 million annual budget, drawing its revenues from property tax, a fire fee and money generated from ambulance services.

The district has 17 paid employees and 58 volunteers covering seven stations, three of which – Lucerne, Clearlake Oaks and Nice – are manned around the clock, seven days a week, in order to serve one of the state's largest fire districts, covering more than 350 square miles.

“I've surrounded myself with good administrative staff, so it works out real well,” he said.

No matter the size of a department, Robbins said there are always challenges. “The people that we've hired are up for the challenge and want to help people, and I'm very proud of that part of it.”

Robbins has spent most of his life in Lake County, moving here with his family when he was about 12 years old.

He credits his mother with spurring his interest in firefighting.

While they still lived in San Francisco's Sunset District, he remembered that when fire engines would go down the street, his mother would chase them to see where they were going. “So that's kinda how I got my start.”

He would find himself actively getting involved in firefighting just a few years later.

When he was 15 and living in Lucerne, he and a friend watched local firefighters prepare for a Thursday night fire drill at a local wrecking yard.

He remembered the firefighters setting up an old car that would be set on fire, and putting a dummy in the front seat that firefighters were supposed to remove after they had extinguished the fire.

After the fire chief set up the car and left, “Being kids, we decided we were going to help them out a little bit,” said Robbins, explaining that he and his friend then wired the dummy into the car.

Jim Robbins worked his way up through the ranks, joining the fire department in Lucerne, Calif., while still a teenager. He and appointed as the agency's chief when he was 20 years old. Lucerne was merged along with several other districts into the Northshore Fire Protection District, a process that was completed in 2006, at which time he was appointed the new district's chief. Courtesy photo.

Later, they watched firefighters arrive and try to get the dummy out of the car after putting out the fire. He said the chief looked at them and, said, “So you boys want to be firemen, don't you?”

The young Robbins and his friend were invited to help roll up hose, and after being told they did a good job, they were invited to the station for the next meeting, at which time the chief said they needed to start a junior fire department.

That was in 1967, and during the next several years Robbins would work his way up through the ranks – from engineer to captain and deputy chief before receiving the chief's job at age 20.

In the years since then, he's watched the community grow, seen needs increase and the witnessed requirements for firefighters change significantly.

Today, volunteers must complete 240 hours of training annually, as much as paid personnel, as well as completing continuing education, he explained.

“The demand on them any more is really tough,” he said.

One of the most memorable incidents of his tenure was the August 1996 Fork Fire in the Mendocino National Forest.

At nearly 83,000 acres, the fire is still ranked among the largest in United States history. Robbins, who has traveled with strike teams to battle blazes around California, said he believes it was the largest fire he'd ever fought.

The cause of the fire was attributed to an unattended campfire in White Buck Canyon, at the base of Elk Mountain. Robbins said four homes and numerous outbuildings were destroyed by the fire, which he personally was on for 13 days.

Robbins said the fire was “crazy,” and recounted how it created its own wind as it raced through the wildland.

“It almost sounds like a freight train coming down a track toward you. It just rumbles as it gets closer,” he said, adding, “I didn't think I was ever gonna see my kids again after that one.”

Firefighters came from around California to help fight the Fork Fire, which Robbins remembered at one point jumped over firefighters in a “flashover.” Good safety plans, he added, helped firefighters survive it.

Robbins said the firefighters had been proud of their ability to save numerous older buildings that had been part of the Bartlett Springs Resort from the Fork Fire.

He said one of his biggest disappointments was seeing many of those same buildings destroyed by an arsonist in 2007. But Northshore Fire's efforts helped lead to the arrest and prosecution of Norman Henderson, who later was sentenced to 24 years in state prison for the serial arsons.

Time for transition

Since Robbins announced his retirement earlier this year, the Northshore Fire Protection District Board of Directors has been working to find the district's new chief.

“I think it's time for someone younger to come in and build a future for themselves and be progressive,” he said.

Robbins said he has not been involved in the hiring process, choosing to step back and allow the district to make its choice. “They've basically handled it to this point.”

He said three top candidates have been chosen and are now going through background checks. A final selection is expected within a few weeks.

Although June 30 was his planned retirement date, “I've agreed to stay on just a little longer,” said Robbins, adding that he will help with the new chief's transition in order to make it a smooth one.

Once that's completed, Robbins will start his next chapter.

“I have a lot of things that I'd like to see and do,” he said.

A retirement party is being held for Robbins on July 23 at the Clearlake Oaks Moose Lodge, located at the intersection of Highways 20 and 53. Hospitality will start at 3 p.m. with dinner at 5:30 p.m., and presentations and desserts at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased from any member of Northshore Fire's personnel.

Robbins said he plans to stay in Lucerne in retirement.

His wife, Leah, is a captain/paramedic with Northshore Fire, and his mother lives on a ranch above town where he plans to help do some farming.

In addition, there are plans for fishing and, he added, “My wife's got a list of things for me to do.”

Looking back on his work with the fire department, Robbins said, “I just hope that I left it better than I found it.”

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