FIRST, THE fire alarm sounded, then the phone rang off the hook. That’s when Tommy Myers went into action. Pulling on boots, headwear, and courage, he rode with other firefighters to save lives.
However, Myers’ experience was different from most — because beside him, his wife and son bolted into the field.
For Myers, the service journey starts and ends in Cowan. He grew up in the small community and decided to remain in Franklin County after graduating high school.
To say the man worked a lot of jobs would be an understatement. A broad range of careers became available to him in bookkeeping, income taxes, plumbing, and truck driving. He worked at a newspaper for around eight years and participated in a band for about 20 years.
In 1986, Myers found himself treating water with the Cowan Water Department and volunteering at the town’s fire department.
The best year of his life came about seven years later.
In 1993, Myers met his future wife, Anna, and became the town’s fire chief. Because Tommy had sustained experience in bookkeeping and boasted a ton of other skills, his predecessor knew the Cowan native would be the right man for the position.
“It was good timing, and I went to work for Cowan, and I got more interested in helping the community and helping people.”
Due to Tommy’s influence, Anna volunteered at the fire department two years later to work alongside him. However, the influential pulling tugged in both directions as he dipped into her field of medical assistance, getting his Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification and following Anna, who also served as an EMT and previously worked for an ambulance service.
This new line of labor gave birth to the idea of Tommy creating Cowan’s first responder medical program around 2008.
Every fire run and rescue held personal stakes — many of those needing help were his friends, neighbors, co-workers, or fellow grocery store shoppers. A tight-knit community became the price of living in a small town like Cowan.
Whether the danger involved wrecks, broken bones, CPR needs, suicide calls, or even death, Tommy gave his best effort to assist.
“When you’ve been doing it, everybody kind of knows you, and they really feel comfortable because when they see me, they know who I am and they trust me, too.”
He became fortunate enough to spend some of that time working alongside his son, Tommy Jr., who chose to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the fire department around 2000 and later accepted a job as an advanced EMT at Vanderbilt University.
Tommy relished those days of teaming up with his family, especially when all three of them worked the same call, running together to save lives.
“We’re all doing the same thing, so we understand each other. We’re helping the community, and it makes me feel good that they’re doing that.”
Even after retiring, Tommy remains Cowan’s fire chief, helping to oversee the operation and finding other ways to serve — still aiding the water department, assisting Huntland’s sewer department, and even driving the garbage truck for Cowan.
In the 69-year-old’s eyes, one never truly retires from service.
“It’s about helping the community,” he said, “… We’re here for the community.” GN
