Cameron Haller, Fire & EMS Chief…Service Is His Business

“I only exist to serve. And that’s one thing that may limit me. I’ve worked for the government for all but 2 ½ years of my life. So, I don’t know anything other than serving other people. I was in the Navy, worked in a factory for a while (I didn’t like it), then started working for small cities. I love it; that’s what I do. I am a public servant, and I like it. So, the more public I can serve and be useful at it, not for personal gain but for the public good, that would be the ultimate to me.”

Cameron (Cam) Haller grew up in Van Wert, Ohio. In high school, Cam, a freshman, asked his future wife, Teresa, an athletic trainer and a senior, to go to the prom. And she said yes! Cam says, “I didn’t expect it. I was lucky…and I’m still lucky!”

Cam enlisted in the Navy in 1990 and while in Pensacola, Florida, joined the local fire department as a part-timer, and loved it. In the meantime, Teresa became a nurse. Cam left the Navy in 1992, married Teresa, worked in the factory, and in 1995, joined the Sidney Fire Department. “Becoming Chief of Fire & EMS wasn’t my career goal when I started. But as I grew into the role as a firefighter, I knew I had to plan for the future, having a large family at home. So, two years into the job, I went to Sinclair for an associate’s degree because I knew that someday that’s what I wanted to do.”

He worked in Sidney, learning his trade until 2019, when he was hired by Tipp City as Chief of Fire & EMS. Then began his toughest job: bringing the fire and EMS departments together under one leader, who was a stranger and an outsider, and just arrived from Sidney. Fortunately, the merger worked with minimal conflict, even though the two groups had operated separately for many years, each with its own chief. Cam credits the leadership of the EMS group, Jeff Calicoat, whom he had replaced, and interim Fire Chief Ron Haley, for supporting him during the transition (Fire Chief Kessler had died unexpectedly just before Cam arrived).

Now, explains Cam, they have fewer people than when everyone was a volunteer but have more full-time folks who can work overtime when needed. They went from over 50 people to 42 now, with 14 being full-time and three volunteer firefighters, and more women than any city of the same size. And they can cover more area than before. Also, 32 of his people are certified for both fire and EMS duty. As a result, said Cam, “We’re an ‘all hazards’ department. If we show up, you don’t need to ask, ‘Can you help me?’ We can help you! Fire, rescue, HazMat, EMS…we can help.”

Cam notes that Tipp has an “automatic aid” agreement with Vandalia, West Milton, Bethel, and Elizabeth Township, which means their Fire/EMS folks are dispatched simultaneously as Tipp City’s. He also mentioned that “30%-35% of the time, there is more than one Fire/EMS call at a time.”

Cam and Teresa, married for 31 years, have three kids, ages 30, 25, and 23, and a “Spanish daughter” from Spain, an exchange student. Cam walks his male labradoodle Riggs almost daily and walks to work most days. And, speaking of walking, Cam has started playing golf, and he and his friend have been backpacking and walking the Appalachian Trail, one week at a time, for many summers. They start the Trail each year from where they left off the prior summer, and have now gone about 600 total miles and are in Virginia. This year, says Cam, their wives are coming and will meet the hikers each evening, drive them all to dinner, movies, etc., and then drive them back to the Trail. Says Cam, “I’ve got a whole bucket list of other things I want to do.”    

Cam states that one of their Fire/EMS critical standards is that in 4½ minutes, they should be able to get a fire truck anywhere in the Tipp City jurisdiction which they serve. However, he notes, “Given the physical location and the wide territory that we serve, we can’t presently do that. But we can work to make it better. Our vision is to be a renowned leader in emergency services. So, we may not get that step all at one time, but we can continually improve to make it the best that we can, and in the most economical format that we can. That’s what I do. That’s our mission, and our mission is to serve. We need to serve our citizens.”