Late firefighter trained many local volunteers

Local firefighters say that Lewis H. Baker, 81, of Murfreesboro, who died Sunday, was instrumental in fire service training, including many of Bedford County's volunteers.

Bedford County Fire Chief Mark Thomas said that Baker had been one of three men hired by the state in the late 1950s -- one for each Grand Division -- to train firefighters.

"He knew all the firemen," said Thomas. "He could tell you what kinds of trucks [each department] had."

Baker is said to have trained many of Bedford County's volunteer firefighters.

Baker worked for years at the state fire training academy when it was located at the Tennessee Technology Center in Murfreesboro, until his retirement in 2001. However, he continued to do some teaching as a contractor for the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy after it opened that year on Unionville-Deason Road, and taught until 2006, according to Executive Director Roger Hawks.

"Most of the later years he taught all the classes related to apparatus and fire pumps," said Hawks.

Baker served for 12 years as chief of the Collierville Fire Department.

Funeral services are to be held this afternoon at Murfreesboro Funeral Home. Hawks said that Baker's remains will be carried in a restored antique fire truck furnished by Hudson Fire Equipment of Nashville, for which Baker worked part-time after his retirement.