Morgan Hill’s Jim Xavier retires after working for 30 years as a
firefighter for the Santa Clara County Fire Department
Morgan Hill – During his 30 years with the Santa Clara County Fire Department, retired Capt. Jim Xavier has seen many changes in Morgan Hill, including the technological advancement of fire fighting, but says the job remains a gritty, physically demanding yet often rewarding series of challenges.
Xavier, who has had knee replacement surgery as a result of climbing in and out of engines, up and down ladders and hillsides, sees the newer generation of firefighters as less-mechanically minded than when he was a rookie. Now, he says, it is more common to see a firefighter’s laptop sitting on the hood of an engine than a firefighter with his head under the hood of the engine.
“The newer breed, they’re not like the old gang that I worked with, which is probably exactly what the older guys said about me when I started,” he said.
He’ll never forget his first call, said Xavier, a third-generation Morgan Hill resident, as it showed him just how much he had yet to learn.
He was working as a volunteer firefighter during the summer. He was alone in the station with the chief, because the other firefighters were out on another call. Then a man was reported down on the side of the road, and Xavier and the chief hurried out of the station.
“The chief had grabbed the resuscitator on his way out the door, and when we got on the scene, he told me to put it together while he started CPR on the guy,” said Xavier, 57. “I just looked at it and said ‘what is this thing?’ I had no idea how to put it together. So he said do this, and showed me how to pump his chest, and told me to do it faster, or slower, while he put the resuscitator together. I had never done CPR before. I had to learn pretty fast.”
Hands down, he said, the oddest call he ever responded to was a motorcycle wreck. The driver of the motorcycle was found with one of the handlebars of the motorcycle stuck in his head.
“It was really strange, and there’s no way you would have thought he would make it,” the 1970 Firefighter of the Year said. “He was unresponsive, and we really didn’t have much hope for him.”
Two or three months later, however, the man came to the station to thank the paramedics and firefighters who had responded to the scene.
“It’s not for the thanks that you get into the job,” he said. “Still it’s nice when someone makes that effort. Occasionally, someone will even bring in a basket of goodies for us.”
He has heard other firefighters describe the job as, “the dirtiest, most thankless, most miserable job in the world,” Xavier said, but he doesn’t agree. Though with the rookies, he said, you know quickly if they are going to stay in the job.
“It’s hard to put up with it if you don’t love it,” he added.
After attending Morgan Hill Elementary School, he attended Live Oak High, where he was active in sports, band and theater before graduating in 1967.
He spent his summers after graduation working for Morgan Hill’s Public Works Department, repairing roads, painting crosswalks, trimming trees and cleaning out storm drains. He attended Gavilan College during the school year.
In 1969, the department “ran out of money,” said the longtime community volunteer. He was told the fire department had money left in its budget, so he began working as a firefighter. He was hired full-time at the department in 1976 and was promoted to captain in 1981.
“My retirement helps to make room for the next generation,” Xavier said. “One of the paramedics is on the captain’s list, and my retirement creates a space. He’ll either hate me or love me … I think (the rank of captain) is the best spot in the whole department. You get to be there, to make the critical decisions. The drawback is, you have all that paperwork.”
One piece of advice he has always passed along to the rookies working alongside him and later, under his command, is to “always treat the public like your mom and dad.”
“You only have a short period of time to do what you have to do, you don’t have time to waste in argument with someone who is upset, belligerent, whatever, because of the circumstances,” he said.
Xavier and his wife, Jayne, have two daughters, Elyssa, 26, and Eyvonne, 23.
After retirement July 31 – which also happened to be the date of his 30th wedding anniversary – Xavier said he would spend some time traveling and lots of time tinkering with four classic cars. The 1970 Nova SS, his daughter’s 1967 Volkswagen Bug, a 1928 Model A and his father’s 1917 Model T will keep him busy for a little while, he said.
