In 1990, as a young 22 year-old, Mike Stokes joined the Selma Fire Department. He didn’t really know what he was getting himself into but knew that he wanted to give back to the community where he was born and raised.

Now, 25 years later, Stokes is the fire chief, and he has a much better understanding of the department and the way it gives back to the Queen City.

“I started June 10, 1990, as a recruited firefighter and promoted up through all of the ranks all the way up to battalion chief,” Stokes said. “I made battalion chief in 2000 and then Mayor [George] Evans appointed me to chief in October 2009.”

Twenty-five years may not seem like a long time to some, but since Stokes joined the department, much has happened in within the two and a half decades.

“The fire service has changed tremendously in my 25 year career. From the way we do things now versus the way we did then to the way things are built, what they’re made out of,” Stokes said. “I’ve seen a lot of people come, a lot of people go, but it has been a very good career for me. The city of Selma has been very good to me.”

As a native of Selma, Stokes said he has never wanted to be anywhere else.

“I was born and raised here, graduated from Selma High School in 1985, went to Wallace College Selma and Livingston University,” Stokes said.

“With opportunities to have gone elsewhere throughout my career, me and my wife, [Michele], have chosen to stay in Selma just because we both love Selma, and it’s been good to us.”

Stokes said although he doesn’t have a particular favorite moment from his career thus far, there were several memories that stick out to him, like the time a mother brought her chocking child by the station.

“People drove up to the station, and I [was] able to perform a life saving rescue on a kid that was choking,” he said.

“It’s definitely a rewarding experience because that mother and that child will still stop by on occasion and just say, ‘Hey, we wanted to stop in and say hello to you and let you know how things are going,’ and that’s been 15 years ago that that lady drove up with her child choking on a quarter.”

Being with the department for more than half of his life, Stokes said it has meant everything to him, and it’s all that his family knows. With questions of retirement, Stokes said right now his plan is to continue working and serving the community of Selma.

“I love the fire service. I’m still young enough to continue working, and I plan to continue working,” he said. “It’s really been good. Selma, Alabama has been very good to me and my family.”