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As you walk through the “hall of flame” in the Lowman house, the pictures, cross stitchings and plaques give a glimpse of a life spent fighting fire.
Tom Lowman, 48, retired from the Salisbury Fire Department last week after 30 years of service.
At his home at 5550 Creekwood Drive, the hall that leads into the living room overflows with memorabilia, awards, pictures and more. There is so much here that it will soon be taken down and moved to the more spacious walls of the living room, making it the “room of flame.”
Lowman graduated from Boyden High School, now Salisbury High, in 1970, thinking he wanted to join the U.S. Army. When he learned that his draft number was high and there was little chance he would ever see action on the front line, he began part-time work at Food Town, now Food Lion. But he soon grew bored.
“Every day I knew I was going to be putting eggs on a shelf,” he said.
After a few friends who had been working for the Fire Department planted the seed, Lowman decided to check the department out. In 1972, with no firefighting experience, he began a new job with the Salisbury Fire Department. He liked the excitement the job brought.
“You just don’t know where the next battle is going to be,” he says. “You’re just waiting for it.”
Things were different in those days, says Lowman. Today the hiring procedure is much more stringent. Back then firefighters were taught on the job.
Lowman was promoted to captain in 1978 and to assistant chief in 1982. In 1984 the position title changed to battalion chief.
“Tom learned a lot coming up through the ranks,” says Rick Fesperman, Salisbury’s assistant fire chief. Fesperman has known Lowman for the 2712 years Fesperman has been with the department.
As battalion chief, Lowman was in charge of all three stations during his shift.
When Lowman first started, the department had two 12-hour shifts, one that worked mornings and another evenings. The shifts would switch every week. Today the department has three shifts that work 24 hours, followed by a 48-hour break, a change that came in 1984.
In 1972 the department had a total of five air packs for all personnel. Once used, the packs had to be taken to Charlotte for a refill.
“If you put an air pack on, you better have a rescue situation,” Lowman says of those days. He calls the firefighters of those days “smoke eaters,” meaning that they often entered buildings with nothing to protect their faces and lungs.
Today, every firefighter has his or her own specially fitted face mask. There are enough air packs for everyone. Firefighters use air packs nowadays even in vehicle fires. And Salisbury has a truck that can refill the air pack at the scene of a fire.
Technology has also brought the department and the profession a long way, Lowman says. Today, each firefighter has a personal alert device with a mercury sensor that activates if the firefighter has not moved in a minute. If a firefighter were to fall or be trapped, the noise made by the alert would grow louder and louder, allowing other firefighters to detect his or her location.
The department also uses thermal imaging cameras that allow for night vision and for vision through smoke. Thermal imaging also helps find fires hidden in walls.
Co-workers
Lowman was known to his fellow workers as a hard worker and a genuine guy.
Capt. David Morris, who is now acting shift commander for Lowman’s shift, is applying for the open position.
Morris says Lowman was never easily rattled. He adds that Lowman had an open-door policy and was “just a genuine person to work with.”
Assistant Chief Fesperman says Lowman was always thinking ahead. Lowman frequently used the phrase “in my hip pocket” to refer to the backup he might need at at a fire scene.
“I always admired the way he handled his fire ground,” Morris says.
In the early years, Lowman and Fesperman fought many a fire together.
“I knew I had good water, but I also knew I had Tom Lowman,” Fesperman says. “You’ve got to have that special bond because you’re depending on each other for your lives.”
Lowman is proud that he never had a fatality or a serious injury during his command.
Salisbury Fire Chief Sam Brady says Lowman was dedicated to educating himself to be a better firefighter.
Milestone day
Feb. 19 was a big day for the Lowman family because it marked not only the first day of Lowman’s retirement, but also the first day with Rowan County Emergency Medical Services for his 19-year-old son, Matt.
Part of the reason Lowman retired at the age of 48 was the city’s rule that relatives cannot work for the same department. Matt, who has wanted to be a firefighter for years, could not even apply until his father had officially retired. Matt plans to work with Emergency Medical Services for now and apply to the Fire Department in the future.
Brady says Lowman is “strongly family-oriented.”
Matt is currently living at home while he studies fire protection technology through Central Piedmont Community College. He also volunteers with the Locke Volunteer Fire Department.
Daughter Jennifer Myers, 24, married to Salisbury police officer Aaron Myers, lives in Landis and works for an insurance company. Myers was one of the first EMS Explorers, a teen ride-along program. She graduated from Catawba College with a business degree and was Miss Flame 1994, making her dad the proudest father of the evening.
“We’re a very service-oriented family,” says Evelyn, Lowman’s wife of 25 years. Evelyn Lowman works for First Union Bank in Charlotte as a systems analyst.
Raising two children with a father who was always running out the door to fight fires may sound like a tough job, but Evelyn says Lowman’s schedule was sometimes better than most dad’s. Having two days out of every three off, he was able to spend a lot of time with his family.
“The kids grew up around firemen, that’s all they ever knew,” she says.
But the lifestyle did take some getting used to.
Evelyn remembers a fire they both went to when she and Lowman were first dating. She stood by while the firefighters diligently worked to extinguish the flames. She watched as a fire helmet came crashing through a window, the fireman following it. She turned to another firefighter and asked who the man was. He told her it was Tom.
“I’m marrying a fool,” she told herself.
It was nights like those that kept Evelyn up in the beginning of their marriage, but she soon came to peace with it.
“You can’t worry life away,” she says. “There are just some things you have to put in God’s hands.”
Despite the times he was around, Lowman did miss some key moments in the family’s life, and they usually were the traumatic ones.
“If it happened, it was going to happen on Tom’s shift,” his wife says. Lowman missed the two times the house was struck by lightening, as well as numerous trips to the emergency room. Now that he is retired, she says, she expects no more tragedies.
The Historian
Lowman kept such a good personal record of the history of the Fire Department that he was asked to be the department historian. Lowman has written a 41-page book about the department that he hopes will someday get published for rookie firefighters, as well as the community.
Evelyn jokes that he can’t remember things to do around the house but could tell you the date of every fire he ever fought.
Midlife Crisis
Retirement will bring with it time for Lowman’s other hobbies, one being the band he’s been playing with since 1993 called Midlife Crisis. The band is comprised of bassist Lowman, lead vocalist and guitarist Lonnie Carpenter of Spencer, lead vocalist and guitarist Robert McCowan from Mount Ulla, guitarist and synthesizer Larry Pinkston from Salisbury and drummer Ric Christy from Cleveland. The five perform hits from the ’60s and ’70s, rhythm and blues and dance music at local venues.
The free time also allows Lowman to spend more time on his second calling — racing. In the early ’90s, Lowman traveled to Australia, where he competed for a chance to race a Winston Cup car. Lowman placed 14th. When he returned, Lowman looked to get involved in the Sportsman Division, but a 1995 fatality caused the amateur division to be shut down.
Although he’s had several job offers, Lowman plans to take some time off to play in the band and work more with the Speedway Fire and Rescue Squad, where he has helped since 1978. He says he would love to get more involved with racing.
Back to business
Although he doesn’t anticipate ever returning to firefighting full time, Lowman may join a volunteer department. Since he has his instructor certification, he may also teach part-time.
“It gets in your blood,” Chief Brady says.
Lowman will never be a stranger to the department.
“Salisbury has a real good group of people,” he says. “Firefighters are a brotherhood.”
One that he always plans to be a part of.
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