Friday, December 29, marked the end of an era for the Bennettsville Fire Department, as Dixon Odom walked out the door for the last time as chief.
Odom retired after 40 years with the department, taking fond memories with him and leaving behind a legacy of service at both the local and state levels. 
He joined the fire service as a volunteer in 1977 and never looked back, choosing it as a career three years later. From there, he moved up through the ranks, becoming chief in 1994.
Locally, he is responsible for establishing a water rescue dive team, a fire prevention education program and an Explorer program that encourages young people to volunteer.    
The fire prevention education program began small with school children in Bennettsville, but expanded to encompass all of Marlboro County in partnership with the Clemson Extension Service.
It is an effort that has reaped tangible rewards, as fires, injuries and deaths have declined noticeably over the years. One of Odom’s fondest memories is of a little boy who approached him after a fire at his home and said, “I did what you told me to do.”
The Explorer program is another point of pride for Odom, who said it has been invaluable to the fire department in terms of securing new volunteers. 
This program introduces teenagers to fire service and the concept of volunteering to help their community. Many of the current adult volunteers got their start as Explorers.
Thanks in part to Odom’s legislative work, the South Carolina Fire Academy allows teens as young as 16 to take courses, at the end of which they are qualified firefighters. This means that, when they turn 18, they are able to be hired as volunteers fully trained, saving time and making for a smooth transition.
“That’s where most of our volunteers come from now,” Odom said. “Once they turn 18, they move right into the volunteer ranks and they’re already trained. It’s been a great asset to the department.”
Odom spent 10 years on the S.C. Fire Academy Advisory Committee, helping to bring about important changes that have impacted fire service statewide. One of his proudest accomplishments is helping to establish a uniform, rigorous set of standards for firefighter training across the state.
“They are the same standards we still have today,” he said. “That was my proudest achievement. It wasn’t just Marlboro County I was working for; it was the whole state of South Carolina.”
 Regionally, Odom was a founding member of the Pee Dee Fire Marshals Association and the Tri-County Hazardous Materials Team. For his Bennettsville firefighters, he lobbied for and got new compensation, retirement and insurance systems.
For all his work, in 2007 he was inducted into the South Carolina Firefighters Hall of Fame. At that time, then-SC Rep. Doug Jennings said of Odom: “Through his lifetime of service, he has served with great distinction and brought a lot of honor and pride to the community.”
As he reflects on his years with the department,  Odom is most appreciative of the firefighters he considers to be not just friends, but members of a close-knit family: “We have a great group of guys. We’re all like family. That’s what I’m going to really miss.” 
Because of that closeness, his most difficult memories involve putting on firefighters’ funerals for two active volunteers: Robbie Lee in 2001 and Del Daniels in 2015. “Those were the saddest times the department had to deal with,” he said.
Retiring is bittersweet for Odom, who fell in love with the fire service during his very first shift as a volunteer and devoted the next four decades to it.
“Being on the fire department, you see things other people don’t see,” he said. “The majority of it is tragedy. You see pretty much the worst that can happen to families. But there are also a lot of rewarding things. There’s more good than bad. That’s what makes guys stay in it as long as I did. We love the job because of the rewards we get from it. It’s not just a paycheck or an adrenaline rush; it’s public service.”