LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — James Holt is known as a jack of all trades in Limestone County; he owns A1 Towing and Wrecker Service and is a Piney Chapel Volunteer Firefighter.
Community members described him as someone who is always there when you need him and will give you 100% of his time and energy. His 9-year-old stepdaughter Tilly couldn’t agree more.
“He saves everybody’s lives and stuff, and he’s a really good firefighter,” Tilly said. “I love him very much.”
Holt was awarded the First Responder of the Month for May by the Limestone County Scanner & News page on Thursday evening. The page has just started giving out these awards, and Holt is the first winner, winning the popular vote by community members on Facebook.
“I hope and pray that God gives me many more years to continue being a volunteer firefighter,” James Holt said. “I love it. I love the job.”
Just a couple of hours before the award ceremony, Holt responded to a house fire in East Limestone after working a day at his towing job.
“You go from wide open, busy working a regular job, to high-gear responding to a house fire, to settling down and calming down and realizing you’ve got to go accept an award presented to you,” Holt said. “And I’m very grateful for that. It was a great honor.”
Holt’s wife, Brooke, said her heart skips a beat every time he leaves to fight a fire, leaving her wondering if he is going to make it back home.
“It’s rough being a wife to a first responder,” Brooke said. “It’s very rough. Just like today, that fire. I told him, I was like ‘I love you, be careful’. Because you just never know. I mean, you just don’t ever know if they’re gonna come back or not.”
If you ask Holt why he does it, he will tell you he has a passion for serving the community. Sadly, that passion comes from unimaginable pain.
“When I lost my daughter in 2019 to a car accident, I had to find a purpose in life,” Holt said. “And that gives me something that I can do every day and make a difference. It gives me a reason to live.”
Holt’s daughter, Maria, died in a car accident on August 3, 2019, when she was 16 years old. He told News 19 that people frequently ask him why a pineapple is in his towing logo. Holt explained that it was his daughter’s favorite thing to get when they went on vacation together, and it is his way of continuing to honor her.
Holt is a father, husband and a man always trying to help others make it home.
“If I can get there and help somebody, or help another department help someone, maybe make it home,” Holt said. “And, if not, at least do what you can for them and the families during these difficult times.”
The Limestone County Scanner & News page will be honoring a different first responder every month with the award and a $100 gift card to thank them for their work and service.
The post ‘It gives me a reason to live’: Firefighter shares how his pain turned into purpose appeared first on WHNT.
