Jumping feet first into community service

U.S. Army veteran Ken Price has been involved in the volunteer firefighting community for almost 20 years, but in January, he and his wife experienced what Price has seen many times in his role as a firefighter. 

While he and his wife, Bette, were at their home in Hamilton, a fire believed to be electrical in origin broke out in the back room. 

Price said he believes it was caused by a power strip in the room. 

“Me and my wife were both at home,” Price said, recounting the day of the fire. “I went back there to check it and everything to make sure if it was (a fire) or not. Soon as I got to the back, I told my wife to get her uh-huh up and grab her purse and we went out the door. 

“We got to the next to the last step; she got out and the smoke just came right over me. I was able to make it out. We got in the truck and moved it back just a little bit. Soon as the door opened here it came. We couldn’t do anything.” 

Price said he and his wife are temporarily living with their son in Gardendale, a northern suburb of Birmingham, until they can decide what they want to do as far as more permanent lodging. 

He said he is not sure whether they will build back in Hamilton or not. 

“We don’t know yet,” Bette Price said. 

“We’ll wait and see what we’ll do,” her husband added. “I sure would like to go back, we don’t know for sure.” 

Ken Price stands for a portrait inside the Hodges Volunteer Fire Department, Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Hodges, Ala. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]

“I was born in Tuscaloosa County, got married and moved here,” Price said. 

Price said they moved to Hamilton in Marion County because he had family in the area. 

Price said he served in the United States Army, where he retired as an E7 sergeant major after 20 years of service. He was part of the 173rd Battalion, which was an airborne medical group. 

“We jumped just about anywhere they needed us,” he said. 

Price said he enjoyed his job as a combat medic in the Army. 

“I loved what I was doing, what I could do,” Price said. “When you’ve got someone (injured), you try to fix them up and keep them alive for a little longer until it’s time. You hold their hand.” 

Once he left the Army, Price said he did some police work and worked as a deputy sheriff in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a border patrol officer for a few years. 

Then he and his wife decided to move back to Hamilton. 

That’s when he started volunteering with the Hodges Volunteer Fire Department in Franklin County. 

Hodges is a small town with a population of less than 300 just northeast of Hamilton. 

Price said he didn’t have any background in firefighting when he volunteered, except for some time he spent volunteering in Texas after he retired. 

“I get out and help the guys roll the ladders, roll the fire hydrants, this, that and the other,” Price said. “And I’m an EMT. We go out and help that community as much as we can.” 

Before he began volunteering with Hodges, Price said he volunteered with the Shiloh Volunteer Fire Department, where he became the assistant fire chief. This was about 10 to 15 years ago. 

“That’s right down the street from Hodges,” Price said. “I was there for a while.” 

With his wife sitting beside him listening, Price joked that he spends time volunteering because “I had too many honey dos on the calendar.” 

A honey-do list is a collection of minor household maintenance requests, typically written by a spouse for the other spouse to complete. 

He just wanted to stay active and continue serving the community, like he did when he was in the military. 

Price said his work as a combat medic while he was in the military helped him handle situations that might arise when first responders are called to a scene where a shooting may have taken place. 

“Usually, the younger generation, when they go out on call, a medical call where someone shot somebody, they’re, ‘Oh no, I’m not going in there.’ It doesn’t bother me. I go right in there with gloves on and find out what I need to know and get out.” 

Price said his wife is OK with his community service. 

“My wife does’t mind it,” Price said. “She worries about me when I leave. I’m used to that.” 

While he is currently not involved in a volunteer fire department while living in Gardendale, Price, who said he is “over 72 years old, doesn’t intend to cease his volunteer work any time soon. 

But he does have an idea when it might stop. 

“When the Lord tells me to come home, or my wife kicks me out of the house,” he said