Outstanding Firefighter honoree is living his dream in Selma

By RANDY CAPPS

Spending the second half of his childhood on a family farm in Selma, it might have seemed that Matthew White would follow in that tradition and be the sixth generation of his family to enter that field after leaving North Johnston High School.

As it turns out, he followed another family tradition instead, becoming a firefighter and being named the 2021 Johnston Now Honors Outstanding Firefighter Award winner.

“My grandfather was a farmer,” he said. “My other grandfather (Ed White), before World War II, was a fireman in Silver Spring, Maryland. So, he did that for a while after the war, then moved back home to take care of his family. He was actually the first fire chief and started Pine Level Fire Department. ... My dad was on Selma Rescue before it became EMS. He did that for 20 years as a volunteer. I can remember when I was in the third grade for career day, I dressed up like my dad. I kind of feel like it’s in the bloodline.”

After graduating from North, he went to Johnston Community College, and when he left, he found his way back to Selma in 2007.

“Philip (McDaniel) had just got hired as the chief in Selma, so I got on as a volunteer,” he said. “It took off from there.”

He took a job in Wake County in 2009, and in the next 10 years, worked his way up to deputy chief. Of course, that meant much less time in the field and much more time behind a desk.

“I had to come off the truck, sit in the office and do paperwork,” he said. “And that isn’t where I wanted to be. Luckily, they had some positions come open in Selma, and I was ready to be a fireman, do my job and get my hands dirty. So, I took a pretty significant pay cut to come back and live my dream and be what I wanted to be.”

He’s been with the Selma Fire Department ever since and was recently promoted to captain. He’s had a busy summer, including several cases where he and his crew got to do what matters most to firefighters — saving lives.

“We’ve (been) at the right place at the right time,” he said. “We’ve had, I believe, three code saves where folks have been discharged from the hospital. We were coming back through a mutual aid district and we rode up on a caller who was calling 911 at the time for someone who had coded on the side of the road. And we got her back. It was pretty neat to be able to pull up while they were on the phone with 911 and be able to do something.

“I’m not saying I’m not appreciative, but for me, being able to see somebody make it home from the hospital that we impacted is all the award I need.”

White and his wife, Robin, have been married since 2009 and have two young daughters, Liza and Grace. And it’s Robin, White says, who keeps the household running.

“I would give all the credit of that to my wife,” he said. “It’s a crazy schedule. I work full time in Selma, I work part time with Micro Fire Department, and cut grass and landscape on the side. I come home wore out, and I’m just glad that she’s got all that taken care of.”

He’s also quick to give the credit to his crew, and the Selma Fire Department in general, for what he’s been able to do.

“There’s no way I’d be able to be nominated for something like this without my crew,” he said. “They’re probably more deserving of the award than I am. From the top to the bottom in the department, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without having a great crew around me, helping me out.”