WATERTOWN, Minnesota — Firefighters are used to getting to their destinations in a hurry. Hubie Widmer took 10 years to complete his quest.
“I said, ‘You know, I want to get my picture taken in front of every fire department in the state,’” Hubie said.
In March, the Watertown firefighter completed his task. Over a decade, Hubie visited 775 fire departments – as best as he can tell relying on state records – every fire department in Minnesota.
“We kind of didn't think it was ever going to get done,” Denice Widmer, Hubie’s wife, said with a laugh.
Denice traveled with Hubie on most of his trips, crossing off towns on a 20-page list and photographing her husband in front of the fire stations they visited.
The pictures Denice took of her husband fill 14 photo albums.
“We’ve basically been to every town in the state of Minnesota.” Hubie says.
That includes the fire department in Minnesota’s Northwest Angle, which required the Widmers to drive through several miles of Canada to access.
Hubie – a 71-year-old retired Carver County sheriff’s lieutenant – has been with the Watertown Fire Department nearly 43 years.
Hubie set a goal of visiting all 775 fire departments before he retires from the fire department at the end of May.
He succeeded, with three months to spare, when Hubie and Denice made an early March visit to MSP Airport’s fire station #1.
Though the Widmers would have been satisfied with a simple picture in front of the station, acting airport fire chief Greg Fuller invited the couple for a tour and a meet up with some of the station’s firefighters.
“Do you want to go to Wisconsin next?” one of them asked.
“Nope,” Hubie replied with a laugh.
During his tour, Hubie climbed into the passenger seat of one of the airport’s massive yellow fire trucks. On the apron in front of the station, driver Brent Carlson demonstrated some of the truck’s features, even giving Hubie a turn at the joysticks operating the truck’s specialized equipment.
“That'd be nice for round bales on a fire,” Hubie told the airport firefighter.
“Definitely a good way to end it,” Denise said before leaving their 775th fire station.
“And a 43-year journey, too,” Hubie added.
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