Tyrus R. Bissett

City of Wilson Fire Chief
1949 – 1971

On August 1, 1938 Tyrus Bissett was one of the first eleven paid firemen to be hired with the Wilson Fire Department. Chief Bissette served as an Assistant Fire Chief until 1949. Upon the death of Fire Chief A. L. Lancaster, Bissett was appointed as The City of Wilson’s Fire Chief. Chief Bissett was very progressive for his time and was an advocate for fire prevention. He believed in the “ounce of prevention” adage and started Wilson’s first fire prevention bureau in 1967. As the city became larger Chief Bissett strived to keep the department up to date. He oversaw the building of three additional fire stations. Station #2 was constructed in 1952, followed by Station #3 in 1956 and Station #4 in 1964. He was also responsible for building the Wilson Fire Training Center at the end of Pine Street and establishing a relationship with Wilson Community College. Wilson became known as one of the “BEST” fire training centers in the southeast. During his tenure he served as the president of the North Carolina Fireman’s Association. Chief Bissett proudly served the City of Wilson until his retirement in 1971.

Chief Bissett spent his retirement years in his home on Monticello Drive in Wilson that he had purchased in 1953. He pasted from this life in 2004 and is buried in Maplewood Cemetery across the street from the Wilson Fire Training Center he had built in the early 1960s.