The Ottumwa Fire Department held a special celebration for one of its firefighters Tuesday.

Kerry McDonald is retiring after 24 years of being a firefighter in Ottumwa. Friends and family gathered at the fire station to celebrate and wish McDonald luck with retirement.

“Mainly the people I worked with. They were all good people. Every call is different. It’s just not like any job there is,” says McDonald about what he’s going to miss most.

The other firefighters say he will be greatly missed at the station and what an honor it had been to work with such a great man.

“I plan on doing a lot of fishing,” says McDonald about retirement.

The entire city of Ottumwa thanks McDonald for all that he has done.