Who is Nick Boone?
There’s a room up a narrow flight of stairs in the Easley warehouse where the morning light shines through a big window over the bench, tools rest in neat rows, and in his words, “where we make magic.”
And if he’s not somewhere on the road keeping departments running, you’ll find a tall, steady figure working behind that door.
A man who’s been serving firefighters longer than some rookies have been alive, and who still treats every SCBA he touches like someone’s life depends on it. Because it does.
That man is Nick Boone.
Nick has been with Safe Industries pretty much from the start. His 30 years in the fire service have shaped the way he sees the world and speak to a legacy built on taking care of firefighters here at Safe Industries for almost two decades.
Nick was still at the fire department when he started. Al also worked at the same department.
“Well, when I started here, I was at the fire department.
(Al) He worked with me there at the fire department. Al started the business, and the business was growing. Al had to make a decision whether he wanted his business to flourish or stay at the fire department. And of course, he chose to move it to the business end of it, and as you can see, it’s done really well.
In 2006, I came on board with Safe Industries. Sort of a funny story. I had worked for a fire and safety company previously. I worked for them for maybe seven, eight years on my days off from the fire department. Al had approached me and I ended up coming on board. My first day I went over to our very first building, which was on Prosperity Boulevard in Piedmont.
I walked into the building, it’s this huge warehouse, and there’s a couple of racks in there. There’s one person in an aisle in there, and they’re throwing a football from one end of the warehouse to the other. I thought, oh no, what have I gotten into? You know? But the gist of it is, the business really went where I never would’ve imagined it to go back when I walked into that first building. Not in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that Safe Industries would be where it is today.
When I first came on board, I got involved with doing the repairs to the air packs. I helped get the fire extinguisher side of the business going, got into hydro testing, got everything started really rolling there. I’ve stayed there ever since.”
Was there a time at Safe when a moment kind of clicked in your mind that it was going to be bigger than it is now?
“I saw that when we were in our first building, and then I saw things grow there. Then we bought our second building. And I think that’s really when I realized things were gonna be much bigger than what I had anticipated that first day in 2006 that I walked into that place.
So, we’re in six states. We’ve got a few more to go and I think we’ll see it grow across the country.
Well, in just about everything that I thought would not work, worked. I think that’s when I actually saw that there was no limit to what Safe Industries was going to become. But I still wouldn’t have imagined it to be like it is today. No way.”
Do you remember what kind of car Al drove when he was selling air packs out of his car?
“I think when Al first started, he had an F250 covered. And he was just selling basic firefighter stuff- gloves, stickers, just stuff. But he was getting himself visible in these fire departments.
But yeah, I remember him coming around. And then he had a Chevrolet Biscay as well that he drove around in for a little while.”
Do you remember any hard seasons of being at Safe?
“If I had to pick anything- and I think it hit the whole world- it was during COVID. That was lean times. We were limited in the fire departments we were going into because of the quarantines and everything. Business dropped off significantly during that stint. The economy, as you know, was horrible.
I actually got laid off for the first time in 19 years for a couple of weeks because there just wasn’t enough work to keep me busy, you know, and I was part-time. So the full-time folks got the attention, which was the way it should be.
So I would think that during that COVID time was probably one of the most difficult times for me here. And I was just trying to wonder, is it gonna recover? And of course it did.”
“I think what we do as far as the SCBAs goes- it’s critical for fire departments to know that they can rely on their equipment, their PPE. And to have a hand in making sure that they’re confident in their equipment, they know how to use it, and it’s operating correctly, gives a sense of satisfaction.
When we go into a department and we make changes or we fix things within the SCBAs or meters or thermal imaging, it’s always just a little self-satisfying to know that we really did do something and we did make a difference. Had we not been there, it could have been bad for the fire department. There could have been injuries, it could have been death.”
What keeps you coming into work every day?
“You know, there’s not a day that I get up and say, ‘Eh, let me make an excuse why I don’t want to go to work today.’ I still enjoy coming to work. I still enjoy working with Jason- I’ve worked with him for quite a number of years now- and all the people that have grown with the company, and there are so many new faces now.
I feel like what we do does make a difference, and I think that’s what keeps me coming back. And again, along with the fire department, you know, I love the fire department, so I still feel like I’m a part of the fire service when I’m able to go in these departments across the state and see how they do things, what equipment they have.
And I do still compare notes- what we did at the fire department when I was there, and what they’re doing now.
Seeing both the fortunate fire departments that have the best of everything and the cream of the crop, to those departments that still have dirt floors in their bays- it gives me an appreciation for what I had when I was in the fire service.
I can go into some of these poor fire departments, with the dirt floors and the kitchens out in the bays, you know, and these folks don’t know that there’s anything better. And they’re so proud of what they have- even though it’s a dirt floor compared to a concrete floor, one bay compared to eight bays- they treat it just like it was the best, you know?”
Any plans after retirement?
“You know, good Lord’s blessed me with fairly good health, so I don’t have a lot of health concerns.
I don’t think I’ll ever even entertain the thought until maybe my health doesn’t allow me to do it anymore. But until then, I just keep on plugging, man, keep on moving forward. I hope.
Now I will admit those 20 stairs out there are getting a little more difficult… but hey, it’s part of it. Keeps me younger, I guess.”
Whenever you retire or leave here, what do you hope people remember as your contribution to Safe as a whole?
“I guess it goes back to again, that I made a difference. Somewhere along the line I made a difference in which way the company went. I think that would probably be it. Just thinking that, you know, I did do something right and be proud of that.
And the dedication- I think being here 19 years shows that I’m loyal to the company, and that should look good.”
“I don’t know that I ever will, honestly. Whenever I retired from the fire department, I always second-guessed myself because I didn’t really know that that was the direction I wanted my life to go. And I miss it greatly.
But I know it’s a young man’s game, and I just have those memories now.
But I don’t see myself ever saying, ‘Okay, I’m done.’
My dad- he just wasn’t built like that. I watched him work until the day he died. And I think that’s just the way I inherited that from him. I’m gonna be around. I don’t think I’ll ever say, ‘I’m done, man. I’m gonna go fishing for the rest of my life.’”
Do you have any advice that anybody’s given you over the years that you want to pass along to the younger generation?
“The last job I had was as a project engineer at an electronics firm, and it was tough. I carried some responsibility, and I would talk to my dad about it. I would worry about how upper management thought about me.
And he told me a long time ago… and I’m sure you’ve heard it- that if you surround yourself with good people, you’ll always look good.
I’ve tried to remember that. In my years as an officer at the fire department, I was fortunate enough to have fantastic people that worked on the engine with me, and they made my job so easy.
Keep in mind, with the people that are around you- build them up and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and doing good- you’ll always look good.
That’s something my dad taught me a long time ago, and I’ve always carried it with me and tried to keep it in the back of my mind through anything that I do, really.”
