When Kendall Warnock first moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, he was scared to death of traffic lights and stop signs. Having grown up on the Omaha Indian Reservation in a village of 90 people two hours north of the city, he had no experience with such things. His father ran an automotive repair shop and served as a volunteer firefighter on the reservation.
“We were either at the rural fire station at night, or we were at the shop,” Warnock said. His father’s example was what led him to his passionate careers: automotive repair and firefighting.
Joining the fire service
Warnock went to trade school to learn automotive repair. When he first arrived in Lincoln, Warnock worked at a General Motors dealership before returning to school to complete his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska. He opened his own automotive business in 2005, “more as a hobby,” at first, before joining the fire service.
Warnock was drawn to the fire service through a sense of wanting to give back to others in the community, what he calls servant leadership. That sense of purpose took him through his career, first with a rural fire department in Nebraska, and then with Lincoln Fire & Rescue, up to the rank of division chief. He also earned his Executive Fire Officer certification through the National Fire Academy, describing the leadership course as “the most rewarding stretch of my fire service career.”…