Des Moines Fire Department

For over 50 years, African Americans were excluded from serving in the Des Moines Fire Department. That changed in the late 1960s, when three men—Walt Williams Sr., Milford Fonza, and Terrell “Terry” Knox—became the first Black firefighters in the city. Williams was hired in 1967, Fonza in 1968, and Knox in 1970. All three were assigned to Fire Station No. 4, located at 9th & University Avenue.

Their arrival marked a turning point, but it also exposed deep racial divisions within the department. The three men faced intense discrimination and hostility from some of their white colleagues. At Station 4, they were assigned to a separate “Black bunk” and experienced constant harassment that made their work environment isolating and difficult.

Due to the racism they encountered, both Fonza and Knox left the department by the late 1970s. Walt Williams Sr., however, remained on the force for more than a decade, despite the challenges. His perseverance made him the longest-serving of the original three.

Change didn’t come easily or quickly. In 1980, two more Black firefighters, Greg Perry and Dennis Moore, filed a civil rights lawsuit against the department. Represented by NAACP attorneys Russell Lovell and Richard Wright, the case led to a Federal Court Consent Decree in 1984. The decree required the Des Moines Fire Department to make institutional changes and submit to a 10-year monitoring period to ensure progress toward racial equity.

This legal victory marked a major moment in the city’s civil rights history. It forced the fire department to change its hiring and workplace practices, creating more opportunities for firefighters of color in the years that followed.