Sunny days are ahead for recently retired Butler Fire Department Capt. Ted Codispot.

Shortly after his last day on the job April 15, he and his wife, Tammy, flew to Sebastian, Fla., and purchased their future home.

Codispot was born and raised in Butler and has lived in the city his entire life.

“I've never left the city of Butler,” Codispot said.

He and Tammy got married two weeks after he was hired as a firefighter nearly 31 years ago. They have lived in the same home since then and raised four children there.

The kids are adults now and one will be moving into that house after their parents relocate to their home in the sun.

Codispot said his age, 52, and the physical toll responding to emergencies has extracted from him led him to the decision to retire.

“Age,” Codispot said Friday after he returned to Butler to pack. “You start getting up in age and your knees hurt, your back hurts. It's a young man's job”

Advice he received as a young firefighter from senior counterparts when they retired proved prophetic.

“The older guys always said, “You'll know when it's time,” Codispot said.

Serving as one of the department's three captains for the past eight or nine years (He said he is not good with numbers), he said he will miss his fellow fighters, especially those who worked on his shift.

“I'll miss the guys, the camaraderie of being with the guys on your shift,” he said.

He won't miss Western Pennsylvania's winters and rough and hilly roads.

“Doing the job for so long in this weather — I've just had enough of it,” Codispot said. “It really turns you against the cold weather.”

Moving to Florida was an easy decision after vacationing there with his family for many years including the past several years with his wife in Sebastian.

“There isn't anything about that state I don't like. I like being down there — no potholes, no hills,” he said.

When they move they will do some work on their house and spend time fishing and riding their motorcycles.

“Me and my wife have Harleys. You can ride year-round,” Codispot said. “I want to be able to enjoy some time. We raised our kids. We want to enjoy some things.”

Eventually he will look for a job, but not as a firefighter, he said.

He said he has responded to too many fires to remember many of them, but he remembers a series of major fires in 1988.

“We had a lot of big fires in '88,” Codispot said.

The Friedman's stores on Brady Street in the city and Mercer Road in Butler Township, the Rite Aid on Main Street and the Keg Bar of East Jefferson were among those fires, he said.

Some fires during his career involved fatalities, but he does not like to talk about them.

“It doesn't happen often here,” Codispot said about fatal fires. “You have to distance yourself from that part of it.”

The number of calls the department responds to sharply increased from about 800 a year to 3,400 during his tenure.

“The increase in the number of calls has been ridiculous,” Codispot said.

Early in his career the types of calls were more evenly split between fire, traffic accidents and medical emergencies. Most of the calls now are medical, he said.

“I won't miss the job. You enjoy helping people. Will I miss that part of it? Yes,” Codispot said.

The only memento of his career he plans to take to Florida is his badge, he said.

During his tenure he worked at the now closed South Side Fire Station and the former Central station on North Street before the current Central station on Washington Street opened in 1995.