Mike Wallace recently closed a 22-year career at the Salem Fire Department. But his dedication to fire service is by no means over.

Wallace, who served as deputy fire chief since 2002 and retired from the department Dec. 31, plans to continue working as a consultant and teacher to help fire departments grow and improve.

“I’ll still be involved in fire service but just not as a fulltime member,” said Wallace, 45. “I’ll be doing my passion, which is training and teaching.”

Wallace plans to continue doing two things he was already doing before he retired: teaching at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., and running his business, Wallace Training Associates. In addition, he’s taking on a new responsibility: working on special projects for a Boston-based municipal management company.

“Helping fire departments grow and get better, that’s very exciting for me,” he said.

Wallace, who is originally from Hudson, Mass., has spent 25 years as a firefighter. He began his career in 1984 in Windham, where a great uncle served as the fire chief and an uncle was the deputy chief. He joined Salem’s fire department in 1987. He made the move because he wanted to work in a department that was busier, offered more opportunities for professional growth, and where he could be “Mike Wallace, the person,” rather than the nephew of the men running the station.

During his service in Salem, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in 1992 and became a deputy fire chief 10 years later. He worked in a variety of areas, including training, emergency medical services, safety, hazardous materials, grants and emergency response planning.

His career included responding to serious incidents in 2006: the Mother’s Day floods and an underground propane tank accident that shut down Route 28.

Throughout his career, he achieved several degrees: an associate’s degree in fire science from the New Hampshire Technical College Laconia in 1992, a bachelor of science degree in fire administration and emergency management in 1997 from Rivier College in Nashua, an MBA in leadership from Franklin Pierce College, and a master of arts degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix’s Cambridge, Mass., campus.

“He has a lot of secondary education,” said Salem Fire Chief Kevin Breen, who has known Wallace since he joined the department. “He has a passion for the pursuit of formal education and he was also an advocate (of it) for the fire service.”

Wallace lives in Salem with his wife, Margaret, and their two daughters, Brittany, 13, and Michaela, 10. Retiring means he’ll be able to spend more time attending school functions and Brittany’s softball games. Working as a consultant gives him the flexibility to do that.

“Just working my hours, that’s what I’m looking forward to,” said Wallace.

Changes in the state retirement system and a family member’s health issues led to his decision to retire last year. It was a move, he said, that was best for his family and career.

“It was time to move on, but I was proud of my accomplishments,” said Wallace.

Those accomplishments include improving emergency medical services; obtaining a mass casualty incident trailer; working with fire chiefs to develop plans to handle blizzards, floods, ice storms and other disasters; and working with others to get automated exterior defibrillators – portable electronic devices used to restore an effective heart rhythm in victims of cardiac arrest - into all schools.

When he retired, Wallace was third in command of a department with 75 employees and an annual budget of roughly $7 million. He left with mixed emotions.

“(Firefighting) is what I wanted to do since I was a little kid,” he said. “Not doing it full time has been kind of sad but not a lot. There’s a lot of excitement to do the training, the teaching, all the stuff I was doing on a limited basis (that now) I can do more of.”

At the National Fire Academy, Wallace instructs hazmat incident management and teaches in its executive fire officer program.

His company provides safety and management training. The services offered by the Boston firm he’ll be working for include fire chief recruitments, organization assessments, and strategic planning for fire departments.

Wallace is ready to continue putting the skills he’s acquired over a quarter-century of fire service to good use.

“I’m the type of person who believes you should take an active role in life and my whole thing is, give back,” said Wallace. “The (Salem) department was very good to me to give me an education, give me a lot of experience. If I can give that back to other departments – locally, statewide, regionally, nationally – I think the (Salem) department would be proud knowing I’m using my (education) to help others.”