Johnson, 1926

Not long before the airplane ride mentioned in the previous posting, I lived with my parents at the Johnson Hotel in downtown Washington. It was part of a family business involving in one building the hotel and a department store. At the time my parents operated the hotel, which included boarders and a dining room. As part of smalltown life my father was a volunteer firefighter, as were all members of the fire department at the time. Whoever discovered a fire was charged with notifying "central" by picking up the telephone handset. The telephone operator would ask "Number, please?" The caller would announce the location of the fire and the operator would press the button to blow the fire whistle (actually, a siren not far from the phone office). The firefighters were authorized to ask the operator for the location of the fire in response to the sounding of the siren. On one occasion, when I was about two, the siren blew, my father dressed for the fire and ran downstairs enroute to the fire station about a block away. I remember distinctly my own actions on this one occasion. I also ran downstairs, through the lobby, and onto the sidewalk. I was not properly dressed for firefighting since all I had on was a nightgown. I dispensed with the gown about the time a neighbor from across the street, Mrs. Scavens, discovered my predicament and returned me and the gown to my mother in the hotel.
I don't know the details about the fire call.

Chapman, 9-18-2005

Eighteen firefighters, including this hose team entering the burning home, tried to save Rosa Chapman’s rented home on the Greensboro Road Sunday afternoon.
Rosa Chapman had plenty on her mind Sunday afternoon without thinking about a fire. She was packing a bag, getting ready to go have eye surgery at the Medical College of Georgia Monday morning.

Then she heard a noise on her back porch. “It was just a poppin’, pop, pop. I thought it was an animal, and I opened the back door to shoo him off, and the fire just jumped up at me,” she said as she watched firefighters try to put out the wind-whipped flames burning her rented house in the 6100 block of the Greensboro Highway south of Washington.

Firefighters were called at 1:49 p.m. to the home, owned by Annie Mae Battle, with reports of a fire that started at the rear and moved forward. Station 6 in nearby Tyrone responded with an engine and tanker, followed quickly by an engine and tanker each from Washington and Rayle. There were 18 firefighters total responding. Fire Chief Alan Poss said.

Firefighters entered the burning house to fight the fire from inside, but the home, an older structure, was well involved when they arrived, and windy conditions fanned the flames. Firefighters worked to the point of exhaustion but were unable to keep the home from being a total loss.

Mrs. Chapman, 66, said she had spent her Saturday with members of the Church of Christ collecting money for people made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. “I didn’t think I’d be homeless the very next day.” She says she has children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and a church family who’ll take care of her. “I’ll be all right, I’ll just…oh, I just can’t believe it. All gone.”

Edwards, 2009

Firefighters from Rayle's Engine 7 and Tanker 7, plus Washington's Engine 5 and Tanker 5, saved the Rayle home of Mary Edwards (far right) Saturday evening. Rayle Fire Chief Brent Sherrer said that the fire apparently started in the electrical service box on the far left side of the home, gutted the garage, but was put out before spreading through the house. There was smoke damage throughout, however.

Trucks, 1930

This is a picture of a fire truck in the '20s.

TThe favorite fire truck of many of us was a Model-A Ford truck constructed locally, somewhat like this one, except that ours had/has a pump on the front. When I was four or five, as I recall, I went with Daddy to the site on Depot Street where a large steel tank lying on the ground was being cut up with a welding torch to provide material for the new fire truck's body. I don't remember who was doing the cutting, perhaps L. C. Jackson, perhaps Rufus Rider, perhaps Jim Wall. I remember that the tank was rusty and that it had holes in it. The truck came from the dealer with a frame, an engine, the front end, that is, the chassis. The firemen had to cut the steel, straighten out the curvature of the tank and bend the steel to form a box for carrying the hose, nozzles, and other equipment. I remember the truck being at Uncle Roch's house next door at some time during its construction. One of the distinctives of the truck was the water pump on the front end so that the truck could be started easily.

This is a 1919 American La France fire truck, very much like ours except that ours came with solid rubber tires.

Sanburg, 2009

Liberty Street home saved Friday morning by quick, expert Washington fire fighters

As Washington firefighters finish their efforts to extinguish the fire in her rented home, Carrie Sanburg comforts her son.
Quick work by the Washington Fire Department saved a West Liberty Street home after a grease fire broke out Friday morning.

"The fire department did a terrific job saving that house," said the home's owner, Mercer Harris. "They were there within a minute of the call, and one volunteer even beat the fire truck there."

"My son was home sick, and I was cooking for him, and set the grease on fire," said Carrie Sanburg, who was renting the small yellow cottage. "Now I've burned the house up."

Washington Fire Chief Alan Poss said that the fire started in the kitchen and spread up into the wall and attic area. Firefighters from Washington's Station 1 extinguished the kitchen blaze, then broke through the ceiling to put out the small but stubborn fire in the attic. There was smoke damage throughout, with some fire damage in two rooms downstairs and two upstairs.

"Their quick response saved the house," Harris said. "It was just two or three minutes from being totally involved."

Wilkes EMS paramedics treated Sanburg for first-degree burns on her forearm and hand. Her child escaped injury. Another child was at school.

"I can't say enough about Chief Alan Poss and his firefighters," Harris said. "The unbelievably quick response time, and their professionalism fighting the fire - we have a fire department that's the envy of any small town."

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Training, 2009

Some 45 volunteer firefighters turned out for last week's "pump and dump" training designed to improve fire fighting capabilities in rural areas of Wilkes County.
In an effort to improve the fire fighting capabilities all over Wilkes County, the Washington Fire Department held a training exercise last Tuesday night attended by some 45 volunteer firefighters.

"We were very pleased with the turnout," said training officer Lt. Greg Scott. "That was almost every county firefighter from Station 2 in Danburg, Station 7 in Rayle, Station 8 in Metasville, and Station 9 in Tignall.

The controlled burn of an old house on Hill Street donated by Diane Andrews gave firefighters, led by Capt. C.J. Gilland and Capt. Kevin Tucker the opportunity to practice their "pump and dump" abilities, Scott said.

"Outside the city limits where there aren't any hydrants, firefighters have to haul water to fires. We wanted to be able to pump 250 gallons a minute for one hour using our tankers and portable water bunkers, and we were successful."

Firefighters under the direction of Capt. Gilland were stationed at Campbell Street to pump water from a simulated pond into tankers, and transport it three miles to the fire scene, where it was transferred into portable bunkers and then pumped into hoses for firefighters under the command of Capt. Tucker to apply to the fire.

The overall aim of the training is to eventually improve the ISO insurance rating for the whole county, Lt. Scott said. In 2006, Washington's in-town fire protection rating was raised from a Class 4 to a Class 3, putting it in a class equal with most Atlanta suburbs, better than Thomson and far better than most other small cities.
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McAvoy, 2009

'Pump and dump' contains big Tyrone hay barn fire Monday night

Tyrone Fire Chief Billy Godwin talks with property owner Marvin McAvoy as fire fighters from all over the county work to control a large hay fire Monday night.
Fire destroyed a full hay barn on Happy Hollow Road Monday night, and nearly every Wilkes County fire station took part in getting water to contain the blaze.

Property owner Marvin McAvoy estimated that he lost 300 round bales of hay and 1,000 square bales to the fire. He said that a worker on the property reported that he first saw the fire at the top and center of the open-sided barn, leading McAvoy to believe that the fire was spontaneous combustion that is a common problem with stored hay.

The fire was reported around 11 p.m. Monday, with the Tyrone Volunteer Fire Department in the lead. Chief Billy Godwin took command at the scene and soon called in help from Rayle Fire Department along with tanker support from several volunteer fire departments around the county.

Firefighters set up two pumpand dump stations, with the tankers shuttling in water from near the Washington city limits, and were able to keep two lines on the burning hay, protecting the workers' homes nearby and other outbuildings. "Nobody was hurt, everybody's safe," McAvoy said. "That's the important thing."


Pump and dump: Tanker 4 from Rocky Creek pumps water into a temporary water bunker allowing Washington's Engine 5 to pump it out and keep a stream of water on the hay fire.
After midnight, the property owner and the fire chief agreed that the fire was too deep in the hay to extinguish. Firefighters were told to let it burn itself out but keep any flames or sparks from spreading. The fire was still smoldering Tuesday afternoon.

The fire gave county fire fighters an opportunity to put practice into action, setting up two pump-and dump operations at the scene as they had done in a recent drill in Washington. Tyrone's Engine 6 set up a station at the front of the blaze, and Washington's Engine 5 set up a station at the rear. Tanker 7 from Rayle, Tanker 4 from Rocky Creek, Tanker 5 from Washington, Tanker 9 and Knocker 9 from Tignall, and Tanker 8 from Metasville all made possible the shuttle of water from the nearest hydrant.

Training, 2009

Helped by his grandfather, Washington Fire Department Assistant Chief Darrell Rogers, 8-year-old Samuel Anderson mans a hose and sprays water on a fire set for a city fire drill last week. "His father Jason is a paramedic in Hall County, and like every boy, he wants to be a fireman, so he loves this." It was a big week for Samuel - the next day he and his grandpa hunted together and Samuel got a seven-point buck.

Training, 2009

Two city-owned homes on Rusher Street were consumed in flames last week, used to train Washington and Wilkes County firefighters as they practiced hose team entry techniques in an actual burning building. The two old homes were due for demolition to make way for a new neighborhood of privately owned homes, and the city offered their use to the fire department for training. "We train a lot in our building fire simulator, but you can't beat a fire in a real structure for teaching some parts of fire fighting," said Capt. Kevin Tucker, training officer.