Thursday, October 19, 2000

‘Firefest 2000’ addresses burning issue for rural Texans
By Bill Whitaker

When one of the organizers behind “Firefest 2000” suggested rural fire departments bring only old-time, tuckered-out fire trucks to the Taylor County Expo Center this Saturday, a round of laughter erupted.

“That,” one firefighter claimed, “will be no problem.”

If you live in one of the wide spots in the road beyond Abilene, you’ll have no trouble understanding that quip. To live in the Big Country is to take part in countless bean suppers and hamburger cookouts and raffles, all to raise money for the local volunteer fire department.

One’s obligation to the rural fire department is right up there with one’s obligation to the Lord. To ignore either is to go to blazes.

Certainly, such devotion is well placed. Almost every rural fire department has at least one truck older than most of the firefighters themselves. And many of the communities they serve are so minuscule as to make fund-raising a matter of beating whatever bushes aren’t actually burning.

“Our only funding is through donations,” said 55-year-old Butch Woodard, president of the Oplin Volunteer Fire Department. “We don’t have a city or anything to draw from. When we lose an engine, we have to go to the county commissioners.

“Either they give us the money or they don’t.”

That’s why the Big Country Firefighters Association is putting a lot of hope in Saturday’s Firefest 2000, which runs from noon to 7 p.m. and showcases bands, games for kids, a 6:15 p.m. auction (broadcast via KTAB-TV and KBCY) and “the world’s largest silent auction” from noon to 6 p.m.

But more than that, Firefest 2000 is a chance for anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a firefighter — that’s most of us at one time or another — to revel in Texas’ firefighting culture.

Organizers say you can get your photograph taken next to a vintage fire truck, bid on such paraphernalia as old fire department helmets (and, yes, these things are much-sought collectibles) and watch displays such as that involving the Jaws of Life.

Unfortunately, some of those old fire trucks on display are still doing double duty today.

Trent Volunteer Fire Department Chief Otis Davis, who also serves as water superintendent, code enforcement officer, dogcatcher “and about 17 other titles,” was just 4 years old when his department’s oldest fire truck came off the assembly line.

“Sweetwater was the original owner and we bought it in 1983 or ‘84,” Davis said of the 51-year-old American LaFrance. “The first thing we had to do was fix the pumper.”

Even now, describing the truck as “road-worthy” is accurate only if you’re talking about a very short road. The truck sometimes becomes overheated before arriving at the fire.

Other firefighters tell similar tales of aged equipment and vintage trucks. When you consider the wear and tear these things get amid range fires each summer, it’s no wonder area firefighters are always trying to raise money.

“Everyone knows area volunteer fire departments are hurting for extra funding,” local radio personality Kelly Jay told me. “We’re hoping this event will bring extra money to fire departments in cooperation with the Big Country Firefighters Association.”

I’m hoping, too.

Rural firefighters are so excited about the event, they’ve been badgering Texas Forest Service officials to fly their fancy firefighting helicopter around the county coliseum, just for show.

When a Texas Forest Service official explained that budgetary concerns restricted the agency’s firefighting helicopter to use in actual fires, one of the rural firefighters was ready.

“What if we just set fire to the coliseum?” he said.

Contact associate editor Bill Whitaker at 676-6732 or whitakerb@abinews.com. Check out Bill’s previous columns at www.brazosbill.com.