ANDERSON, IN -- When the Deputy Volunteer Fire Department station caught fire on Dec. 17, it took 30 minutes before anyone knew to call 911. The fire company was able to get out a grass truck, but lost the three others.
Suddenly, the fire department in Jefferson County was displaced and unable to serve their community. As news spread, support across the country poured in, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Hazelwood said.
“We’ve had help from all over the United States,” he said. “We’ve had calls from Arizona, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania.”
Some of the support came from the Anderson Fire Department. Deputy Chief Todd Cawthorn said he heard about the fire and thought AFD could help.
“It was a total loss for them,” he said. “I realized we were in a unique position to help them.”
Deputy needed a fire engine, and Anderson had one. The extra fire engine was waiting to be used for a trade-in deal, but Anderson Chief Dave Cravens said the department wound up keeping it.
“The way everything fell, we kept it, but it was on a training ground,” he said. “For our department, this was a surplus engine.”
The 2004 fire engine had a long run on the Anderson streets, and was no longer able to manage the 13,000 calls AFD receives in a year. Deputy, a small volunteer fire department, is much better suited for the truck, Cawthorn said.
“I spoke with them and I kept it short and sweet,” he said. “‘We’re in a spot where we have an engine if you’d like it,’ and they took us on.”
The Deputy firefighters are now operating out of a building about an eighth of a mile away from their previous station, and they’re running on fumes.
“We’re burned out, going on fumes, but we keep going,” Hazelwood said. “The engine donated to us, it meant a lot. It was really something.”
Because of Anderson and other departments across the country, Deputy is in pretty good shape with its equipment, he said. Right now, they’re really in need of cash to keep the department going while dealing with insurance claims.
“We’re maybe a little underinsured than what we thought we were,” Hazelwood said. “But we’re doing our best, insurance is doing their best, everyone has been wonderful.”
Cawthorn said the fire service is a brotherhood regardless of which station you serve. To him, helping another department was second nature.
“When your neighbor’s house is on fire, you don’t ask the price of water,” Cawthorn said. “You just give them the garden hose.”
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