History Book of MD Fire Companies will Benefit Museum

Dec. 18—In his third book, author Clarence "Chip" Jewell combines his fire and rescue service experience with a passion for fact finding in "History of the Fire Companies of Frederick County, Maryland."

Spanning roughly 42,000 words across 140 pages with about 380 references, the book focuses on the early beginnings of individual companies in the context of Frederick County's history as a whole.

The author describes the book as a labor of love, and 100 percent of its royalties go to the Frederick County Fire and Rescue Museum, of which Jewell is president.

Readers can find the book locally at the Curious Iguana in downtown Frederick, at Barnes & Noble in the Francis Scott Key Mall, or online through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and arcadiapublishing.com.

Jewell retired in 2017 as the county's first director/deputy chief of the Division of Volunteer Fire and Rescue Services. He also served as director of the emergency communications center. He is president and assistant chief of Libertytown Volunteer Fire Department. He's also a life member of Junior Fire Co. When he's not busy giving back to the fire and rescue community, he writes monthly columns for the News-Post.

He's also the author of "Images of America: Firefighting in Frederick County" and co-author of "Firefighting in Frederick," with Warren Jenkins.

What follows is an interview with the News-Post, edited for length and clarity.

What inspired you to write this book? Why did you want to take on this project?

First of all, I enjoy history in general, specifically Frederick history and specifically the fire service history. There's never been, to my knowledge, a true written history of the Frederick County Fire Service. There have been other books [on individual fire companies], but there's no one book somebody could pick up and really get a good feel for the history of the Frederick County fire service.

How much time did you spend on the book, from the idea to the printing?

I actually started it before COVID and had intended to do a much deeper dive into some of the real, real early fire companies, like go into city hall records and such. Then COVID hit, so I had to alter my thoughts a little bit, but between the Maryland archives, [ Jacob] Engelbrecht diary, Reverend [ Fred] Wenner, [pastor emeritus of the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ] ... there's a lot of good documentation that either I had personally, some books that I own, or online with the News-Post and Maryland archives and some of the other online sources. I was really able to do a lot of that research, even during COVID.

Do you have a favorite chapter or a favorite set of facts that you feature in the book?

I really enjoyed doing the one on throwing water over the town clock [in Chapter 11], because that's such a unique activity that the fire companies did to test their engines. And sometimes, some fire companies would come from out of town to Frederick and would throw the water over the town clock to show off their engine.

What was the most difficult part of writing the book?

Trying to verify some information. Finding things in the Maryland archives — sometimes it's a little difficult because it's so expansive, to find specific items. ... The News-Post has very extensive archives, so sometimes finding a certain thing out of a newspaper article takes a little time. ... I really hope to do more research as things keep becoming more normal, maybe I can go into Frederick City Hall possibly.

What do you hope people get out of the book?

A true appreciation for our county history and, in particular, our county fire and rescue history and a true appreciation of the fire service and how it developed into the commitment and dedication of the members of our fire and rescue service today. ... Today's fire service is really built on commitment and dedication and tradition.

I think hopefully the book shows all those things.

The Citizens Truck Company, for example, when they first organized, to get the ladder truck they wanted, they paid $1,500 out of the members' pockets ... because the city only authorized so much money. You know, that's dedication.

Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller

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Visit The Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Md.) at www.fredericknewspost.com

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