When the residents of Linn, Steiner and Roundaway formed the LSR Volunteer Fire Department recently, President Ralph Braswell knew that items such as gear, trucks and hoses would need to be acquired.
In the past week, a flow of donations has poured into the new department from across the nation.
Captain Rodney Rogers of the Monroe Fire Department in Monroe, N.C. explained that after reading an article by The Bolivar Commercial about the LSR department featured on Firehouse Magazine's website he knew he wanted to help. Rogers, who also volunteers with the Wingat Volunteer Fire Department in Wingat, N.C., contacted Wingat Chief Travis Stegall and Assistant Chief Paul Ward. Together the trio began a drive to pull in donations from across their state.
"I had no idea that what I thought was going to be a small donation of turnout gear had snowballed into such a large thing," said Rogers. "The departments in our surrounding area have come together and we have collected everything from turnout gear, hoses, ladders, helmets, air packs, and possibly another fire truck for [LSR]."
Braswell explained that the donations from North Carolina have aided immensely in their department's progress.
"They have been great," said Braswell. "We had to have the uniforms, ladders and hoses and radios. It is lots of equipment that they came through for us with. I was totally surprised at the amount."
Rogers said he does not often see communities such as Linn, Steiner and Roundaway, in which the residents have taken it upon themselves to spearhead the formation of a fire department. He said that due the rising trend of cities annexing small community fire departments, the LSR department is a rare find.
"It is odd in this day and time to hear of a fire department starting," said Rogers. "Cities are annexing out and usually you see that doors are closing. So I called Travis Stegall and said this is a really great Idea. Here is an opportunity to help a fire department starting from scratch."
Rogers explained that the Wingat Volunteer Fire Department knows firsthand what a new department needs to protect the residents in their communities. He said it was their own personal struggles that inspired their donations.
"Through the years we have acquired a lot of gear," said Rogers. "We used to be that poor little fire department that relied on donations from other departments. We have progressed over 10 to 15 years. Paul Ward has been talking about donating this spare gear and after reading the article and we knew where we could send it."
According to Rogers, the Wingat department now has "a large metal building slammed full and another little building slammed full with things that have been donated" from North Carolina counties.
Braswell explained that sometime in the next two weeks, members of the LSR Volunteer Fire Department would be traveling to North Carolina to meet with Stegall, Ward and Rogers. He also said the LSR department will shortly be electing a chief.
"We will have a meeting on June 19 to determine the chief," said Braswell. "We will also elect an assistant fire chief and two captains. We are planning to start the school immediately with all the equipment that the North Carolina departments have given so generously to us."
COPYRIGHT ® 2006 The Bolivar Commercial, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Republished with permission of The Bolivar Commercial.
