July Fourth, you could say, was a groundbreaking day for the Hemby Bridge Volunteer Fire Department.
At 1 p.m., in heavy humidity, six participants used gold-colored shovels to scoop a ceremonial patch of dirt at the site of the fire department's future building.
"It's been a long time coming," said Ed Smith, former mayor of Indian Trail and one of five men who started the department in 1969. "This is a very special day."
Architect Scott Garner, Hemby Bridge VFD Chief Johnny Blythe, Smith, retired firefighter Willie J. Tobias Sr., Bill Mirrielees, a member of the VFD board of directors, and firefighter Ralph Rowell manned the shovels.
Garner said construction of the 25,000-square-foot building should take about a year.
There are many pluses to the new location, 18 acres on Mill Grove Road across from the Crismark development. The land was donated by Carlton and Carol Tyson.
"It will be more centrally located in our district," said Hemby Bridge VFD treasurer Dennis Hawkins. "But the biggest part is we've outgrown our existing building and we have to find a way to house people."
And that will be the biggest difference in this new building -- firefighters will have a place to spend the night. It also will have an exercise room and a second-story window for firefighters to train from.
The building will have four drive-through bays, where the department can park its seven vehicles, including two fire engines and a ladder truck.
I talked a while with Smith and Ralph Rowell, who was one of the department's original members and who still volunteers on occasion, after the ceremony. For them, the day marked what Smith described as "a total effort by a lot of people."
But the department was started with the efforts of five people: Smith, Archie Aldridge, Wilson Williams, Jack Hinson and Marvin Pressler. Stallings had a volunteer fire department, and they decided the area needed one on the Hemby Bridge side of U.S. 74.
Smith said the original commitment from the founding five was $100 each. That may not sound like a lot now, but to put it in perspective, Smith said in 1969 he was making $82 a week working at an insurance company, and he had bills to pay and a new baby.
That $500 wasn't enough, so the men went door to door in the evenings, "asking for money for a fire department that didn't exist," Smith said.
They finally rounded up enough money for the VFD's first fire truck: a 1946 model, used.
It never really got a chance, Smith said. On its way to the department's very first call, a house fire on Poplin Road, the truck was totaled and the department didn't have collision insurance, Smith said.
They had better luck after another round of knocking on doors, and collected enough to buy a $4,500 truck, circa 1950, which lasted for 10 years.
Now, the department has 35 members, including First Assistant Chief Paul
Ramsey and Second Assistant Chief Ed Crowell. Several members are paid, manning the fire station from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hawkins said the department responds to about 50 calls a month.
"(This building's) been 10 years coming," Chief Blythe said at the ceremony, "and we're looking for it to carry us another 40 years."
If you have something for Our Towns from Stallings, Indian Trail, Lake Park or the surrounding area, I'd love to hear from you.
Marty Minchin
Union Observer "Our Towns"
132 S. Main St.
Monroe, NC 28112
Fax to (704) 289-4669.
I welcome photos (make sure everyone is clearly identified left to right). Drop them in the mail or e-mail them as a JPEG file. Be sure to include a daytime phone number. For more information, call (704) 289-6576, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.
Distributed by the Associated Press
