Breakaway Texas Firefighters Try to Start New Dept.

Feb. 09--Back in the 1700s, Ben Franklin's Bucket Brigade was slinging as much mud as water at one point: a group of the country's first volunteer firefighters split from the original organization to form their own outfit, complementary but competing.

Hundreds of years later, a group of former Sabine volunteer firefighters is hanging out their shingle, aiming to increase Liberty City's fire coverage on their own terms.

C.W. Crutcher and a five-man crew founding Liberty City Fire & Rescue say they've long-since parted ways with the Sabine Volunteer Fire Department for a number of reasons.

"We felt the need for something better in our community," said Crutcher, chief of the proposed paid department.

There's a long way to go yet -- a central fire station to be completed, reams of paperwork to fill out, agreements to sign, certifications to produce, legal issues to resolve and some lingering hard feelings to salve.

With existing fire coverage in place through the Sabine Volunteer Fire Department and a group of its former members creating a competing department, tension is flaring in Liberty City.

Crutcher is currently facing a possible forgery charge tied to starting up the new department.

"There is an ongoing investigation on that individual in reference to a forged affidavit that would concern the start-up department. It's in reference to a license he has obtained," Kilgore Police Chief Todd Hunter said Friday. "We have completed our case and turned it over to the district attorney's office."

According to Crutcher, the case stems from his attempt to obtain an instructor's license. The necessary paperwork required the signature of former SVFD Chief Joe Johnston.

Crutcher says Johnston signed it; Johnston says he did no such thing.

"I did not sign the document. It was after he left," Johnston said Friday. "I would not sign anything for C.W. Crutcher after Dec. 2011."

The two men are starkly at odds outside the legal system as well.

For Johnston, Crutcher's department is a blatant attempt to undermine the existing department. "All he wants to do is destroy anything when he cannot get his way. He tried it, and he couldn't do it, now he's trying to do it this way.

For Crutcher, "Basically they're just trying to do anything malicious to stop us from what we're doing here. That's where all that stems from."

Confirming only that the six men did split off from his department -- some left, some were asked to leave -- SVFD's new chief, Richard Sisk, says he's nevertheless prepared to work together if some day they're on the same scene.

"If the Liberty City Fire & Rescue, or whatever, gets established, if they become a recognized rescue or fire department then we would work with them just like anybody else."

In America, divisions within volunteer firefighting organizations are as old as the practice itself.

According to Mike Baker, a fire history buff and the director of standards and certification for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, the Union Fire Company formed by Ben Franklin in 1736 split over inner turmoil.

Baker's organization regulates the paid, "career" firefighters in the state, and he's grateful for the volunteer organizations that help get the job done.

"The volunteer fire service is a much-needed, much-appreciated and much-valued asset to the state. They do a tremendous job. They really do," Baker said.

Volunteer firefighting outfits often start because of a need in the area. And, yes, they often start because of personal strife.

"It's sometimes based on this group of guys doesn't like this group of guys," he explained. "It doesn't make any group right or wrong. It doesn't make any group good guys or bad guys. They just parted company."

While the commission regulates compensated firefighters -- monitoring, among other things, certifications and equipment -- there is no statewide authority overseeing volunteer departments.

"It would be extremely difficult for the State of Texas to amass the resources to try and regulate, I don't know, 70,000 volunteer firefighters in the State of Texas," he said. The six compliance officers at the commission are already stretched thin visiting every regulated department once every two years. "There are startup fire departments that happen throughout the year, throughout the state and country for that matter."

If an existing department can't cover an existing area, if another group thinks they can provide better coverage, if philosophies differ and an organization splits or if someone wants to slap a volunteer sign on their truck and start fighting fires, there are any number of reasons an area might see two or more companies responding to emergencies.

"With firefighters, if you're going to be a paid, career firefighter there are state laws and rules in place. Those don't apply to volunteer firefighters," he said. "Volunteer firefighters have been around in this state for a way, way long time and they've done a real good job protecting property and lives. They do get training and experience and knowledge and skills, but it's not mandated by the State of Texas.

"Most of the good volunteer fire departments are going to make sure their firefighters are highly-qualified."

So far, the fledgling department's roster, all of them former SVFD volunteers, includes Crutcher, Kade Evans, Derek Miller, Justin Headen, A.C. Clayton and Trey Balyes.

The group is hard at work in the old Tiffany's party building on West Point Road, halving the space inside to create a 3,000 square-foot bay on one end with five offices, a training room, kitchen-area and upstairs sleeping quarters on the other side of the building.

Sheetrock dust filled the air Thursday night as the volunteers cleaned up after another round of building -- much of the building is still raw, but the department is taking shape.

Piles of secondhand bunker gear sit alongside used jaws-of-life, fire hose nozzles, carpet squares and paint stains in the bay, still very-much under construction. The group's plans include installing three more overhead doors to join the one already in place, ultimately allowing space for four trucks to pull straight-through.

The used equipment -- gathered from fire departments throughout the region, the group says -- have been a major cost-savings for the start-up.

"Rather than throw it away they donated it somebody that needs it," explained Carl Headen, former Kilgore Police Chief and one of the new department's board members. So far, the crew has finished about 75 percent of their construction on the building. "These guys literally worked night and day to get this stuff in here. It's just taken a massive effort."

According to Crutcher, the department is also seeking designation as a non-profit.

"Right now, we're just creating the department," Crutcher said. "We want to make sure that we're an open book."

The group is defining their standard operating procedures and guidelines with the help of attorney Gary Shaver. Their board of directors includes Eddie Fleming, Chris Cline and Headen.

Initially, the plan is for the six volunteers to continue serving without compensation until the funding rolls-in, Crutcher said, then transition to paid employees, initially at around $24,000 each.

With six men manning two-person shifts 24-hours on, 48-off, "The main goal is to have two guys here so when someone calls for an emergency, we can be there in a timely manner," Crutcher said. "We're making it a strong point to follow the Texas Commission on Fire Protection guidelines with anybody we appoint."

The group is seeking insurance through the Texas Forestry Service, he added.

To date, the group estimates their actual start-up costs -- the building itself, construction materials, utilities, etc. -- at $350,000; funding is still about $100,000 short of the goal, Crutcher said.

"When we need something, we talk to the board members and the board members put us in touch with someone who will help," Crutcher explained. For day-to-day expenses, "A lot of guys have chipped in their spare dollars."

While they put in the sweat-equity themselves, the group is trying to raise funds to purchase a combination grassfire truck fitted with rescue equipment.

Beyond the private donations that make up the vast majority of funding so far, the ongoing business model for the department's revenue is split between grants -- as primary grant-writer Headen intends to apply for federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and others -- as well as seeking compensation from homeowner's insurance following incidents.

"The intent is to try to get it to the point where it will be self-sufficient," Headen explained. "Without being a burden on the taxpayers."

They're well on their way, Evans says.

"Once the individual effort was made to create a better fire department, the community started pushing us," Evans insisted Thursday.

"Everybody involved in this is wholehearted in it that anything worth doing is worth doing right," Justin Headen said.

According to Sisk, Sabine Volunteer Fire Department has the area covered in terms of fire protection. The organization is fulfilling the promises it makes to Gregg County.

"We have a contractual agreement for fire service in our fire district. If Gregg County wants to add another service, that's going to be up to Gregg County."

Sisk also feels there's no need for another rescue service in Liberty City.

"Kilgore Rescue mutual aids Sabine Fire with rescue service," he said. Beyond that, "We are more than capable with response and means necessary to do the job for the citizens in this community."

But if the new department proceeds, if the group meets the requirements and regulations of paid firefighters, SVFD will cooperate as necessary.

Especially, Sisk says, if the new department meets the county's standards and eventually enters a contractual agreement on that end.

At that point, he'll be prepared to discuss formalizing the relationship between the competing crews. "That will be a mutual aid agreement that will have to be put together so we can work together to serve the citizens," he said. "When that comes to the table, we'll evaluate it.

"The citizens are our number one priority. We're not going to jeopardize anything when it comes to protecting the citizens."

Gregg County Judge Bill Stoudt says he hasn't spoken to anyone directly or officially about the proposed fire department. The county doesn't have a hand in any organization underway or any involvement to date.

If it comes to it, the new group will be covered by the same standard policies that apply to other, similar departments in the area.

"We participate with just about every volunteer fire department that's been in existence here that shows they can raise money and get their equipment and fight the fires," he said. "They've got to prove themselves. They've got to raise money. They've got organize. They've got to start up and show they're functioning. Then, obviously, we look at subsidizing the operation simply because we need fire protection in that part of the county."

For the moment, however, SVFD has the ball.

"We've got an existing relationship with a fire department that has proven themselves and is functioning," Stoudt said.

The new organization will have to rely on the county's dispatchers as well.

Currently, Hunter says, the Kilgore Police Department can neither fulfill the new department's request for communications services nor should local taxpayers shoulder the cost. The city's dispatchers already handle SVFD's 911 dispatch in consideration of that department's ongoing assistance to the local fire service.

"Right now, our dispatch center is taxed," Hunter said, even with three new part-time dispatchers now on board. "We can't add any additional call load at this point."

Kilgore Fire Department and Kilgore Rescue have a long, ever-improving relationship with SVFD.

As for the new department, "I'm going to make sure they are certified if they come in and assist us," Kilgore Fire Chief Johnny Bellows said. The same rule applies to all assisting departments. "They can come in, they can pull lines, they can fill bottles and all that, but if they enter the structure they have to be certified.

Either way, "The Kilgore Fire Department will continue their response to the areas we are responding to now and will not interrupt any service based on the departments that are running in that area."

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