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By David Stephens
HOMETOWN NEWS
At a celebration held in the community room of Parkway Baptist Church on May 30, 2009, past and current members of the Boiling Springs Fire Department gathered to celebrate 50 years of fire service to the community.
After the meal, Assistant Fire Chief Scott Miller welcomed everyone and offered special thanks to all the former members of the fire department who had made fire protection service possible in Boiling Springs. Miller also stated that ground had been broken at the location of the new firehouse on Rainbow Lake Road and projected occupancy at that location in mid to late 2010.
In an interview, Marshall Owens, who was on the original committee that formed the first volunteer fire department and served as assistant chief, spoke about some of his experiences with the fire department. Owens said, “I was in the Navy for a while and served there as a fireman. Once I was back at home it seemed natural to serve as a volunteer fireman. I was on the organizing committee and helped to build the first firehouse. Some of us had toured some of the volunteer fire departments in North Carolina and that was kind of the inspiration for forming our own. We went on to become the only tax supported volunteer department in the county. We had one pumper truck and one tanker truck. Back then there was no state - mandated training so we would meet on Monday nights and the chief would give us some sort of training. The State Fire Marshal would come around sometimes and give us a lecture or something as well. We only had some basic gear like Scott air packs and no radios. The fire department now, of course, is much improved in total safety and their ability to fight fires, attend wrecks, and serve the community.”
Marshall Owens also spoke about the other volunteers. Owens said, “I remember and cherish to this day the camaraderie and friendship I had with every one of them. We enjoyed each other and loved that we were serving our community.”
Another early member of the department, Stewart Taylor, who also served as an assistant chief at one time, offered some memories as well. Taylor said, “Our early fire alarm system was a phone call. Someone on the other end would say “fire” and hang up. That was your order to report to the fire department. We only had our own gear and I recall someone’s shoes getting melted and burned up once during a grass fire. One time there was a fire call during church on a Sunday morning and I think the pastor got pretty shook up when a bunch of us jumped up and burst out of the church. Sometimes we had to take up a collection among ourselves to buy fuel for the trucks and the ladies would put on hotdog suppers and things to raise money.”
Fire Chief LeRoy Searcy wrapped up the evening’s festivities by passing out commemorative coins that mark the fire department 50th anniversary.
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