I haven't told u guys much about my Fire/EMS career or the dept's I was on.
So.......... The Boyd, Tx VFD that I belonged to (in my humble opinion) is one of the best small FD's in Texas. At the time I was there about half the membership were paid FF's, police officers or medics elsewhere. The majority were certified at least EMT-B, I don't remember the exact number but, several were SFFMA (State Firemen's & Fire Marshalls Assoc) certified Vol FF.
The Dept consisted of a roster of 25 led by a Chief, Asst Chief and 3 Captains. Of course there was Secretary and
Treasurer.
We had 6 units: Eng 1201...1972 Ford/ALF 1000 gpm class A. Rescue 1202...1989 Ford/E-one 250 gpm 4x4 with foam, aux pwr pump, this one carried all our rescue/ EMS kits, 1203...1992 Dodge/ Local design & manuf brush rig & backup rescue, 1204...1974 Chevy/ Local design & manuf brush rig, Tanker 1205 (forgot yr mod) GMC/ Local design/manuf 1500 gal tanker, and an aluminum outboard boat for water rescue.
While most Dept's used the Hurst tool, our jaws were the Phoenix Rescue Tool. Heavy as Hell, but it WORKED! For us, at least....had cutter/spreader all in one.
In addition to the City of Boyd (pop1200), we covered a 150 sq mi rural fire district. Funding was largely thru donations. We also recieved funds from the city, Wise County and the state. In about 1993, for legal purposes, we became a city agency with unpaid employees.
If memory serves, the Dept got its official start in the 1920's. The 1st Fire Chief whose name I've forgotten. was a pitcher for the Ft. Worth Cats of the Texas League.
My earliest memory of the Dept are of two OLD trucks, 1 Chevy or GMC, 1 Ford, painted white. I've heard old hands talk of an old Dodge Power Wagon.
During my time there, our calls for service ran about 60% EMS/rescue, followed by grass/brush fires, structure fires, and an odd assortment of other calls. And yes, I have "rescued" a cat.
My 1st set of bunkers were the old heavy black canvas coat & pants. Try those when its 100* out! Our SCBA then were steel bottle Survivair demand units. Remember those?
Now, the units I listed above are what we had when I left the Dept and do not include what were my personal favorites. The old 1201 was a '67 Fireboss 1000gpm 5-man canopy cab engine with the biggest Waukesha 6 cyl gas motor I ever had the misfortune to work on, 2 sp auto trans & a top speed of 45mph (it was obviously intended for in city only, but...), it was a helluva trip gettin passed runnin code! 1202 @ that time was a '67 Ford F750/Fireboss 250gpm/750gal tank booster, this one was especially hard for us to part with as it was the most dependable of the fleet AND still looked new. 1203 was my baby, a '76 Ford F350/F.A.C.T. (Fire Appliance Co of Tx) mini-pumper & light rescue, she was as solid as they come & like 1202 as pretty as they come. This thing was a screamer, she could flat haul ass! I was Engineer on her for 2yrs. I still miss those 2 trucks. We also had a '53 Ford home-built rig we got during an ill-fated attempt to open a 2nd station in the southern part of the district. I think we donated it to another Dept, didn't keep it long at any rate.
As I've alluded to elswhere in forums, we had a very high level of activity & participation among our members. I was really proud to be a part of it.
Well that's a basic overview & enough for now. Stay tuned for the next installment, same bat-time, same bat-channel!
Stay safe.