Photo by Helen Wiggins
By Carley Wiggins
On Sunday afternoon, October 6, the City of Dillon Fire Department celebrated a milestone in the history of the dept. with 100 years of service to the citizens of Dillon. I attended the meeting, mainly because I have always had a deep respect for First Responders, such as firemen, Rescue Personnel, and any organization which is there in times of dire need. I listened to what was said concerning years of service, dedication to the job, and the opportunities that they have had to provide protection for the citizens of Dillon.
When I left, I felt like I needed to say some things about these dedicated men who would have been sorely missed if they were not there. Today, I had a chance to sit down with two full time firemen and listened to their stories. Keith Bailey has been Fire Chief since 2005 and is a second generation fireman. His dad, J.W. Bailey, has 46 years of service as a volunteer fireman. Lee Webster is a full-time engineer with 15 years of service to the department.
As I listened to these two guys talk, it didn’t take me long to find out that they took their jobs very seriously. The department has four full-time firemen on staff; the other two are Donnie Grimsley, our elected coroner, whose dad, Dan served as our coroner for 20 years. His son, Donnie (Bubba) Grimsley, Jr., is also a full-time engineer. Keith and Donnie Sr. are also certified Fire Marshals. There are 27 volunteer firemen in the department, who are paid a small compensation when they go on a call. Usually there are 18 firemen who respond to a call. There are officers in the department. Lorenzo Owens is currently the captain. The length of service these men put in is astounding. J.W. Bailey has been with the department for 46 years, Jerry Richardson, a former full-time fireman has a total of 45 years, 26 years full-time. Mickey Moody has been a fireman for 42 years, Billy Wayne Cain, 34 years, and Gary Bethea, 33 years—200 years among five men. Many have 20 years with the department.
When we think back to 1913, when the fire department was first established, things must have been very hard for these fellows, without the modern means of firefighting as we have today. The water tanks would have to been horse drawn. In the terrible fire that destroyed most of the buildings on what was then Railroad Ave. now MacArthur Street, there probably was not a lot they could do. Until 1949, the Fire Dept. was known as Dillon Fire and Rescue. In 1949, the fire dept became a separate organization.
I wish that I could mention every man that had served on the fire dept over the years but space will not allow, but I would like to mention a few names that came to mind during our conversation. There were men like Dave Richardson, Chesley Pate, Earl Gaddy, Babe King, Harold Post, David Taylor, Ernie Watts, Holmes Mishue, Jackie Carmichael, Luke Covington, whose son Don is now a fireman, Monroe Hinson, Malcolm Goodwin, Jesse Turbeville, Donald Sapp, Wally Turbeville, Joe Johnson, George Moody, Atlas Scott, Bill Seddinger, Allen Norris, O’Neal Oates, Jackie Carmichael and so many more.
The city has a substation on West Main Street, located next to the J.W. Dillon Museum. A volunteer fireman is on duty at this station eight hours each night. The land for this station and the Dillon House was donated by the Osborne Wallace Family. I was somewhat amazed at the firemen who had followed in their father’s or family member’s footsteps such as Chief Bailey, Michael Goodwin, Don Covington, Donnie Grimsley, Jr., Daniel Moody, Jeff Bethea and others I might not be aware of.
I was totally impressed when I asked how much training it took to become a certified fireman. The answer was 200 hours. The dept. is heavily involved at all times in training with two training sessions per month. There are many things that must be covered before you go out to fight a fire. There are 16 men in the dept trained in Hazardous Material.
One thing I haven’t brought up is the fact that 18 members of the fire dept. are also members of the Dillon Rescue squad. That also takes much training. We talked about some serious fires that have happened in the city over the years. There was the burning of Dillon Tractor and Implement, the Bethea Coal and Distributing co. which destroyed over half of that block, J.V. Martin School, The Old Bethea Funeral Home, McIntyre Drug. Co., the Dillon Company, The J.W. Dillon House when it was on First Ave., Dillon Provision, and Lemmon’s Dress Shop, the Marriage Chapel, and the Old Cotton Mill, which the city assisted with. There have been some arson fires which I will mention.
Back in the early fifties, what was known as the Main Street Tobacco Warehouse (Where Carl’s Food Center is now) was an arson job and then the burning of the Dunbar Memorial Library and several houses, committed by another arsonist (no connection to the warehouse arson). Chief Bailey alluded to how improvements to the fighting of fires have improved over the years. He talked about air packs that contained compressed air that the firemen wore to keep them from smoke damage.
He also talked about better fire protective suits available to firemen and special suits for working with hazardous material. He complemented the city for providing the dept with better equipment to battle fires. The dept. has a brand new 2013 International E1 state of the art fire truck that dispenses foam as well as water. They now have special imaging cameras that allow the firemen to see in the smoke and darkness.
I could tell that both men were proud of the Dillon Fire Dept and would put it up against any fire dept in the state. I asked what their response time was and the Chief said “from the time we get the call, 2 minutes”.
I guess the main reason I wrote this article was to point out the sacrifice that these men give to keep us safe. As Lee Webster said “When that call comes in at 3:00 o’clock in the morning and it’s freezing outside, it takes a lot of sacrifice, but someone has to do it”.
Phyllis Richardson, whose husband has done this for 45 years said “While our husbands and sons are out there, we are home praying”. Remember, when that fire truck rolls out of the station or that volunteer starts his vehicle, they don’t know what they might run into. All fires are not created equal! Think about it!
©Carley Wiggins
