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Gary Davis (seated) joined the
McKenzie Fire Department in 1973. Four members of
his family now serve in the McKenzie Fire and Rescue
Department. Behind Gary: Son-in Law Adam Cooper and
sons, Brad and Karl Davis. |
Men like Gary Davis understand, perhaps better than
ordinary Americans, the resolve and spirit of firefighters
who rushed so willingly into the uncertainty of the World
Trade Center. They had a job to do.
As a seasoned firefighter with the McKenzie Fire
Department, Davis speaks from his own experience: "While
we're there we just do what we've got to do; after it's
over, then we think about it."
Gary is in his 29th year as a member of the Department,
joining the year after he graduated from high school in
1973 at the suggestion of then-Fire Chief Bobby Ridley. It
is a decision he is happy to have made.
"I love being on the Fire Department; if you ever get it
in your blood you've got it for life more than likely," he
says.
The lure to join the elite unit isn't money - most of the
28 members of the Department are volunteers. It is the
bonds of common cause, sacrifice and service that combine
to create a unit Gary describes as "family".
"The whole fire department is like a brotherhood -
everybody looks out for each other - we've got a real good
fire department up here," he says sincerely.
Like brothers, the men enjoy good-natured horseplay and
fun any time they get together, but, Gary states
unequivocally, "Whenever we have an alarm we're serious
and take care of what needs to be done."
"What needs to be done" is often not a fire at all. "We
don't have that many fires anymore," Gary says, a
development he indicates may be most closely related to
the fewer number of people using fossil fuels like wood
and coal for heating and cooking. While he still
attributes most modern-day fires to kitchen mishaps and
misuse of heating appliances, he enjoys quoting one fire
chief, who said, "The three main causes of fires are men,
women, and children."
The largest recent fire in the county occurred when a new
kerosene heater was placed too close to a wall, Gary said.
He recalled another recent fire that was caused by the
spontaneous combustion of a barn full of hay, explaining
that when hay is baled while too green, organic or
chemical processes taking place in the uncured bales
produce heat that can cause fires.
"But," Gary says, "the biggest part of the Fire
Department's work anymore is to respond to wrecks;
McKenzie goes to a lot of wrecks all over the county."
The McKenzie Fire Department is the only fire department
in the county with an organized rescue team, according to
Davis. Created in the late 1970's, the rescue team is
frequently a co-responder with the Carroll County Rescue
Squad to accidents as far away as Cedar Grove on the
county's southernmost border.
"McKenzie works real well with the Carroll County Rescue
Squad," says Gary, who is clearly proud of both units. The
two teams are closely related, with many members of the
rescue squad also members of the McKenzie Fire
Department's rescue team. Training together helps the
teams work effectively as one in the field.
Gary found a kindred spirit in his love for the Fire
Department and rescue team in 1979 when he began dating
the former Teresa Choate, who was one of the first female
members of the Rescue Squad. Like her male counterparts,
Teresa could operate the Jaws of Life and remove
windshields to gain access to trapped victims. Gary joined
the ranks of those with dual-memberships in the Fire
Department and Rescue Squad before the couple married in
June, 1981.
Gary's children, Brad and Kim (who were six and
four-years-old at the time) soon joined Gary, Teresa and
her six-year-old daughter, Kelly, with Karl born a couple
of years later. With four small children, Teresa found
herself too preoccupied with family responsibilities to
continue her work with the Rescue Squad. "I had my little
ducks," she smiles, "It was hard to do Rescue Squad with
my little ducklings."
Their father's relentless enthusiasm was contagious,
however, and both Brad and Karl (now ages 27 and 20)
joined him as firefighters at the age of 18. The Davis men
were joined last year by sister Kelly's husband, Adam
Cooper, who is also 27 years old. Karl is a member of the
Fire Department's rescue team as well as the Carroll
County Rescue Squad. Brad, now a lieutenant after eight
years in the Fire Department, is a member of the rescue
team while Adam is a member of the Rescue Squad in
Huntingdon.
Twenty-year old Karl attends Jackson State Community
College, taking EMT classes after having already completed
first responder courses and passing the state board tests
required for certification. Last year, Karl was awarded
the "Fireman of the Year Award."
"He hardly ever misses anything - he's gung-ho - he loves
it and does a good job," his father boasts concerning
Karl, while taking pride as well that Adam is currently
enrolled in the first responder course.
Training is a big part of being a member of the McKenzie
Fire Department, with fire drills taking place every other
Tuesday night at 7:00 following the 6:00 officers'
meeting. The Department is organized into four companies
under the direction of Fire Chief Larry Cook, Assistant
Chiefs Joe Perkins and Jimmy Stambaugh, and Battalion
Chief Brian Tucker. Heading up the four companies are
captains John Nelson, Brian Bennett, Roger Christian, and
Gary Davis with lieutenants James "Peanut" McDaniel, Monty
Bullington (who is also a paramedic with the Methodist
Hospital Ambulance Service), Kevin Hill, and Brad Davis.
Volunteer firefighters make up the bulk of the four
companies for a Department that is nearly 30-men strong.
Gary describes the continuous training that takes place
during the bi-weekly drills, with the men often competing
against each other in contests and drills. Wearing full
gear and air packs, they crawl through a maze contrived in
the old city hall building in a timed mission to locate
victims and get back out. Other contests involve finding
equipment on trucks, taking the hoses down, changing the
lines and answering questions. Driving contests are
conducted in which drivers must navigate the fire trucks
around cones set up in parking lots.
Summertime adds spice to the Tuesday Fire Drills when new
members learn the purpose of the "cellar nozzle", a
specialized attachment created to fight fires in
basements.
"The cellar nozzle has little holes all around it," Gary
says, explaining that in the event of a fire in a basement
or cellar, the nozzle is placed into a hole cut into the
floor "When you charge the line, it spins around and
around shooting water all over the place."
A more common use for the nozzle is giving new firemen a
"welcome to the Fire Department bath" as Gary calls it. "I
can't remember ever using one except for initiation
purposes," he shares mischievously.
Gary's oldest son Brad received a different kind of
initiation in his early years in the Department when a
fire broke out in Peggy's Fashions about five years ago.
"Brad was still living at home then so we drove down there
together," Gary related, "I got up on the roof - the
building was as full of smoke as it could be. I was trying
to ventilate the roof when Brad, Brian Tucker, Kevin
Lilly, and John Nelson went in."
Atop the roof, Gary was unaware the men had entered the
building as he tried in vain to cut a hole through the new
roof. Inside, the four firefighters searched for the fire
in an environment blackened by smoke.
"They went all the way to the back and found the fire but
they couldn't get it out, so they followed the hose back
out," Gary said.
Climbing down the ladder from the roof, he saw the hose
that was still inside the building. Alarmed, he exclaimed,
"They didn't go in there did they!"
"Then it flashed over," Gary described in retroactive fear
and relief. "The fire just rolled out the front and blew
out the glass. They hadn't been outside a minute."
Firefighters frequently cut a hole in the roof of a
burning building to allow smoke and super-heated gasses to
escape, creating a safer situation for firefighters who
are also able to locate the source of the fire more easily
without the buildup of smoke and potentially poisonous
gasses.
"You have to let the heat out," Gary explains further. "If
you don't, the fire burns up the oxygen and the building
is full of heat and smoke. All that heat is doing is
looking for oxygen and just a breathe of oxygen in there
can cause a backdraft - it'll explode - it's a very
dangerous situation."
A smaller fire in previous years turned into more than the
responding firefighters reckoned for. It was March 1 -
Teresa's birthday - Gary recalls, and he had just arrived
home from a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a nice card to go with
the gift he had for her when his pager sounded.
The firemen arrived at Dot Ramsey's two-story home to find
she had been able to put out the fire but the kitchen was
hot and full of smoke. While some of the firefighters sat
Mrs. Ramsey down to administer oxygen, others began
blowing the smoke out of the kitchen and several others,
including Gary, chatted on the back porch.
Gary describes the weather that day: "It was stormy on the
way out there - what you talking about? - the rain was
pouring down!" At Wal-Mart, he'd been witness to a
wide-eyed employee who came from the back of the store to
announce there was a tornado watch.
" I was telling a couple of the guys what she said when
one boy said, 'What is that racket?'"
"Probably that tornado," Gary joked, then looked to see
the twister right beside the house. In a flash, Mrs.
Ramsey ran for the closet underneath the stairwell and
closed the door behind her.
"The poor old woman was down and out with smoke inhalation
one minute," Gary laughs, "then, when somebody said
something about a tornado, she jumped up and beat
everybody to the closet, slammed the door and wouldn't let
nobody in there, not even her husband!"
Gary says he will never forget watching the sides of
mobile homes flying into the air from the mobile home park
on Forrest Avenue.
"I always thought I wanted to see a tornado 'til then," he
says, acknowledging he is in no hurry to see another one.
He and other firefighters spent the next two days cleaning
up from the storm that damaged Gaines Manufacturing and
Tommy's Carpet as well as other business and residential
structures.
At home, Teresa (who loves a good storm) watched Trent
Johnson's greenhouses go flying through the air before
going to the backdoor to see what was happening there,
while Karl and the dog took refuge in the closet.
She still loves to watch storms, finding them not near as
dangerous as Gary's driving one cold winter day when his
pager went off.
"We were in the Coldwater Bottom out past Republic headed
up to her mother's one Sunday afternoon to eat lunch and
the pager went off," Gary says while Teresa shrinks into
her chair, laughing. "There was a flue fire on Como Road
at Mrs. Kemp's house," he continues, "so I just turned and
went out that way. It was snowing and the roads were slick
- Teresa was scared to death - I got to sliding one time
and she said, 'We're not going to make it!' But we got to
house right in front of the fire truck."
"Little Red", as the smaller fire engine is fondly known,
was sliding in, too. "I jumped up on the front of the
truck and slid up to the house," Jimmy laughs while Teresa
declares, "I don't care where we are, if that pager goes
off now I say, 'Let me out!' It scared me to death!"
Just as deadly and certainly more prevalent than fires and
tornadoes are the automobile accidents that claim the
majority of the Fire Department's attention. After years
on the rescue team, Gary decided to step down from that
part of his job.
"It started bothering me," he shares. "Going to wrecks is
kind of like war; you see so many injured people - mangled
people and blood - that after awhile it bothers you. I got
to where I couldn't handle it anymore. The young guys
handle it real well. Nobody wants to see terrible injuries
or death but they handle it. They do an outstanding job."
While acknowledging there are situations where wearing
seat belts "wouldn't make any difference either way", Gary
says it is safest to wear them.
"Cars are built with crumple zones," he explains. "The
passenger area stays pretty well intact. We might have to
push the dash up or cut the steering wheel or cut the door
off. But one wreck made me understand the importance of
seatbelts and airbags."
It was a three-vehicle accident with each driver using
varying levels of safety precautions. The driver with no
seatbelt had injuries requiring that he be airlifted to a
hospital. The second driver was wearing a seatbelt yet
sustained some injury, while the one who wore a seatbelt
and was afforded the protection of an airbag got out of
the car and walked around at the scene of the accident.
"It didn't hurt him at all; they do make a difference,"
Gary concluded.
He credits the Fire Department's expertise to good
training and the valuable experience of its members. He
recalls men with many years of service to the Department:
Bill Argo, who served 48 years; Hollis Hopper, who was a
member of the Fire Department for 30 to 35 years, and
Willard Barksdale who served "40-something" years.
"But you get to an age where you can't keep up with the
young guys," Gary says, "So you pass that knowledge on to
younger guys."
Working with children in the McKenzie School System gives
Teresa fresh insight to the exuberance with which youthful
firefighters enter the brotherhood of firefighters. She
described the excitement of Fire Chief Larry Cook's
grandson, Justin, as he approached 18; the age he could
join the Fire Department.
"I'd see him at school and he would say, 'Ms. Teresa! Just
five more days 'til I can join the Fire Department! Just
four more days!' Finally, he's on the Fire Department and
he just eats it up, too. I loved seeing him light up and
then give that countdown. That's how Karl was, too."
"The boys do a real good job," adds Gary, "They're good
firemen. All the guys up there do an excellent job;
they're just outstanding." |
