Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon's Volunteer Firemen Vital

It's 3:00 a.m., deep in a peaceful, silent sleep, when suddenly your dreams are rudely interrupted by a shrill, piercing continuous ring, "The Fire Phone."

Your adrenaline brings your consciousness to its peak. "Where's the fire?" A voice on the other end responds, "A house fire," and gives the address. The hair stands up on the back of your neck. "I know those people. Did they all get out? How bad is it?"

Within seconds you have your bulky fire clothes on, are in your vehicle and on your way. Your heart is pounding out of your chest, seconds count. You have a job to do, (never considering the life threatening situation you face personally).

You arrive at the fire, at that point, you have no time to think, just react. You do what is necessary and what you have been trained to do -- first to save lives, then to save property.

This is a scenario the Gurdon Volunteer Fire Department has faced more than 30 (thirty) times since the first of the year. Few people in Gurdon realize how vital these 18 (eighteen) men ar to the safety of our community.

They are all volunteers, they are dedicated, they are all trained and they are good at what they do. They are truly "Our unsung heroes." Every time they respond to a fire, one slip up could potentially result in death; unforeseen explosions; a collapsing roof; ammunition innocently stored in someone's drawer.

We, as a community, should do everything possible to support this department. Gurdon has some of the most modern fire equipment anywhere, comparable to Arkadelphia's full-time city fire department. However, there are several pieces of equipment still desperately needed.

For instance: two-way radio/pagers, red flashing lights for vehicles, penetrating nozzles, a tanker truck (for an additional water supply, especially in rural areas where there are no hydrants), etc.

We are currently working on a grant from the Arkansas Rural Development Commission for matching grant funds for the highest priority items such as the radio/pagers and red lights. The grants look very promising and we should know of the approval or denial by late April.

The radio/pagers are most critical, for example: "The Gurdon Times" fire. There were firemen fighting the fire from the front of the building as a group prepared to enter the back.

As they entered the rear of the building the smoldering fire got the gulp of fresh air it needed to cause a backdraft explosion, blowing the front windows out, spraying the firemen in the front with glass fragments.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, however, the inability to communicate could have resulted in death to both firemen and bystanders. Numerous situations even more dangerous and life-threatening have occurred since then.

The red flashing lights are equally necessary because the general public pays no attention to emergency flashers, and currently the fire department members have no insignia on their vehicles to indicate emergency status.

After the red lights are obtained and in use, please get out of their way. They may be going to your house.

The legislature passed an act giving a volunteer fireman en route to a fire the same emergency status as an ambulance, police or any other emergency vehicle. The firemen are within the law to ticket you. These men are putting their lives on the line for you, the least you could do is get out of their way and let them do their job.

Realizing this is a small town and the excitement factor is at a minimum, observing a fire is (naturally) an adrenaline rush. However, going to a fire scene is a very dangerous pastime. It not only jeopardizes your safety, but hinders the firemen's efforts.

There have been occasions where the firemen cannot get within blocks of a fire (because of the on-lookers, curious about what is going on) and are forced to park their cars and run. Seconds do count, please get out of their way.

This is a small community and everyone knows everyone. Until the lights are funded and installed, please use the utmost courtesy in safely pulling over and letting our firemen pass.

They will usually have their flashers on and be honking their horns. In case you are not aware of who our firemen are, here is a list: Jake McBride, fire chief; Robert Burns, assistant fire chief; Chris Dulan; Joe Rutherford; Jerry Rutherford; Billy T. Rutherford; Jimmy Martin; Jimmy McNabb; Jason Burns; Eddie Reece; Douglas Benson; Tommy McNabb; Don Smithpeters; Chris Smithpeters; Chad Dillard; Danny Paul; Todd McBride; and Gene Flowers.

I am not a fireman, but my husband is, and speaking for all of the wives, families and friends of these men, we want them to do their job. We want them to provide this very important service to our community, but we love them and want them back in one piece.

I apologize if I have offended anyone, but the entire community would mourn the loss of one of our firemen. Please do your part to help them help all of us. MARY C. BURNS