The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County, Texas Page: 52
652 p.: ill., map, ports. ; 29 cm.View a full description of this book.
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tial, commercial, public buildings, large power,
irrigation and surface water pump
connections.
Natural gas, also important to the agriculture
sector, was provided to 2,141 customers
in 1954 and more than 5,000 today. Pioneer
Natural Gas had a name change to Energas
in 1981.
Changed in appearance as well as its service
role, the telephone is used by approximately
10,000 businesses and residences
here. In the past decade Southwestern Bell
Telephone Company has been instrumental
in the expansion of teletype communications,
vital to many modern businesses.City Manager, Dudley Bain
FIREFIGHTERS
Sixty years after the city sanctioned its
organization, Hereford's Fire Department is
still composed of local volunteers, fullytrained
in the use of modern rescue and
firefighting equipment.
The number of volunteers has grown to 40,
divided into three companies. Mike Watts is
fire chief and Tim Homer is his assistant. Jay
Spain, fire marshal, is the department's only
salaried employee. The volunteers have ten
rolling units at their disposal, including three
large pumper engines, two booster engines, a
5,000-gallon tanker, two suburban trucks for
transporting firefighters, a fully-equipped
rescue unit and a pickup truck.
In 1980, the department received 364 calls,
including false alarms, grass fires, structure
fires, major car wrecks with injuries, rescues
and other emergencies. Three hundred calls
for assistance were reported in 1981.
The firemen have expanded their role in
the community by developing a rescue squad.
All of the volunteers have advanced first aid
training and several are qualified as Emergency
Medical Technicians. There is one
paramedic currently serving in the department.
A vital tool employed by the rescue
squad is the "Jaws of Life" implement, which
can rip through car wreckage in order to
reach trapped passengers.Unless there is a major disaster, the local
fire department responds to calls mainly
within a 20-mile radius, including the communities
of Dimmitt and Friona. For the past
twenty years, the volunteers have carried
Plectron "beeper" radios to summon them in
times of emergency.
The department's current standard of professionalism
is the result of a history of
dedicated service and the gradual addition of
up-to-date equipment. Since 1940, several
firefighting vehicles have been added by the
local department. In 1958, a Howe 750gallon
pumper was purchased and in 1963, a
Ford rural truck was bought to carry extra
water. Another large pumper was added in
1971. A year later, the department acquired
a 5,000-gallon tanker. The rescue unit, built
by the volunteers in 1981, is the department's
newest addition.
A new Fire Station, adjacent to other City
offices, opened in 1971.
At the present time, Chuck Laing had
seniority on the department with 30 years of
service. Other veteran firefighters are Ted
Higgins with 18 years, Bill Craig, 15 years,
and Jay Spain, 15 years.
Former fire chiefs include Dow Mercer,
John Patton, Earl Phillips, Dub Reeves, J.W.
Dickerson and Max Stipe. Clay Angelo was
fire marshal here for many years. Two firemen,
Arthur Tiefel and Onias Carroll, served
with the local department for more than 40
years before retiring.
Some spectacular fires and explosions have
called for the fire department's emergency
services in recent years. A destructive fire hit
the Pitman Elevator May 26,1948. Two fires
occurred at the Fraser Elevator, one in the
early 'fifties in conjunction with an explosion
in the flour mill and another earlier, confined
to the elevator.
In the next decade a gas explosion and fire
took the top floor off the three-story Savoy
Hotel and a life was lost; the hotel was rebuilt
with only two stories, and was used until it
was moved to make way for the new Hereford
City Hall. Also in the early 'sixties, the fire
department rescue squad assisted in an incident
which could have been fatal to Carey
Black, who was trapped in sand which buried
him, at the Crow-Guide plant. His face happened
to be over an airhole, so he survived
until he was rescued.
A boiler exploded at a milk processing
plant near the corner of Highway 60 and
Main Street in 1973, hurling chunks of metal
across the highway and to a great distance.
On a windy spring day in 1975 firemen
handled a touchy situation at Consumers
Fuel, where a gasoline truck caught fire and
an explosion of overhead gas storage tanks
was barely averted.
RURAL FIREMEN
Three rural communities in Deaf Smith
County
Walcott, Dawn and Simms
established volunteer fire departments in
recent years under the supervision of Hereford
Fire Marshal Jay Spain.Each of these volunteer departments
responds mainly to grass fires, which occur in
their respective area three or four times a
year. Occasionally, the rural volunteers are
called upon to assist Hereford's fire department
or to wash down the scene of a traffic
accident.Walcott fire department was organized in
November of 1975 with 30 volunteers on roll.
Elected as officers were Bill Page, fire chief;
Bobby Hammock, assistant chief; and Ernest
Brown, secretary-treasurer.
Using community donations, the department
purchased a 1962 Chevrolet truck formerly
used by the Friona fire department. In
1978, a 1976 Ford flatbed truck was bought
and converted into a 280-gallon booster
engine. The Walcott community stages various
fund-raising events each year to provide
needed firefighting equipment.
Monthly training drills are held at Walcott
School and the firemen attend training
schools each year in Lubbock and Canyon.
The Walcott volunteers store their firetrucks
in the Walcott School bus barn, as well as the
County's barn at Bootleg Corner.
In 1976, Deaf Smith County furnished a
1200-gallon fire engine for the Dawn community,
where a volunteer fire department was
established by 25 residents. The west end of
Dawn's Community Center serves as the fire
station.
Founders of the Dawn department are Pat
Smith, Fred Boren, Dick Hagar, Vincent
Morasco, Jim McCabe, Ed Sowell, Gene
Guynes and Bob Strain. The department is
supported by community fund-raising events,
private donations and a fee from the County
for each fire fought by the Dawn volunteers.
The Dawn department is in the process of
building another fire truck, according to John
Wilson, fire chief.
It was later in 1976 that a fire department
was organized by the Simms community.
Instrumental in founding the department
were Willis Duggan and Jerry Roberts.
Hubert Bronniman is the current fire chief.
Having their own firehouse, the Simms
department owns a 500-gallon engine, purchased
from Springer, N.M., and a 1500gallon
firetruck. The department is funded by
community donations. KERRIE
STEIERT
MAIN STREET
In 1937 when Jimmie Gillentine came to
Hereford to be editor of the Hereford Brand
Main street was still growing and changing.
We started our stroll in the middle of the
400 block at C.A. Skelton's Case Implement
dealership which was next door to the Hereford
Brand. Hudsons were running the grocery
on the corner. Across Fourth street was
Quality Food store. F.M. Kester had moved
his optometrist and jewelry store up in that
block next to Foster's cafe which was the
gathering place for everyone in that end of
town. Jimmie remembered meeting E.B.
Black there for coffee now and then. Mr.
Black would order a cup of hot water and stir
in his sugar and cream. He didn't want any
coffee but he loved to visit.
The Popular store was next and then the
City Drug store which was run by the
LeGrands at this time. Wonder how anyone
got any work done
there were so many
places to gather and visit. Glenn Weir's Red
and White Grocery was next and then theJ.C. Penney store where C.F. Moore was the
manager. Homer Fox had The Man's Shop
where you could get your hat blocked and
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Deaf Smith County Historical Society. The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County, Texas, book, 1982; Deaf Smith County, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth16010/m1/56/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Deaf Smith County Library.