More on the Fire Department...

Last week my blog featured news from when the Raymond Fire Protection District was formed as well as information about the history of the Raymond-Harvel Fire Department. This week,  I'm following up with an article that appeared in the October 25, 1951 issue of The Raymond News about the second fire call. The first fire call was at the Farmersville Elevator, and it is mentioned later in the article.

Charles Bandy (left) and Darrell Pitchford in 1986
when Bandy retired as chief of the fire department. 

My dad, Charles Bandy, was a charter member of the fire department and served as fire chief from 1961 to 1986 when Darrell Pitchford took over. Back before the days of pagers, the firemen primarily relied on the fire siren to notify them of calls. When the fire siren rang, folks would come out of the stores and their homes to see what direction the trucks headed. People who were driving when the fire siren went off knew they better get out of the way, because the streets would soon be overrun by fireman (usually driving pick-up trucks) who would come racing through town. 

Dad operated the variety store on Main Street, so on weekdays he was often the first one to arrive at the fire house, and he would open the doors and start up the trucks. He had a 5x7 note printed in his handwriting with the words "Gone to a fire!" that he taped near the front door of the store. When the fire siren blew, he would put the note on the door, lock up, and run to the fire house. If there happened to be customers in the store, he would leave someone in charge of the cash register and all the merchandise. 

Back in those days before the 911 system, people called 3121 to report a fire. This line was connected to a special "fire phone" that rang at both our house and at Hough Funeral Home. Hough's would then activate the telephone system to notify the volunteers. If the phone rang when Dad was not home, we had to wait until Hough's answered it, and then we could pick it up and listen to the conversation. Occasionally it was a wrong number, but if the fire phone rang after 9:00 p.m., you knew there was a real emergency.