The everyday heroes
An up close and personal look at the Chandler Volunteer Fire Department
By Cathy Kraftve

Courtesy Photo Trained to respond during emergency, volunteer firefighters gather for their weekly meeting at the CVFD The everyday heroes

By day they are mild-mannered accountants, electricians, and businessmen. They are normal guys who have normal jobs and normal lives. They are sons, husbands, fathers, even grandfathers.

When the call goes out, however, they spring into action and become firefighting super-heroes. Without the capes, obviously, since a cape would just be a fire hazard.

Chief Robert York, with 26 years on the team, is a perfect example of the kind of heroes who fill the Chandler Volunteer Fire Department. He is a family man with two sons. His wife Terry works as a dental hygienist for Dr. Adcock in Tyler. York is a small business owner; York Electric keeps him busy contracting with builders in the area. He is a normal guy with a normal life.

Ask him about the rest of the guys who also volunteer at the Chandler Volunteer Fire Department and the word heroes is sure to come up.

"Collecting a body of gifted and talented people" is his favorite part of the job, says York, "You have to surround yourself with good people."

Cheif Robert York

It is all about teamwork, according to York. There is so much to do to make a department run smoothly, so many parts of being ready in the event of emergency. Of course, emergencies are a daily reality, sometimes it seems crisis come in hourly.

It is a close-knit group; many of the volunteers have years of experience fighting fires.

For example, Richard Leickie who is also an electrician by trade, with over 20 years experience fighting fires, works for York, claiming with a smile that he is "trying to retire."

Assistant Chief, Tom Rushing, has 17 years of experience firefighting. He, too, is a business man, He owns Teletouch Communications. Captain Brian Folden works with Rushing at Teletouch. Rushing's 17-year-old son, Taylor Rushing, who is a Junior at Brownsboro High School, has already managed to acquire 3 years experience firefighting as an Explorer.

Gary Pulley, a petroleum land man by trade, has over 16 years experience as a firefighter.

Johnny Austin, with 6 years of experience, is a retired truck driver and a grandfather.

Whatever their day jobs, when the call comes, they respond quickly. Proud of their Zero Impact Period, or ZIP, they are at the station, fully geared, and in the trucks within 4 minutes. The trucks usually pull up to a location within 8 minutes.

One reason they are so fast is because some of the guys live on the same street as the station.

Sean McSpedden who works by day as a Service Adviser for Honda, lives within a mile. Captain

Wes Johnston, who is a CPA for Golob, Morgan, Peddy and Company, lives three doors down.

"One thing you'll notice about volunteers is no matter what walk of life they come from, when they show up here, they all respect each other equally," says Kyle Stephenson whose day job is manning the CVFD station as one of the ETMC paramedics assigned to the ambulance stationed there. In his off-duty hours, Stephenson volunteers at the Whitehouse Volunteer Fire Department.

Volunteers who are professional paramedics, firefighters, or in the health field is something of a theme in volunteer fire departments.

Bobby Baker, with 5 years experience, works at Carter Blood Care Stewart Center.

Devin Grider is a professional firefighter in Tyler.

April Weatherly, another ETMC paramedic, is sometimes assigned to Chandler. In her offduty hours she volunteers with the Lindale Volunteer Fire Department.

Stephen Kidd, with over 24 years experience, is also a paramedic for ETMC. His responsibilities in Chandler include being the Safety Officer. While the Scene Officer, usually the Chief or another ranking volunteer, is in charge of putting out the fire, the Safety Officer's job is to look after his men's well-being. Safety is a job they all take seriously.

According to Stephenson, firefighting and emergency rescue as a volunteer is not a hobby, it's a calling.

"God tells you to do it," he says.

"And you pay your bills as best you can," laughs Weatherly, adding that no one goes into it for the money anyway.

While the volunteers donate thousands of man-hours every year, keeping the cost down, money is always a factor in keeping the station available to answer calls.

It helps that ETMC keeps an ambulance at the station, also helping

pay utilities. The city and the county both chip in a small fraction

of the annual budget.

Still, with federal regulations and the expense of extensive mandated training, bills mount up.

"Every time they change the rules and regulations it costs money," says Johnston who besides fighting fires, keeps the financial side running smoothly.

Each firefighter must have about $5000 worth of gear including suits, hats, and communication gear.

When two fire trucks pull up on location that is over $450,000 worth of equipment.

Filling a truck's tank back up to full with gasoline after one call is usually about $145.

He estimates that it currently costs about $650 each time the guys respond to a call. Of course, that does not include any salaries because all the manpower is volunteer. That's between $50 and $100 annually if every household in the district made a contribution. Of course, Johnston won't turn away bigger checks.

"I'm amazed at the support this community continues to give," says York. He adds that one of his favorite givers is the lady who saves her quarters and brings them over in rolls.

"One time she showed up with $45 in quarters!" he says with a grin adding that it was her care and concern that meant so much to the volunteers.

As the volunteers file in for their regular Tuesday night meeting, the room fills with laughter and joking. They catch up on each other's lives and trade stories.

Laughing about the questions the school kids ask, they agree that one of their favorite things to do is take fire safety to local children. Their favorite question came from a first grader at Chandler Elementary.

"What do you do if you're under a burn ban, your clothes catch on fire and you don't want to stop, drop, and roll because it might start a grass fire?" he asked.

The volunteers laugh as they admit that they had to ask the Chief.

"That was a question that went up the ranks," they agree.

New volunteers, like recent addition

Brennen Bledsoe whose day job is at Willowbrook Country Club, usually know after the first call if they will have what it takes.

"If you can get them to go on one call where they help someone, that usually hooks them,' says the Chief.

There are also old-timers who have served in Chandler for years, like Walt Prather who is retired from Kelley Springfield, with over 35 years in the CVFD and Cadet

John Wood with over 20 years.

A dispatcher in the days before 911 services, Prather and his wife made sure the special red-line telephone in their home was always manned.

All the volunteers are prepared to sacrifice money and time on their jobs to respond to calls, but often they are sacrificing sleep.

Watching the sun come up after responding to a bad wreck, realizing "you still have to take your kids to school and go to work" is the hardest part of the job according to York.

If the firefighters are at the station early in the morning as the rest of the world is waking up, it is because they still have to clean up the equipment every time they are out all night on a call.

It is essential to be ready for the next call, so they don't quit until all the hoses, the trucks, and the personal gear is clean and stored properly for the next emergency.

Whatever else they do in their normal lives, when the doors open and the trucks pull out, the everyday super heroes of the CVFD are a team.

"There's an unfathomable amount of trust in this department, " says McSpedden.