Tooele City’s volunteer fire department continues to grow

The fire sirens sound and almost immediately cars along Main Street and 7th Street must pull over to let the police cars and fire trucks with lights flashing and sirens wailing pass through. The process that sets off the general alarm and sends out the fire trucks generally seems fast and seamless, unless you are the frantic person on the waiting end. For those who have called for the services of the Tooele City Fire Department, the wait would seem endless even if it were less than two minutes.

The police are usually the first on the scene after a 911 call to report a fire. They are already on duty in their cars. Once there, they quickly take action. They also open up the way for the fire trucks to access the blaze -- clearing away onlookers and seeing to it that fireplugs are accessible. Quickly the firemen start to arrive, usually before the trucks do.

When the general alarms sound, everyone within hearing knows the fire department is rushing into action. But even before that -- immediately after the call comes to the dispatcher at the Tooele City Police Department -- 50 pagers are activated. Each volunteer keeps his pager on and with him at all times and when it sounds they hear the location of the blaze. It also has a radio frequency feature that allows them to keep track of what is going on at the site before they get there.

The rule among the firefighters, according to Bucky Whitehouse, public information officer for the Tooele City Fire Department, is that firemen report directly to the scene of the fire. Whoever passes either of the stations -- behind the Tooele City Hall or on 7th Street -- must stop and bring trucks and other large equipment to the fire. All the volunteers keep their own equipment in the trunks of their cars and start setting up as soon as they arrive. Firefighters live and work throughout the town, and some are very near the stations. Day and night, men are close by to get the trucks and other equipment and head to the fire.

The department deals with small matters courteously, but over the years their abilities have been tested in some major blazes. They make every effort to rise to the challenges and to save lives.

"The worst fire is when someone is inside and can't get out. When you lose a life that is the most tragic thing that could happen. In Tooele, we've had a few," Gillette said.

The firefighters do their best, but sometimes the inferno has reached the stage where they cannot go in. It is hard for them to come to terms with such tragedies.

"You deal with it the best you can. It helps that there are other firemen around so you can talk it through," he said.

Fortunately, they have not lost any firefighters to the blazes during the 27 years Gillette has been a fireman. There have been injuries, but no one has been killed.

Property loss is also tragic.

"We often have a few firemen's wives who show up and help during that time. They are there to talk to the families," he said. "We keep small stuffed animals keep in our pumper truck for kids so they have something to hold onto and to cuddle while their parents take care of the situation."

Unfortunately, not all fires start by accident.

"If there is any investigation, we start it, and the police come in on that also. If it is suspicious in nature, we can call the State Fire Marshall's Office. One of the deputies comes out and takes the information in and they do an evaluation in there and give us a full report of the findings," Gillette explained.

The Tooele City Fire Department is 100 percent volunteer, just like about 80 percent of the fire departments in small communities across the country. Fifty active volunteers man the force and willingly jump into action when the alarm sounds. The number stays static at 50 since that is the number that the city can insure.

A number of older men have achieved "senior" status. After 20 years with the department the members have the option to become senior firemen. They still can attend functions of the department and go to fires and assist, but their requirements are much more lenient than the 50 active members.

"The senior firefighters come to the fires as well, but there is a different level of accountability for seniors. Their experience and expertise and knowledge of what is going on are invaluable. They take care of rehabilitation needs, and bring water and other things needed for other firefighters," Whitehouse said. "They are very much a part of the team effort."

"We have a lot of people with a lot of years on this department. The captains, lieutenants (and other leaders) generally have 25-plus years on the force. It sort of cycles itself. We have some guys with less than 10 years experience, but they gradually work up and help teach the rest. They keep up on their training by attending conferences and workshops and sharing," Gillette said.

Firefighters must go through a certification program to become certified.

Volunteers are not paid although the chiefs and a few who care for equipment receive a small compensation because they attend meetings and take care of other responsibilities over and above what the volunteers do.

Even without pay, these men sacrifice and take the time to keep up their training for this service. Typically the department has around 20 people on the waiting list seeking to join them.

"We encourage them to get training and prepare for when an opening comes up. My dad was a fireman for 40 years. I grew up with it and I had learned a lot about fighting fires before I signed up. Even at that I was on the waiting list for six years before I got on," Whitehouse said.

In their "other lives" firefighters come from all walks of life and work jobs in a wide range of fields. When the pagers ring, they drop everything -- jobs, dinners or beds -- and race to their cars to respond to the call.

"The majority of employers in the valley are very cooperative with firefighters. If they need to leave during the course of the day, they can leave. I get a sense that they consider it a community service to allow the men to go," Whitehouse said.

The first recorded members of Tooele's Volunteer Fire Department signed on in 1919. The roster has changed during the 88 ensuing years, but a remarkable number of these men have stayed on for very long periods of time.

One of these men is Toby Shields, who was recently honored for 70 years of service to the Tooele City Volunteer Fire Department.

Another is Max Anderson, who joined the department 72 years ago. As is the case for many of these men, Anderson's father was a fireman for many years before him. When he joined in 1935, he remembers the department was financially pretty poor and considerably smaller, as was the community.

"We had the fire station next to the old city hall on Vine Street. That was the stone building that now houses the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum," Anderson said. "We had one truck. The whole fire department got paid about $30 per month; not individuals but the whole department. We put the money into the pot and saved it for activities."

Anderson added he worked at a grocery store across the street and could make it to the station quickly.

"Finally we got a new station down by the city hall on Main Street and a new truck. It was good times driving that new truck when we got the new station," he said.

Anderson has had varied experience as a firefighter. He worked as a fireman both at Dugway Proving Ground and at the Tooele Army Depot, in addition to his service as a volunteer fireman. In 1974, Anderson and his wife moved to Bloomington, Utah.

"They had no firefighters, so we got a bunch of guys together and got a department going. I was the first chief in Bloomington for about seven or eight years, then we got other younger men in," he explained.

The Andersons lived there about 13 years and he belonged to fire department all the time he was there. He has kept his state association membership ever since he joined the fire department, but he went on the senior status after 40 years of service.

Since returning to Tooele from Bloomington, he has renewed his association with the department although he admits that after 72 years as a member, he is no longer a spry, young man.

"They still consider me a fireman but I don't do much anymore," he said.

He may be a senior, but he remembers his active days well.

"There is a lot to know as a fireman. You study and learn all the time. But when pressure is on, you forget and go back to natural," he said, although he added that some of what you learn becomes a part of you. "After every fire, we go back and look at our mistakes," he said.

"We just got a call and away we went and got our trucks and did the best we could. Most of the time we did pretty well I think," he said.

The fiercest blaze that Anderson remembers was when Combined Metals at Bauer burned down.

"It got started and it had so much gas around. It was the middle of night and the wind was blowing and you couldn't get close enough to the fire to fight it. That was about the worst one," he said.

He added, "Most of the fires in Tooele were small house fires. If we got there soon enough, we didn't have much trouble."

The fire department has grown and changed over the years, from one truck to a fleet of 12 that serve different purposes, and training that has expanded to meet changing conditions. However, the dedication of the men who serve there remain solid as they dedicate a part of their lives to helping keep the community safe from the ravages of fire.