Transcript Mars Hill Fire Department

November 29, 1909
Serving the Community
100 Years
 Town Square
 Town Limits
 Town Limits and County
 Town Limits and Rural District, Insurance District, Tax
District
 Mutual Aid to surrounding communities and counties
 Town Board
 County Contracts Fire Protection from Town
 Fire Commissioners
 Town
 College
 Fund Raisers
 Fire Tax
 Donations
These are similar to what
Mars Hill had.
 1- North Main in Garage above what is now the Town
Hall
 1- South Main in a Garage on side of Hawkins Store
where the Mars Hill Retirement Center is now located
Similar to what Mars Hill
used.
Unknown as to when this truck was bought or when it was
taken out of service
Similar to what Mars Hill
used.
Similar to what Mars
Hill used.
At some point, the Fire Department moved into space
beside the Town Hall which they shared with the
Library.
In April 1961, the Fire Department Town and College
purchased a new 1961 Chevrolet American LaFrance
Fire Truck. The Chassis was purchased through
French Broad Chevrolet and delivered to American
LaFrance in Elmira, NY. Mars Hill College agreed to
help with the purchase if they could have a Co-Chief
of the Fire Department. So, Carl Eller for Town and
Jim Fish for the college were co-chiefs for a period of
time.
Participation in the fire department had fallen off, with
Carl Eller basically being the only one doing anything.
Buddy Cox had taken a great interest in the fire
department re-organizing. So together Buddy and Carl put
the wheels in motion and the department was reorganized
and Buddy became the Chief. The department has been
very active ever since.
1972 Ford American LaFrance Truck
purchased and is still in service today. Chief
Briggs and members saw the need for a second
truck. Boyce Ford in Asheville had the 1972
Truck which was a demo. They brought it to
Mars Hill a couple times for the Fire Dept. and
Town Board to look at, and the decision was
made to buy the truck .The red light had to be
removed to get the truck in the building.
Mid ’70s, a 1965 Model Panel Van was purchased to haul
equipment and personnel to calls.
Similar to what Mars
Hill used.
New Station is built. Is currently the Main Station. Built in
1975, moved in 1976.
Once again Mars Hill College helped make this possible.
Mr. Bryson Tilson negotiated and made it possible for the
college to donate property for the building to the town.
Bought 1976 Chevrolet One Ton from French Broad
Chevrolet. Put Utility Body and water tank with pump
slide in unit.
Fire Department Operated an Ambulance given to them by
Madison County to run backup to the county ambulances.
We operated the ambulance until 1988 and since then have
done First Responder service.
Similar to what Mars Hill
used.
Build first Tanker. Bought a 2 Ton GMC Farm Truck
from Larry Cody and Bruce Buckner gave an old tank
body off a 1950 Chevrolet truck he had bought from
Old Fort. The members combined the chassis and tank
making our first tanker.
Purchased a 1984 Brigadier and contracted with a
company in Raleigh to build our first Pumper Tanker.
They went bankrupt and we had to re-negotiate with other
companies and entered contract with Slagle’s Fire
Equipment to build the truck. Delivery was made in 1985.
Built a trailer to haul portable pump to be used in rural
areas to fill the trucks while fighting fires. The trailer also
had a generator.
1988-1989
Paying for the operation of the fire department became
more than the town, fundraisers and donations were able
to provide. The Town was forced to tell the surrounding
communities that they would have to help pay for the
costs or the town would be forced to stop serving areas
outside the town limits.
On May 3, 1990, a Fire Tax Referendum was held and
approved for those areas served by Mars Hill outside the
town limits.
Mars Hill Township –
For - 337
Against – 44
Beech Glen Township For – 367
Against – 61
Petersburg Township For- 147
Against – 68
Total
For – 860
Against – 173
A tax rate of $.05 per $100 valuation was established and
remains same now.
Bought a 1989 Chevrolet Caprice which was a used
Highway Patrol Vehicle to be shared between the Town
and Fire Department for going to meetings, trainings, etc.
Bought 1991 Dodge 4x4 Ton Chassis and put utility bed
on truck. Bought Slide-in pump and tank. Truck used for
brush fires, wreck, etc.
Acquired a 1984 International Bus through the North
Carolina Forest Service Cooperative Program at no cost,
to be used as a mobile command post.
Purchased 1992 KME Pumper Tanker from Slagle’s Fire
Equipment. This was a demo truck and was purchased on
an emergency basis to replace the 1961 American
LaFrance when the pump failed.
Cost $180,000
Purchased old box type ambulance from Mission Hospital
which was used for a rescue truck which remained in
service until late 90s when it was replaced by a truck
bought from Weaverville Fire Department.
Purchased a used 2 ton GMC Rescue Truck from
Weaverville Fire Department which was sold to Marshall
Fire Department in 2003.
Bought used Pepsi Truck. It is used as a service truck
which has extra equipment, traffic control devices, heavy
cribbing, spill control materials, etc.
Designed and bought a new pumper tanker from Slagle’s
Fire Equipment. This truck is also used on extrication
calls. Truck has foam system which cuts water
requirements by using 3x less water
Cost $240,000
Bought a new 4 wheeler and trailer to be used on rescue
and wildfire calls.
Cost $4800.00
Bought a used 2001 Chevrolet Pickup to be used on first
responder calls etc.
Cost $8500
Built new annex building on Ivy Street to house equipment.
4200 sq. ft. of space
Why did we do this instead of building a new department?
Cost $238,700
Bought a used 1997 GMC Jimmy to replace ’89 Caprice
Cost $1200
Replaced International Bus with Camper Trailer through
the North Carolina Forest Service Cooperative Program at
no cost.
Received a portable slide in unit with foam and 400 gallon
water free through the NC Air-guard and Asheville FD.
Bought a used 1994 Ford 1-Ton 4x4 and put unit on it for
our second brush truck
Cost $15,000
Received a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe from the Madison
County Sheriffs Department at no cost. This vehicle was
originally a drug confiscation vehicle which was used to
transport drug dogs for several years until it was passed on
to the department.
Bought a 1994 KME 75’ Firestick Ladder Truck from
Brumley Mountain Fire Equipment through Asheville Fire
Department for $17,000
After the truck was equipped and repairs made the
department will have $45-50,000 in the truck.
 Bell on pole behind Town Hall
 Siren on Town Hall then on Pole at New Building
 Phone System
 1987 – Dispatch from Sheriff’s Department
 1995- 911
 1973: 11 calls
 We now answer each year on average 560-700 calls
service per year
 N.S. Whitaker – First Chief, Nov. 9 1909
 Roy Tillery
 L.C. Lambert
 Carl Eller
 Jim Fish
 Jimmy Holcombe
 David Pate
 Buddy Cox 1970-1971
 Phil Briggs 1971-1982
 Gordon Randolph 1982-1985
 Eddie Fox 1985-1989
 Gordon Randolph 1989-1992
 Eddie Fox 1992 –
NS Whitaker, First Fire Chief
Roy Tillery
Carl Eller
Jim Fish
W.B. Zink, Sr.
B.W. Grigg
Sam Randolph
Albert Ponder
Harvey Ponder
Bryson Tilson
David Pate
Jimmy Holcombe
Paul Tugman
Leonard Briggs
Ralph Briggs
Johnny Anderson
Jake Grigg
Fanklin Anderson
Donald Cox, Sr.
Jack Ramsey
Larry Moore
Grady Worley
David Metcalf
Joe Mack Burnette
Owen Tilson
Bruce Murray
Hal Carter
Rev. Charles Davis
Bill Bennett
Bill Silvers
Richard Anderson
Forest Ponder, Sr.
Luther Wells
Ralph Chandler
James Holcombe
Donald Higgins
Jack Carter
Garner Hutchins
Dell Woody
Tilson Fleetwood
Hershel Holcombe
Floyd Holcombe
Edward Smith
L.C. Lambertt
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Dennis McCurry 71-80
Ken Hembree 71-75
Wayne Proffitt 71-80
Finley Johnson 1971
Bob Hernandez 71-82
Greg Briggs 71-72
Johnny Griffin 71-73
Buddy Cox 70-72
Harold Taylor 1972
Randy Proffitt 72-73
Byron Chandler 72-73
Allen Arrington 71-73
Dan Vines 1972
Jim Arrington 72-75
Robert Briggs 73-75
Lane Merrill 73-80
Skip Easterling 73-77
Paul Yocum 73-76
Larry Edmonds 71-75
Dean Norton 1973
Steve Garvin 1973
Dale Hylemon 74-78
Ken Chancey 74-75
Danny Slagle 74-75
Randy Houston 74-75
Raymond Huffman 1975
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Mike Burchette 75-76
Jeff Ling 1975
Jay Edwards 75-78
Terry Arrington 75-80
Rick Small 76-79
George Kevill 76-78
John Swagger 76-77
Tim Elkins 77-78
David Buckner 78-82
Mike Evans 78-80
Alex Johnson 78-80
Greg Brown 78-82
Scott Wilkinson 77-78
Allen Powell 89-82
Dana Snyder 1980
Bill Leatherwood 80-84
Jimmy Huffman 80-83
Richard Tilson 1982
Mark Griffin 81-82
Phillip Silvers 1983
Wayne Hendrick 83-85
Phillip Garrison 83-84
Anthony Beasley 83-84
Sandy Carson 1984
Jeff Cook 1984
Billy Rice 1985
Randy Allen 93-94
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Ricky Allen 93-94
Patrick Allen 05-06
Bruce Anderson 88092
Vonna Anglin III 1989
Ricy Arrington 89-95
Rodney Arrowood 85-86
Mark Ball 80-04
Will Ball 90-90
Janet Baxter 92-00
Regina Bishop 2001
Bobby Scott Blackwell 90-94
Bobby Blackwell 89-91
J.C. Brazil, Jr. 90-93
Phill Briggs 70-08
Jimmy Briggs 89-96
Grayson Briggs 1989
Scott Briggs 90-=96
Herbert Buckner 70-90
Larry Burda 2001
Levi Carter 03-06
Nick Chandler 2005
Brian Chandler 1989
Jeff Clark 85-87
Roger Clark 1988
Steven Clark 86-87
Boyd Coates 1988
Floyd Coates 86-99
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Allen Coates 82-84
Shane Coates 1991
Steward Coates 83-03
Michael Cody 89-91
Robert Collins 2003
Ron Crouter 1987
John Coffey 1998
R.J. Cutshall 74-86
Andrew Davis 05-08
Mark Debruhl 83-90
Doug Deitz 1991
Tim Dillingham 97-99
Chris Dodd 93-99
Jim Dodd 93-94
Edgar Edwards 79-85
Mark Edwards 82-86
Graham Edwards 97-00
Randall Edwards 85-86
Stephen Edwards 1989
Tim English 1990
Dana Fox 82-91
Edwin Fox 86-90
Phillip Fox 83-99
Darrell Gardner 1988
John Gardner III 93-94
Michael Garrison 96-01
Bil Gresek 99-00
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Anthony Griffin 00-06
David Grindstaff 91-95
Rev. Dean Grindstaff 91-95
Brian Hanrahan 2006
Buddy Harwood 93-94
Rick Haynes 85-86
Waynd Hendrick 1985
Jeremy HJensley 98-02
Wayne Hensley 01-08
Donald Higgins 90-90
Dewayne Hilemon 96-02
Deanna Holcombe 92-96
David Holcombe 86-90
Ron Hollifield 94-99
David Honey cutt 72-75
Michael Honey cutt 89-96
Nicky Honeycutt 1989
Desmond Jamerson 1989
Jany Johnson 2006
Mike Kroksh 90-93
Ivan Kush 92-94
Eric Larson 91-92
Johnothan Lupher 88-89
Rick Luther 81-86
Warren Maney 2006
Bill McMahan 1984
Nathan Messer 06-07
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Kenneth Metcalf 1997
Robert Metcalf 96-08
Ray Moore 71-84
Jeff Morgan 1992
JC Moss 72-88
Jeff Noe 85-97
Bryan Norris 06-07
Howard Norton 86-90
Charles Payne 80-86
Kevin Peek 05-07
Larry D. Peek 88-90
Raleigh Peek 91-92
Tim Peek 90-03
Edwin Phillips 83-86
Lane Ponder 83-85
Daniel Porche 1999
Jonathan Poulin 08-09
Billy Poewll 70-90
Jeff Randolph 83-88
Ivan Randolph 71-86
Tim Ray 87-93
Josh Reese 83-98
Randy Reese 95-98
Wesley Rice 03-06
Kelsy Rice 05-08
Jeff Richardson 81-91
Stephen Ricker 1987
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Mattew Roberts 2004
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Billy Roberts 85-87
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Randy Robinson 88-08
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Josh Shelton 02-04
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Donald Shepherd 85-86
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Jason Shepherd 94-95
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Richard Shepherd 2008
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Jason Sigmon 2001
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Richard Smith 1998
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Kenneth Sprinkle 03-08
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Michael Summerfield 2003
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Jeremy Swann 89-90
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Dewayne Tweed 1989
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Mark Wallin 1993
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Chris Ward 05-06
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Patrick Ward 05-=06
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Jonathan Ward 89-90
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Chris Webb 95-96
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Morris Wheeler 70-89
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Bob Wilson 1988
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Keith Wilde 87-96
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Eugene Young 88-94
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Asheley Davis 2009
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Tim Metcalf 1981
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Steven Davis 2000
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James Metscher 2008
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Eddie Fox 1977
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Chris Parks 1999
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Jeremy Fox 1994
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Jason Pearman 1999
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Bobby Gosnell 2008
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Gordon Randolph 1970
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Claude Griffin 1991
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Charlie Stanton 1988
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Matthew Griffin 1990
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David Stanton 2008
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Dino Grindstaff 1991
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Casey Tweed 2005
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Dana Holcombe 2009
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Nathan Waldrup 1994
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Beverly Hopps 2009
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Randy Williams 2001
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Bryan Hopps 1995
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Clayton Willis 1974
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Rev. Cecil Hopps 2003
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Bill Zink 1970
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Ray Kievet 1993
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Jimmie Kirkland 1989
Mars Hill Fire Department looks forward
to serving our community in the future!