Kimball Volunteer Fire Department
History of the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department
By: Michael F. Brown
In 1911 several individuals came together and decided it was time to incorporate their little town. As they gathered and decided what to name the little town, they decided to use the last name of Frederick J. Kimball, the President of the Norfolk and Western Railroad.
The population back then was 1630, a booming little coal company town with many small businesses and lots of people traveling to and fro. The coal companies were growing and immigrants were moving here from many other countries.
They had the burning desire in their hearts to make a better life for their families back home and the desire to make enough money to send back home so that their other family members could come here.
The coal companies back then owned much of the town's property and most all of the houses in the coal camps. When the tragedy of a home fire occurred most always it was a total loss, to the occupants as well as the coal company that owned the houses.
The only way that firefighting was done back then was by a bucket brigade. Water had to be dipped from some sort of water source and carried or passed along a line of men and women then thrown on the fire or the neighboring house.
The coal companies needed to find a way to stop a fire when one occurred and prevent other homes from burning as well. Some coal companies would start laying pipe lines from their mine sites to areas near the coal camp houses where they installed a valve to supply water in the communities for firefighting purposes only.
Even though the water was not clean drinking water and was not installed for that purpose it was available to try to contain a fire. People back then did not have indoor plumbing and would not have it for many years to come.
Where the valves were located the coal companies had their employees to build a small building called a “Hose House". Inside the hose houses the coal companies would store a reel of hose on two wheels that could be used in the event of a fire, to get the water closer to the fire. Many times this would not be long enough and failure to contain a fire would still be tragic.
In the 1920's and 1930's the Town of Kimball saw an extra need for organizing a group of men that they could count on to respond when the need arose for firefighting in the Town of Kimball. They obtained one of these reels and hose from a local mines and had to pull it by hand to the closest water source to the fire.
John Grego, a citizen of the town, who had come to Kimball from Calabria, Italy, for a better life, had a truck that he used to haul ice to the residents for their Ice Boxes (later known as refrigerators). He also had a very lucrative coal hauling business and a store in his house. When he was available he would use his truck to pull the large hose reel to the fires. The other firemen were always glad to see him coming.
The group organized and appointed the first fire chief T.C. Salmons. Starting in 1933 he served as fire chief until 1946. Many of the mines sites in the area had to have some type of alert system, whether it was a bell, steam whistle, a loud horn, or even later a siren. These alarms were used to alert and summons help around mines when an emergency occurred.
At some point one of the men was able to acquire a siren from one of the local coal companies that sounded alert in two directions. When the second fire chief, Fortunato “Foots" Grego was serving the town, they installed the siren up on the side of a large tree on the Norwood Cemetery. This made it much easier to summon the firemen out of their homes to inform them they were needed and someone had an emergency. Fortunato served the town as fire chief from 1946 to 1967.
In 1947 the town and the fire department purchased the first fire truck. It was a 1947 Dodge. This was a real state of the art, honest to goodness, pumper truck. It had something that trucks of today do not have, a Crank. That's right if the battery was down you could start the truck by inserting a crank in the front of the engine and crank away.
Of course the new truck did not have a lot of things that the trucks of today have, such as Power Steering, Power Brakes and a Muffler. It was a Giant Step forward in the firefighting efforts of the Town of Kimball.
One of the first pictures of this truck and the current members at that time is proudly displayed in the station. I remember hearing the stories of J.W. “Scotty" Scott and Fortunato Grego traveling to Battle Creek, Michigan and driving the New Truck back to Kimball.
On November 26, 1956, some 23 years later, the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department was Incorporated. The incorporators were Fortunato Grego, C.D. Eddings and others. They incorporated the department with all the necessary paper work through the West Virginia Secretary of State's Office. This was done in order to be able to accept donations and provide services separate from the town.
Although the fire department building and vehicles were and still are owned by the town and maintained by the town by law. In order to have the town incorporation, the town must have and maintain a governing body, a police department and a fire department. The fire department is also incorporated and can be run separately to an extent. The Chief of the fire department is and always has been selected by seniority by the current members of the department.
During these years the firefighting attire was a hard leather like helmet, a rubber coat with no type of inner liner at all, nothing to keep you warm or to keep the heat off of you and hip boots. The coats would actually get so hot from the heat of the fire they would burn your skin. Firemen were continually spraying each other with water to cool the coats. At times you could see another fireman's coat smoking from the heat and you would have to douse him with water.
I joined the department in 1966. I kept hanging around and responding to all the fires and Chief Grego, (my uncle) told me “boy if you are going to keep coming around all the fires and trying to help you need to pick you out a coat, helmet and boots to be safe". That is what I was waiting for. That was the beginning of my 35 years on the department. I got my rubber coat, my helmet and boots.
In the mid 1960's the department purchased another new pumper truck to replace the now 20 year Dodge truck. This would now be Engine 2. Fortunato Grego left the department in 1967 and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Following that Randolph Richardson was chief from 1967 to 1969. Randolph was a young man in the Army National Guard, with a lot of New Fresh Ideas. During that time Randolph introduced a new type of firefighting attire which none of us had ever seen. He called it “Bunker Gear". It was the latest thing in firefighting attire and promoted safety for the firefighter. Extra protection in the helmets, the coats were heavy material lined and had a vapor barrier to protect the firemen from the heat of the fire and steam. They even had reflective material on them called
Scotchlite. Now we could be seen at night. We even got bunker pants and boots with steel toes.
It was hard to convince the town to help purchase this equipment because it was new and they could not figure out why it was so needed. Around that time also Randolph introduced the “Chemox Smoke Mask". They had been using them around the mines and just starting in the fire service.
After many fund raisers, road stops and a lot of donations we got our first sets of “Bunker Gear" and smoke mask.
Elwood Brown followed as chief from 1969 to 1980. During those years CB Radio's came into existence and everyone was getting one. It was our first line of communications so we installed them in the trucks and all of our cars. We could actually drive around and talk to one another. By the end of this time the Chemox Smoke Mask had been outlawed and now the SCBA “Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus" was taking its place we were beginning to upgrade. The department needed a new truck and Elwood saw the need for a smaller truck to get into the alleys and tight places so the department purchased a “Mini Pumper", which was Engine 3. Small and versatile used a little water and high pressure.
When Elwood felt it was time for him to step out of the department, the next in line by seniority was Michael Brown, with 14 years on the department. Michael served as chief from 1980 to 1996. During that time a new Ultra-High Frequency radio system was installed making communications much better.
The department was also able to purchase another pumper which was Engine 4. Pagers were also instituted and the real need for the fire whistle or siren, to alert the firemen was not needed. Although a newer siren was located in a person's yard in Vivian bottom. This newer upright siren was also acquired from a former coal mine site. There had been some trouble with the first existing siren and we approached the individual and made a deal for the current siren. After several years the siren was in bad shape and required some much needed repairs.
The siren served for many year as an alert. It seemed that all the small towns in the area had one. Kimball used the siren, which we all called the Fire Whistle, for many other purposes as well. The siren was sounded for many years at 9:00 P.M. every evening to start a curfew, that no one under the age of 16, was to be out on the streets after that time.
Young children knew that you better be off the streets and in your own yard when that siren sounded or else. The siren (we called the 9 o'clock whistle) as kids would sound and no matter what you were doing you better start running home, and be there before it stopped. If not we were told we would be arrested and put in jail.
The siren, the fire whistle, the fire siren, the 9 o'clock whistle, no matter what you called it was a means of letting the town know something was wrong and there was an emergency taking place. It was used to alert the town of a fire, a flood, a missing person, a disaster, a bad car wreck and even fire meeting night. Why it was even used to signal the start of a Fund Drive Campaign like the March of Dimes.
In 1996 Michael decided it was time to give up being fire chief and therefore handed the job down to Jimmy Joe Gianato who still serves the town very well and is doing a great job. Michael continued to be a fireman with the department until the flood of 2001 moved him away.
Kimball Volunteer Fire Department has always had a reputation for a Great Department. It is looked up to by many neighboring departments. I am honored that I was able to be a small part of such an elite group of men and now women.
I have seen a lot of Great Firemen come and go from the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department and behind each of those Great Men was a Great Mother or Wife that hated to see them leave the house to go and fight fire. There were many times we had lots of firemen and there were other times we only had a few.
I have seen firemen climb like monkeys. Rough and Tuff like the Tasmanian Devil. Wild with an Axe. Bounce back from a fall. Had cinder blocks fall on them. Swept under flood waters trying to help someone. Choking from smoke. Frozen with Ice, even stuck to the ground. I saw one fireman toss another fireman to a second story porch. The list could go on and on. I was proud to serve with each and every one of those men. I have even seen the Headlines of the Welch Daily News read
“Nobody Talks Trash About Kimball".
Even though the sound of the Fire Whistle is so “Erie" and it seems to burn even into your bones at 3 A.M. on a sub-zero morning, when the bed feels so warm. Or even when you just got home from a hard day at work and sitting down to a great hot meal. Or just getting to spend time with family or friends. When that sound chills and shakes you from whatever you are doing. The Fire Whistle tells you that someone is having a Bad Day and they need you to help them.
It is my desire that this part of the History of the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department now written down be kept and it is my desire to see this history continue to be written down for many years to come.