EAST TEXAS FIRE DEPARTMENTS

I had the opportunity to speak at the 25th Annual East Texas Arson Investigation Seminar in Longview, Texas on November 11th, 2008. The trip also allowed me to spend some time with my good friend, retired Jacksonville, TX Fire Chief Rodney Kelley. As always, a little buffing was on the agenda.

Perched atop a scenic forested ridge beside U.S. Highway 69 north of Jacksonville, Love's Lookout offers perhaps the grandest view in East Texas. Visitors can scan a horizon that stretches into several counties. Some are convinced that, on a clear day, they can see Louisiana. The Texas Forest Service built a forest fire lookout tower at the lookout that functioned into the 1980s until fire-spotting airplanes made the tower obsolete. The metal structure still stands on the hill, mostly as a historical relic.

Jacksonville Fire Department investigators are still working to pinpoint the cause of a November 14th, 2008 house fire which claimed the life of a 63-year-old male. Firefighters arrived at 1510 North Bolton Street on that Friday to find the residence engulfed in flames. Firefighters also had to contend with limited access to the fire building, as well as downed power lines.

“We received the call at 1940 hours and arrived at the scene within 6 minutes. The house was over half engulfed by the time we arrived. A brother and a sister of the victim were inside the house at the time of the fire, and both escaped from the house,” said Lieutenant Ted Hunt, investigator for Jacksonville Fire Department. “There are still some walls standing, but the house is a total loss.” Investigators have not established a cause for the fire, but they do not believe it to be incendiary.

“This is still an ongoing investigation, but it is looking like the fire originated in the living room and was probably caused by misuse of the stove. Once we have compiled all of our information and have the autopsy results, we will be able to make a determination of what exactly happened,” Hunt said. All off-duty department personnel were called in to assist at the fire scene, and members of the Earle’s Chapel and North Cherokee volunteer fire departments filled in at Jacksonville’s Station #1.

I had the opportunity to meet Assistant Chief David Schlottach of the City of Tyler, TX Fire Department, and member of the East Texas Historical Fire Society. The Society was organized in 1982 to collect and restore antique fire apparatus and memorabilia for public display; and to preserve the history of the fire service, particularly in East Texas. On Saturday, November 15th, 2008 I caught up with Chief Schlottach and Mr. David Crim in a non-descript warehouse in a residential section of Tyler. If you did not know what you were looking for, you would never guess what the contents of the building are.

According to Chief Schlottach, Mr. Crim has forgotten more about the history of the Tyler Fire Department that most people remember. The East Texas Historical Fire Society's annual muster is held in October each year. The Society is a chapter of the Society for the Preservation & Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America (SPAAMFAA). This group also boasts that they have the largest collection of antique apparatus from their hometown fire department (Tyler) than any other chapter in the United States.