Chapter 3 - OLD CHIEFS NEVER DIE

CHAPTER 3

OLD CHIEFS NEVER DIE
THEY JUST LOSE THEIR NOZZLE PRESSURE

Fire Chiefs are a breed unto themselves. A group of unique individuals each with his own PECULIAR personality. The modern Fire Chief must first and foremost be an administrator. In mid-size and smaller cities much of his time and energy are spent authoring a budget and creating good public relations. He relates to the public, the city administrator, budget directors and politicians among others. Many times they also field complaints and handle news releases. In larger cities they delegate these duties to the Assistant Chiefs. Modern day Chiefs have little time to become involved in day to day activities at the company level. These duties are usually delegated to an officer with a title of Assistant or Deputy, or Operations Officer.

The first Chief of the Oak Ridge Fire Dept. was a retired Captain from the Knoxville Fire Dept.. His name was Harvey H. Maples. He held this position for approximately three years. Little is known of his tenure. When he came he brought some men from Knoxville with him. These men were also retired from the Knoxville Fire Dept. Some of the names were Troy Yates, John Rudd and Jess Candler among others. They held the title of Assistant Chief under the Deputy Chief in the chain of command of that era. The chain broke and they later were demoted to Company Captains. Chief Maples arrived amid controversy and left the same way.

The second Chief of the ORFD was Troy Richardson, often referred to as Commissioner. How he received this title makes for a very interesting story. Troy was involved and very active in the county Democratic Party. He was the local campaign manager for U.S. Senator McKeller. Through his influence with Sen. McKeller, Troy was to have been appointed to the position as the first Fire Chief of Oak Ridge. Harvey Maples held a position in the fire protection bureau of Tenn. Eastman Corp. prior to being named Chief of the ORFD. His influence and past experience probably moved him in front of Troy. Troy was named Assistant Chief. Troy retained this post during the tenure of Chief Maples.

In early 1946 a new position, that of Fire Commissioner, was created. A Mr. Schraffenburger from Cincinnati, Ohio was appointed to that post. He held this position for a few months. Shortly after his leaving Troy Richardson was appointed to the position of Fire Commissioner. Chief Maples was forced to resign shortly thereafter. The position of Fire Commissioner was abolished and Troy became the new Fire Chief. Many thought all this occurred to fulfill an old promise that somehow had gone awry.

It was common knowledge that Troy was a good old boy but not a strong administrator. Troy allowed the two Deputy Chiefs to run the day to day activities of the Dept. There was a bitter competitiveness between the two Deputy Chiefs that existed until their retirement years later. They had differing opinions on many policies and being given the latitude to run their shifts created many problems and bitterness over the years.

Every morning during the equipment check the changeover valve would either be set for volume or pressure according to which shift was on duty. One shift always had the pumps set for pressure and the other shift set the pumps for volume. One shift carried equipment packed for sprinkler system discharge connections and the other shift removed them from the equipment every morning. These are just a couple of examples out of many that were allowed to exist.

Over the years a development that occurred was most of A Shift men came to the department from Knox County and most B Shift men came from Anderson and Campbell County. Lynn Brock was the Deputy Chief on A Shift and Ed Dail was Deputy Chief on B Shift. Dail was from Clinton and Brock was from Knoxville. This lack of harmony between the shifts was known throughout the Department and was common knowledge throughout the city. Many controversies were resolved in the City Managers office. To add to all the confusion one company officer had been demoted from training officer in the first big layoff created by the downsizing move by the Federal Government. He was terribly jealous of the Deputy Chiefs and attempted to create as much disharmony between the two as he possibly could. He later was promoted to Deputy Chief and retired as Chief. More about him later.

Chief Richardson was a marvelous storyteller. He often related stories about his youthful days in the fire service down in the Texas panhandle. He was allowed the freedom of exaggeration by his listeners because of the time frame that had supposedly elapsed since those events had occurred. Almost everyone liked him in spite of his weaknesses. One of his weaknesses probably helped dictate the date of his retirement.

Chief Richardson attended a Fourth of July celebration at the Oak Ridge Marina. He celebrated heavily that evening. He allegedly talked out of school to the wrong people. Shortly thereafter he read about his retirement in the Oak Ridger newspaper.

John E. (Jack) Lee was the third man appointed to the position of Chief of the ORFD. Chief Lee was recruited from the Orlando, Fla. Fire Dept. where he held the training officer position. Chief Lee came to Oak Ridge at a critical time for the department. The old Howe pumpers that came to Oak Ridge from the Savannah River Project were old and needed to be replaced. Firehouses needed to be relocated. The older men were reaching retirement age and a number of people were to be employed in the near future. Other problems needed attention. Chief Lee was an intelligent man and a very strong administrator. He treated everyone fairly and equally. He held a tight rein on the Deputy Chiefs. Training became a priority, A set of the IFSTA training manuals was purchased for each firehouse. Prior to this, the one set owned by the Dept. was retained in headquarters and members of the department were discouraged from using them. All company officers attended and received a certificate for successfully passing a course in Municipal Fire Administration. This course was sponsored by The City Managers Association. During the time Jack Lee was Chief of the ORFD two new firehouses were constructed.

Companies No. 2 and 4 were relocated from Jackson Square and East Village to Fire Station No. 2 which is located on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Fairbanks Rd. Co. No. 5 became Co. No. 1 and was relocated from Jefferson Ave. to Oak Ridge Turnpike near Louisiana Ave. Two new Ward LaFrance and one Mack 1000 g.p.m. pumpers were placed in service. Plans were made to purchase an aerial ladder.

One of the greatest accomplishments made during the time Jack Lee was chief was the addition of a third shift. Additional manpower was employed to accommodate the new shift. Opportunities for advancement became available to fill four new captains positions. Under Chief Lee the ORFD moved into the twentieth century. Jack Lee left the ORFD to become Chief of the Charlotte, N.C. Fire Dept. which was about ten times the size of the ORFD. Jack Lee later became president of the International Fire Chiefs Association while at Charlotte. The ORFD made it's greatest advancements while Jack Lee was chief of the department.

After the departure of Jack Lee, Ed Dail was promoted from deputy to chief. He was only one year away from the mandatory retirement age. How many problems could possibly develop in the short span of one year? We were soon to find out.

Ed Dail had been a member of the ORFD since its inception. He had held the position of Deputy Chief from the beginning. After the downsizing of the department by the Federal Government the training officers slot had been abolished. The Deputy Chief was now responsible for training the men on his platoon. Ed Dail and Lynn Brock assumed these duties. Ed loved to bring two companies to the drill tower and during hose and ladder evolutions he would have every section of hose laid out and charged. Sometimes if time allowed he would have the hose reloaded and laid out more than once. This necessitated rolling the cotton hose, hauling it back to the station and putting it away to dry, then loading a clean load of hose onto the truck. Needless to say, this created a great deal of respect and affection for the training officer.

Shortly after Ed had been in the fire service long enough to become acquainted with some manufacturers and suppliers he began a business of selling fire equipment and servicing fire extinguishers. Because of his driving ambition and forceful personality he became quite successful. He sold his products to small volunteer departments located in the communities and towns in Anderson and surrounding counties. His business expanded into Oak Ridge. Before going off duty Ed would review the company inspection forms. If new extinguishers were recommended or existing ones needed service he would show up to carry out the needed work as a representative of General Fire Extinguisher Sales and Service. This resulted in numerous complaints being filed. He was called on the carpet by the Army Officer charged to field this type of complaints. The officer stated that Ed either cease business operations in the City of Oak Ridge since this constituted a conflict of interest or prepare to seek another career. Apparently Ed heeded his advice. But when I became a member of the department in 1964 it was not uncommon to find General Fire Equipment Sales and Service tags on extinguishers all over the city. Ed taught basic fire fighting skills to the volunteers in the small communities surrounding Oak Ridge. This benefitted both Ed and the departments.

Ed would often tell the story of how he was recruited by the FBI to observe and listen to conversations for anything that might be considered subversive. He related how he would make regular reports to them in secret meetings.

Ed Dail stood tall and straight. He was a handsome man. He wore the uniform well. He purchased the best clothes. He drove a late model car that was always clean. He created a fine exterior image. But to a majority of his subordinates and the people with whom he had business dealings he was considered an arrogant, pompous, and conceited individual.

After looking at the definition of the word libel in Webster's, I choose to say little about the accomplishments of Ed Dail while he was Chief of the ORFD. He did establish a new method of disbursement of light bulbs and toilet tissue. He also had the company lawnmowers permanently remodeled. On one of his regular trips to complete an inspection of the BPOE he incurred the wrath of and was kicked by a Turkey. The result of this incident was a huge black eye. This event occurred near Thanksgiving. After a conference with the City Manager it was mutually agreed that Chief Dail would take accumulated leave to carry to his date of retirement.

Deputy Chief Ralph McMahan was promoted to Chief shortly after the retirement of Ed Dail. Deputy Chief Lynn Brock had remained during the brief term of Chief Dail. He was under the impression that he would receive the position when Chief Dail retired. This failed to occur. Chief Brock remained under Chief McMahan for a few months before accepting his retirement. During the time span from Jack Lee to Ralph McMahan a number of chain of command changes and position changes occurred. Capt. Benjamin Suddarth was Chief Inspector as was Capt. Richard Mynatt. Capt. Mynatt was the training officer for a period of time. The Deputy Chief position was abolished and an Assistant Chief position named Operations Officer was adopted. The Deputy Chief had been a shift supervisor who responded to all incidents on a 24 hour shift. The Operations Officer worked an eight hour day, forty hours weekly, and was subject to call-out to major incidents. Using a portable radio he monitored alarms. The company officer supervised most incidents in his response zone. In recent years the Operations Officer assumed duties of the training officer. An inspection bureau was established and a new position created to head up this activity. This was an assistant chief position equal in rank to the Operations Officer. This person was in charge of all inspections and fire prevention activities. Other changes have taken place over the years and some of these will be detailed in other chapters.

One of the events that had a great impact on the department occurred during the time McMahan was chief. This was the job action. I will relate to this in detail in the next chapter dedicated to the role the union played. One of Chief McMahan's greatest weaknesses was his inability to treat everybody equally. It was no secret that he had buddies who received special favors at evaluation time. I know because I was a member of that group at one time. Mac and I were very good friends and neighbors. He was my first company officer.

The fact that I was an officer in the union during the job action and that I took an aggressive position of leadership was looked upon as a personal affront to him. Unfortunately his opinion of me never changed according to reports I received, even after his retirement.

Mac was appointed to training officer in the early days of the ORFD. This was an Assistant Chief position. Mac was considered to be one of the most intelligent and better informed men in the department at that time. When the Federal Government downsized the department and many men were laid off, the training officer position was abolished. Mac was demoted to the rank of Captain. From that time forward Mac availed himself every opportunity for advancement. When the department adopted the three shift concept Mac was promoted to Deputy Chief. When Chief Dail retired Mac was named the new Chief.

Chief McMahan always attempted to take care of the older men in the department, even when he was a company officer. For this he is to be respected. McMahan developed health problems and retired sooner than he had originally planned.

Operations Officer Tom Hill assumed the duties of fire chief during the interim periods. He kept the ship afloat during these times. It was business as usual until the next chief arrived.

The word was out that our next chief would be recruited nationally. No stone would be left unturned until we had recruited the best chief the country had to offer. Of all the capable men who applied for the position, William (Bo) Harris was chosen. Bo came from the Washington, DC Fire Dept. where he had held the training officers post. The transition from Yankee training officer to southern fire chief required quite an adjustment for both Chief Harris and the members of the department. During the period Bo was chief plans were made for the purchase of new apparatus and for the relocation of Fire Station No. 3. Chief Harris left the ORFD for a position in private industry.

Again Operations Officer Hill to the rescue. Tom once again sat in the big chair. By now he probably was thinking, this really ain't bad. I believe, given the opportunity I could pull it off. But it wasn't to be. After going through the recruitment process once more, William (Mack) Baileyfrom St. Andrews Public Service District in Charleston County, SC was named Fire Chief of the ORFD.

Chief Bailey's fire career began as a Fire Fighter for the Columbia, SC Fire Dept. In 1969 he entered to the University of SC to work on his degree. In June of 1972 he began employment as a fire fighter in Columbia, SC. He was promoted to Lieutenant three months later. He transferred to the busiest company in the department a short time later. This company ran on all major alarms. He gained lots of experience while working as an officer on this company. He attributes this experience as being helpful in his being promoted to Chief of the department in 1979. While employed at Greer Mac returned to the University of South Carolina and later received his degree in 1981.

Mack then became employed as Fire Chief of the St. Andrews Public Service District, a suburban area adjacent to Charleston, SC. In 1986 he accepted a position as Acting Manager while continuing as Fire Chief. He held this position until Dec. 87. He then received a mandatory promotion as Manager. Desiring to remain in the fire service, he applied for the opening in the ORFD. He received the appointment. How does he measure up? The jury is still out but so far all reports are very favorable.

The members of the department have fallen in love with Chief Bailey's wife Beth and his son Bart. Bart attends Oak Ridge High School and is a member of the ORHS football team, orchestra, and physics bowl team. He has received an academic scholarship and will attend the University of S.C. Beth responds to all major alarms bringing coffee and needed refreshments to the firefighters. Her participation in all FD activities is probably one of the major reasons Chief Mack Bailey is placed in such high esteem. Over the years learning to cope with the differing personalities of the chief officers surely has developed strong character traits in the company officers and firefighters.

Return to Index

On to Chapter 4

Photocopies of this book are available with historic pictures for $12.00 plus $2.50 s/h and tax. Go to order page here for information on obtaining your personal copy today!