The Oak Ridge Fire Department, A History by Don McGuire

Dedication
By: Don McGuire

Please allow me, if you would, to escort you to a window that is somewhat hazy due to the passage of time. Please press your mind very close to the window because the effect that time has on the memory has made it difficult to journey a distance of some fifty-three years. Through this window we hope to catch a brief glimpse of what life was like in the early days as a member of the Oak Ridge Fire Department. I would also hope to present to you character profiles of some of those early pioneers in whose footsteps you now follow. Those dedicated men and women who paved the way for the roads you presently travel.

Names like: Walter (Maw) Turner, Benjamin (Pappy) Suddarth, Samuel (Slim) Miller, Howard (Granny) Farmer, Crawford (Gene) Byrd, Ed (Surround and Drown) Dail, Ralph (Mac) McMahan, Curt Byrd, Tooty Bill Haynes, Bob Galbraith, Paul Vowell, Murman (Cotton) Cox, Ross Roberts, Ott Beeler, Lynn Brock, Troy Richardson, John Little, Oscar Henry, Frank Rowland, Eddie (Diamond Jim) Southerland, Arthur Grant, Charlie Coche, Sam Craig, Ollie Emert, Ed Laws, Russell Moneymaker and Paul Vowell.

Others were Harrington, DeMarcus, Ford, Glen Roberts, V. Brock, Mathias, Ingram, Claiborne and Laykins. These are the men who persevered until retirement. Second generation members were Hashbarger, Moore, Mynatt, Fritts, Howard, McGuire, Murray, Drown, Clark, King and Woods. There are many others who came and went, some staying for long periods of time, others, maybe for a few weeks. Many stories have been told about people hiring in and reporting to Training Headquarters, then disappearing during the shift. It was easy to cross the street and get a construction job because buildings were being erected everywhere and manpower was in short supply. To those who weathered the storm.....We dedicate this book.

A very special thanks to Howard Farmer, Crawford Byrd and Ross Roberts for their time and effort given in assisting me with the research necessary to compile the information needed for the early historical background of the Oak Ridge Fire Department (ORFD). At the time of this writing only five members of the original 1943 group remain. They are the three men previously mentioned and Lynn Brock and Ed Laws.

GENTLEMEN, TO YOU, WE OWE A DEBT OF GRATITUDE.

SALUTE'.

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