Gaffney Fire Department

This article was published in the Gaffney Ledger on Monday January 17, 2000.

     Gaffney residents will have more to celebrate this year than just the dawn of the new millennium. The year 2000 will mark 100 years of fire service for the city. Although the exact date the department was officially sanctioned has not been determined, the Gaffney Ledger reported that city officials met at the county courthouse in November 1899 to discuss forming a fire department. By early 1900, the Ledger was reporting a department comprised of two white companies and one black company was in operation.

     Gaffney Fire Chief Steve Blanton said he has not made definite plans for commemorating the occasion. Blanton said he would like to have an open house at the main station and possibly mark the trucks with logos to signifying the historic occasion.

     "We have some old pictures and other memorabilia that we have put up around the station," Blanton said. "We're also doing some research on the history of the service."

     From the purchase of their first reel carts to the recent half-million dollar purchase of a state-of-the-art aerial platform truck, the department has been an integral part of the city's history. Retired fire chief Charles Petty, who was chief for 36 of the 43 years he was employed at the department, remembers much of that history.

     In 1950, Cherokee County only had two organized fire departments-Gaffney and Blacksburg. Petty said Gaffney only employed 10 firefighters, who worked 24 hour shifts every other day and were required to live inside the city limits. Today, the department employs 20 firefighters who work 24 hours on and 48 hours off.

     Petty said the old station, which was located in a back alley between the old Board of Public Works building and city hall, was home to three trucks- a 1944 American LaFrance, a 1947 GMC, and a 1928 Maxxon, which he started restoring and now remains on display at the station.

     The earliest known fire apparatus used by Gaffney firefighters were reel carts, which were 2-wheeled carts on which hoses were rolled. Petty said firefighters would pull the reel carts to a fire and connect the hose to an external water source. The water was then hand pumped through the hose.

     Prior to the development of the E911 Communications, fire were reported directly to the fire department, Petty said. When the phone rang, the first man down the pole would answer the call and determine the location and sound the siren on top of the department, he said.

     In the 1950's, firefighters only responed to fires and occasional drownings, Petty said. Today, firefighters are trained to respond to fire, medical emergencies and other calls. Petty said training was done in-house because the state fire academy was not built until many years later.

     Petty said firefighters used to wear canvas or leather turnout gear. He said the gear was black because it did not show soot, which was difficult to wash off. Today's gear is made of treated materials that are flame retardant and water repellant. The gear is also custom fitted for each firefighter to ensure the firefighter's mobility.

     Petty said firefighters in the 1950's used World War II army surplus air canisters for breathing apparatus, Petty said the sign of a good firefighter was someone who could breathe smoke. "The best fireman you had back then was the man who could eat the most smoke," Petty said. "That's why you called them smoke eaters."

     Despite the safety engineering involved in modern firefighting, Petty said the job is more dangerous today than 50 years ago. In the first half of the last century, homes only had natural material: wood, straw, cotton, wool, etc. Petty said home now contain many manmade materials which give off toxic fumes when burned.

     The City of Gaffney has seen many disastrous fires, including a blaze that destroyed four downtown business in the early 1990's, but few fires are as memorable as the 1977 fire that destroyed the 58 year old landmark Hotel Carroll. As many as 100 firemen from Gaffney, Blacksburg, Macedonia, Shelby, and Spartanburg responded to the blaze that killed a hotel resident and injured two firefighters, who became trapped in an elevator. The fire, which started on the third floor, engulfed the third and fourth floor. The first and second floors sustained smoke and water damage. Captain Johnny Huffstetler and firefighter Herbert Ledford boarded the elevator unaware of the inferno on the upper floors. Huffstetler and Ledford were hospitalized, suffering from burns they received while trying to reach safety. Vincent N. Summey, a city employee and former firefighter, was identified as tho occupant of the third floor room were the fire started. Petty said he remembers the sub-freezing tempatures the firefighters endured while battling the blaze. Department of Transportation workers sanded the roadways, which were icing over with the water used by the fire departments.

     Petty said the hotel fire prompted the purchase of the departments first ladder truck. Ladder trucks from Shelby and Spartanburg had been used to bring the hotel fire under control. The department recently replaced the 85 foot ladder truck, which Petty said was purchased for apptoximately $93,000 in 1979, with a 100 foot aerial platform equipped with a pump and a 200 gallon tank. With a price tag of $575,790, the new fire truck is the City of Gaffney largest ever capital expenditure. While many city officials raised concerns over purchasing the new truck, Petty said the town should bring the fire department up to standard. Petty said to maintain rating with the insurance companies, a fire department should have a ladder tall enough to reach the tallest structure in the fire district. "They're doing something now that I think should have been done all along," Petty said. "The town has really grown in the past years and it's time they updated the fire department."

     One thing that remains the same for the fire service is the level of dedication that is expected. "A firefighter has got to be dedicated and he's got to like it," Petty said. "You can't be scared, but you have to have respect for fire and be cautious."