Volunteer firefighters: Heroes answer the call night and day

by Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Department

A full sixty minutes before the bewitching hour, Chief Jeffrey Stotesberry climbs into his truck and heads back towards the Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Department (SQVFD). Sitting next to him is a “probie” firefighter – a rookie – who is a student at Mattamuskeet High School.

Stifling a yawn, Stotesberry knows this long day is not yet over, but perhaps he can take a deep breath, wind down and reflect on the events of the past few hours. His community has suffered a loss tonight. Thankfully there was no loss of life, but fire has destroyed a home and most of its contents.

Glancing in the rearview mirror he can see a rag-tag procession behind him. It’s headed in the same direction and at the same pace as he is.

Directly behind him there’s a big red fire truck. Engine #1991 has a local farmer at the wheel. Riding shotgun is one of the department’s youngest firefighters, not long out of high school and a budding electrical apprentice. Seated behind them is a female “probie” who is currently studying to be an EMT.

Further down the procession line, a retired tugboat engineer is driving the department’s equipment truck, accompanied by a state employee who works at Hyde Correctional Institute.

A brush truck brings up the rear with an off-duty NC Forest Service employee driving. The passenger is one of the department’s safety officers.

Intermittently spaced are personal vehicles with firefighters who – many hours earlier – answered the call to duty. Among them are a Hyde County Sheriff’s deputy, an EMT, a school bus mechanic, another farmer and a daycare provider. Perhaps they left their job, or their child’s baseball game, or cut short their lawn mowing to rush to the incident scene on their own. These firefighters – male and female – are all unpaid volunteers. Without them, the chief knows the department could not operate!

For the past 35 years, Chief Stotesberry has led the department. He has watched it grow and helped find funding for everything from building expansion, equipment, vehicles and just recently, a new substation in the Lake Comfort community. But his greatest struggle is how to simply pay their monthly operating expenses. Like the other five volunteer fire departments in Hyde County – where there is no fire tax and only a small annual stipend from the County of Hyde – the struggle to stay afloat is omnipresent.

Tonight, as he drives, he is assessing how he and his crew performed. What did they get right? Where do they need to improve? Hopefully, he thinks, the scheduled pump operator training next week will help them improve their skills.

Other thoughts crowd into his already overactive mind. Are there enough supplies on hand for the upcoming weekend’s fundraiser? Will enough volunteers show up to peel potatoes, cook and serve the meal? Will attendance be good?

He remembers the various reports that are due soon and need to be worked on. A grant application for updated equipment that he started a couple of days ago needs to be completed. He needs to return a call to Mattamuskeet School so he can schedule a suitable fire safety class for the pre-k classes. The CPA is waiting on copies of certain documents so the department’s annual Form 990 (tax return) can be completed for the Internal Revenue Service.

Moving quietly through the village, the firefighters arrive back at the station. Their work is not done. The trucks must be refilled with water. The hoses cleaned and repacked on the truck. All of the other small pieces of equipment will be cleaned and replaced in their proper places. Maybe some of the turn-out gear will need to be washed and laid out to dry. The vehicle drivers have truck logs to be immediately filled out. All of this must be done now because, since they are on call 24/7, it’s possible they may have to answer another call before dawn. Bone weary, they all go about their respective tasks.

The chief still has paperwork to do tomorrow and will revisit the scene of the fire for further investigation into the cause of the fire. He’s grateful that the Hyde County Sheriff’s Department had an available deputy to stay on the scene overnight; otherwise, one of their firefighters would have been assigned that task.

It’s well past the bewitching hour before everyone heads home to a hot shower, a bite to eat and a few hours of sleep.

For more SQVFD information and photos, visit swanquartervfd.org or follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/ Swan-Quarter-VFD .

If you are currently being served by a volunteer fire department – reach out to them! You don’t have to fight fires to volunteer with them. There are a myriad of ways you can use your talents to help them serve your community. Ask!