Midway Volunteer Fire Department
This web site and its contents are NOT the official site of the Midway Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. The contents and images on these pages are the resposibility of the author and represent ONLY his opinions and observations. Midway VFD, Inc. in NO way sanctions the contents of these pages.
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This is the Midway VFD fire house. We've got 4 bays and a very nice meeting hall. The kitchen is very nice and can support a wide range of social activities. The main building, on the left side of the picture, was an old two-room school house that was moved down form the hill by the Grafton Coal Company to its current position. The coal company wanted to get at the coal under the hill and worked out this deal with Lewis County. We are getting ready to expand the bays so they can hold our new Suburban trucks.
Here is a good look at most of our current fleet---along with a retired truck on the right. We put the trucks out for our 2002 Ox Roast and they looked real nice.
Here is a closer look at Truck 61. She's a tanker-pumper and is very sweet. While I have actually driven this truck a couple of times, I have a lot to learn about driving fire trucks. Dewayne Collins has been my truck driving mentor and is a very patient teacher! (I have a bit of a problem finding 1st or 3rd gear!)
What can one say about this beauty! She's the biggest damn 4-wheeler I've ever been in. Truck 62 carries 1500 gallons of water and can empty the tank in less than 3 minutes, I think. It is very exciting to ride in this truck. A pleasure I have had on several occasions. This truck can go pretty much anywhere. Just don't let her tip over!
This is another truck that I have driven. (At least to get the new inspection stickers at Glenn's auto shop.) Truck 64 is our rescue vehicle and responds to most of our MVAs. The truck is riding on bias tires and is a real challenge to take up and over Vadis Hill. But it has an automatic transmission so there is a little less to worry about.
Truck 68 is our mini-pumper/brush truck. This little fellow can go freakin' ANYWHERE. It reminds me of a burro and can get to places that more powerful, bigger trucks cannot even get close to. There is a pump on the back of the truck and it can empty the 500 gallon tank on short order. (You just have to remember to NOT lay a hose on the muffler of the pump!)
These two Suburbans, Unit 66 and 67, are the newest additions to our fleet. They are intended to assist in getting additional personnel to emergency scenes. We were hoping to use on of them to haul a new air cascade trailer, but that grant did not come through. There is still a chance that we can get some support form the state legislature for a similar project. We will keep our fingers crossed.
Liz and I in our Turn-out Gear...
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No, it's not Halloween yet. Liz and I were practicing
getting our gear on and our friend Mike took some pictures while we tried
the gear on.
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So, women really go for the guy in a uniform. Right?!
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We're thinking about using this one for our Xmas cards. What do you think?
8/12/2002 - 14:30
First call for Company 6 when I was able to respond. Tones came over the pager and I was headed to the house. Got the door unlocked and the garage doors open before the drivers got there. Then the Chief said I should ride with him in Truck 62---the biggest 4-wheeler you could imagine. Of course, this was the day that the Highway Department came back to level the berms (shoulders) on Vadis Road. They sure got out of the way for us!!! We were dispatched to an MVA (motor vehicle accident) just this side of the Alum Bridge School. What a rush. Up and DOWN Vadis Hill, sirens and horns blaring. Thankfully, when we got there, a few minutes later, there were no serious injuries. (Doubly so, since one of the drivers was the Chief's sister! This is a VERY small world.) It was a 2 car accident with the lead truck stopping to avoid hitting a deer---a common event here. The trailing SUV was just beginning a pass and could not stop in time. The only injuries to the lady were caused by the air bag. (Possible broken thumb.) Mostly, we just hung around until the tow truck came. (I was trying to look like I had a clue what was going on!) Pretty much our role is to direct traffic in a situation like this. But VERY exciting, none the less. Poor Liz was on the phone with a client and could not even respond to my shouted exit call on the intercom.
8/13/2002 - 23:15
I was on the final leg of a journey back from Clarksburg for a Red Cross CPR/First Aid training course and halfway down Vadis Hill when the pager went off! The initial call was for a structure fire at Camden Station---which just happens to be a major, natural gas pumping/compressor facility. (i.e., A VERY BIG FIRE!) I traversed the last mile or so in a record (illegal) time and parked the pickup at the fire house. Sprinting to the first truck pulling out, I told the Chief that I didn't have my gear. He said, "Go get your gear and ride in Truck 61, going out next." I sprinted the 50 yards to the house and back to get my gear and hopped into Truck 61 and off we went. Of course, all Liz knew was that she heard the garage door slam open and a noise in the garage and then nothing but sirens!! Long story short: We don't know what it was because we were released before we got to the scene. Could've been a good one! NOT. The funny part is that Liz tried to get Tucker to go into the garage and he said, "No freakin' way. You go first!" She figured it out that it must have been me and that there was no need to get the 12-guage!
8/16/2002 - 10:45
Auto Roll-over incident on Route 33 with a young girl driving. No Injuries. Car totaled. Liz's first response. (I was out of town.)
9/04/2002 - Around 12:00
Brush fire on Route 47 north of Kline's store about a mile or so. The fire was in Gilmer County and it was one of our guys first on the scene who alerted us to the fact that the fire was there. Gilmer County responded with a brush truck WITHOUT WATER! Gilmer County finally called out our box, but we, Truck 62 and Truck 68 (Mini-Pumper) were already on our way down the hill. By the time we got there with water the flames were mostly out. We put some water on the smoldering margins and stomped out the last burning piles of horse manure. (Who said this isn't a glorious profession?!) First time I actually put on my bunker pants!
9/15/2002 - 08:45
Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) incident on Route 33 just east of the auction house (Bill Self's place) in Pickle Street. With a young lady driving. She was moving eastbound around a curve when she lost control due to the light rain and oil on the road. The car spun around and went up a bank about 10 feet before toppling over onto the roof of the car. The driver was able to extricate herself and suffered only a scratch to her right elbow. Her 1998 Mustang was totaled, however. We had traffic blocked off in both directions while the wrecker was collecting the car. One of our members was controlling the west end. An approaching car spun out of control while trying to stop at our road block and struck him on the leg and ankle. The firefighter was transported to Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital for a once over and x-rays. (He was OK.)
9/20/2002 - 05:50
Local alarm, tree down across LC Fink Road just south of Straight Run Road. One of our members called it in while on his way back home from work. That crew member turned around and headed back for the house to get Truck 62 on the road. One tree had fallen down the hill, knocking another down and both rested against a guy wire for a telephone pole across the road. We got both trees down and didn't lose any other wires or poles. We had a pretty good turn out and NO one was injured---a very good thing.
10/6/2002 - 02:15
Local alarm, tree down across Vadis Road just north of US Route 33, up from the Woofter Cemetery. One of our members was on his way home from work, in Clarksburg, and called it in to Chief 6 on the radio. The Chief had Dispatch announce a request for any available personnel---but did not tone us out. The Chief fired up Unit 67, one of our new Suburbans. A couple company members and I headed up the hill with the Chief in Unit 67. (The two crew members were already at the fire house when the call went out. Since it was the day of our Ox Roast and the fire pit was filled with our cooking meat, we had on-site security!) We met 2 additional company members at the site of the fallen tree. The tree was cleared, we returned to the house and I was back in bed by 2:41. Don't trees ever fall in the daylight hours around here?!
10/11/2002 - 10:15 (approx.)
Company 3 responded Truck 31 to a burning utility pole. Once they got on the scene they requested a call for personnel from Company 6 just in case the pole fell over. We responded with 4 company members in Truck 67. Basically, we stood in the rain until the Allegheny Power folks got power shut off and the arcing stopped. Soon after, the pole stopped smoking and we returned to the house somewhere around 11:00.
10/19/2002 - 22:15
Local alarm, tree down across LC FinkRoad, about a half mile north of our fire house. We were in the process of shutting down the Haunted House for the week when the call came in. First vehicle out was Truck 67---which dispatch had a very hard time understanding---loaded down with 7 members. Next out was Truck 62 with me as the second crew member. Last out was Truck 64. Unit 67 was on the scene before Truck 64 got out of the house! We made VERY quick work of that small tree fall. Hell we had 10 or 11 crew on the scene! All was said and done and we were back in the house in less than 30 minutes. This crew is BAD news for fallen trees!!!
11/05/2002 - 20:15 (approx.)
Local alarm, tree down on Straight Run Road. Don't know much about this one. I was in Weston at the EMS monthly meeting and missed the boat. Liz missed it TOO, because her pager was not charged. Bad girl!!!
11/05/2002 - 22:30 (approx.)
Car in Fink Creek, upside down, about an eight of a mile west on our house. One of our officers called this one in on the radio as he was the one to find the car, along with another member. They did not know if there were any people trapped in the car---turns out there was no one in the car. Apparently the driver extricated himself and left the scene. Liz and I responded to the scene in the pickup. A little later our Chief was out in Truck 62. He was volunteered to walk out to the vehicle and check for any patients, or victims. Long story short, two wreckers finally responded, a semi and a roll-on, and they managed to get the car up on the road. (Check out the pictures here.) We were back in the house by around 01:30 the next day.
11/18/2002 - 10:30
One of our members was heading west on Rt. 33, toward Glenville, to haul some hay. He came upon a Motor Vehicle accident (MVA). A female driver, in a Plymoth van, veered off the right side of the road and crashed into Dennisson Run--near Klien's Run Road. The van peeled back several meters of the guard rail and ended up, nose down, into the run. The van was pretty well trashed. The driver banged into the steering wheel and complained of difficulty breathing and a sore ankle. (Turned out she had several chest contusions and a broken fibula.) This incident was the first time that I got to drive a truck, Truck 64, with lights and siren. Although, it was not a completely stelar event since I lost a couple of brooms going up Vadis Hill. I also had a hell of a time finding the emergency lights switch! (A problem that I have since corrected.)
1/4/2003 - 15:12
Local alarm, tree town on Walnut Fork---about a half mile up north of the intersection with Vadis Road. The tree was on the east side of the road just before the little bridge near the Ellis place. While the tree was pretty much on the shoulder it was far enough into the road so that the school bus would not have made it past. Jesse took out Truck 64 with me in the jump seat. It was the first call for our newest Junior Member (Provisional) Mike Collins. One additional member responded in a presonal vehicle. We were back in station by 15:35. No drama, just some cold drizzle.
1/16/2003 - 17:20 (approx.)
Tractor-trailer MVA, Company 3 and Company 6 near Simms Run on Route 33. I responded with a driver in Truck 64 while Truck 62 responded with a crew of 2. Truck 62s crew had removed the snow chains in the bay prior to responding. We, in Truck 64, just headed over the hill---not sure what the roads would be like since there was a bunch of snow on the ground. Well, we stopped at the top of Vadis Hill and removed the chains as they would not be needed. We also responded Truck 67, one of the Suburbans, with a bunch of folks. Hell, we even had some members waiting at the bottom of Vadis Hill, at Crooked Run, to meet Truck 67. We were well up Route 33 when one of the Company 3 Assistant Chiefs 10-22'd us---returning us to station. Real good response but no excitement for us.
