From Humble Beginnings...

The wives hold the pants and the husbands jump and run!

That's the way things have been done in the Wayside Community of Hoke County since the new Puppy Creek Fire Department got its first night call last spring.

Paul Johnson, first president of a club organized for promotion of a fire department explains it this way:

"No fire chief had yet been chosen. The siren hadn't arrived. In fact about all there was to the department was a truck and 25 volunteer firemen. The initial call came to my house," Johnson recalls. "My wife and I both bounced out of bed. I took the message and as I threw on my clothes, I asked her to call three key men. Priding myself in my swiftness, I sped to the scene. My feathers flopped, however, when I arrived and saw the other three already there.."

"There was no time to ask questions or even to think about it. Other things were demanding attention. But the incident weighed on my mind until the Monday night fireman's meeting. I demanded to know how the heck they beat me to the fire."

Then E.B. (Buddy) Newton told of the ingenious pants-holding scheme their wives had figured out. Now, the siren sounds off and Johnson's wife doesn't have to make subsequent calls, so she does like the others. While he puts on his shirt, she grabs his trousers, holds them just right and he jumps in. While the pants go on, she places the shoes ready to be stepped into. The cooperative procedure takes about 15 seconds and the Puppy Creek Fire Department hasn't lost a building yet.

The Station Needs a Truck...Badly

A used pumper truck was purchased from a dealer for $3,700, a fraction of what a new one would cost. It would carry 500 gallons of water. This was a help, but in a rural area a tanker was needed badly. It seemed financially out of reach.

By seeking the aid of the Civil Defense organization, they were able to obtain a surplus government truck for $150. It was far from being a tanker truck for firefighting. In fact, it wasn't a tanker truck. It was an engine and cab with an enclosed, wooden trailer-like body. It was something to start with and with the determination abounding down Puppy Creek way, a pumper truck was inevitable.