McLeansville Fire Department History
Preface
The following history of McLeansville Fire Department is an excerpt from Life, Lore & Legend of McLeansville, written by Helen Paisley Sockwell and published in 2009. Helen Sockwell’s work covers the history of McLeansville Fire Department for the period of 1949 to 2006. In 2018 Bobby Carmon picked up where Helen Sockwell ended and continued the work of documenting McLeansville Fire Department’s history.
1949 – 2006
Following the 1949 school fire and the destruction of E.V. Snow’s barn in December 1950, Worth Gannon approached E.A. Adams about using the Agriculture building to hold a meeting for organizing a local fire department. During the school fire, a Greensboro fire truck from the Oak Grove Station had been dispatched, but the truck was old, took a long time to reach the school and was able to pump very little water once it did arrive. Consequently, interest in a community volunteer department was high. Over 80 people were present at the organizational meeting held January 2, 1951. Temporary officers were elected: E.A. Adams, Chairman; Stedman Hines, Legal Advisor; Curtis Clapp, Secretary and Paul Phipps, Treasurer. An Equipment Committee was named and included Roy Martin, C.E. Richardson, Fred Paisley, S.C. Anderson and Hugh Sockwell. A Finance Committee was appointed with the following members: Worth Gannon, Eugene Whitesell, J.B. Sockwell, Garland Clapp and Curtis Kennedy. The organization was named McLeansville Fire Department, Inc., and was to be a non-profit corporation with no par-value stock issued.
Various members of the Equipment Committee and others visited volunteer fire departments around the state. These visits were followed by the second organizational meeting with 140 crowding into the Agriculture Building. This group heard reports from the Legal, Finance and Equipment Committees. Afterward, they voted to buy new equipment and to borrow $5,000 interest-free from the county. It was also agreed to have a Board of Directors and twelve members were elected: S.C. Anderson, Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, E.A. Adams, R.B. Fryar, H.T. Sockwell, Garland Clapp, Hilbert Fryar, C.E. Richardson, Fred Paisley, Rob Murrell, Clarence Lowdermilk and Turner Waynick.
Mr. Adams drew up a temporary Constitution and By-Laws which were approved, with minor changes, at the first Board of Directors meeting. The Board elected E.A. Adams as Chairman and Fred Paisley as Secretary. Other officers elected were: F.M. Buchanan, President; S.C. Anderson, Treasurer; Curtis Kennedy, Assistant Secretary and Financial Secretary. A Financial Committee was appointed. It included: Worth Gannon, Chairman; Gordon Reese; P.G. Shaw; Richard Kennedy; Curtis Kennedy; C.G. Clapp; Jimmy Fleming; Elmer Kellam; G.A. Isley and Eugene Whitesell.
The seventy present at the third general organizational meeting approved the Constitution and By-Laws and authorized the Board of Directors to proceed with the purchase of equipment and to find a place to house the equipment. Then the Directors voted to purchase an American La France truck and equipment with H.T. Sockwell, J.B. Sockwell, R.B. Fryar and E.A. Adams named to make these purchases. At the same time, Rob Murrell, J.T. Jobe and S.C. Anderson were named to find and purchase a structure to house the truck and equipment.
This latter group found an adequate site and the Board of Directors voted to buy the Junius Boone brick store at the north end of the McLeansville business district for $3,000. The Department was to pay this debt within three years with a 5% interest rate.
Information was presented and discussed on ways to finance the endeavors and on the further
development of the department. The Board added the following members to the Finance Committee: E.A. Adams; Paul Phipps; Rev. Huller as Vice President; Richard Clapp, Business Manager and J.B. Sockwell,
Maintenance Supervisor. The Board later voted to order the La France truck and equipment at a cost of
$10,927.50, and, as authorized by the Constitution, established a $10 membership fee along with 10% of each member’s county property tax as annual dues. The fee from the 10% tax was to have as a minimum the payment of $1 and the maximum a $25 payment.
All of these decisions were made in 1951, a busy year indeed, but more also occurred. First aid training
was given by the Red Cross, the McLeansville Grange held a chicken pie supper and a square dance as a fund raiser for the department, and the Finance Committee reported a collection of $2,407.50. Furthermore, the department decided to pay $500 down on the building and to pay the remaining $2,500 over the three years at the agreed upon 5% interest rate. An overhead door was installed in the building costing $3,000. Additionally, it was decided to extend the district lines from the McLeansville School district to the Bessemer line on Highway 70. Fund raising dinners and square dances were held at the tobacco warehouse on Highway 70.
To get to the true purpose of the unit, the actual department began with the election of firefighter
officers: E.A. Adams, Chief; Curtis Clapp, Assistant Chief; R.H. Anderson and Bobby Fryar, Captains; Joe
Boone, Wesley Hines, J.B. Sockwell and Bill Carmon, Lieutenants; Ernest Whittington, Junior Fryar, Harold Gourley and Bob Dean, Alternate Lieutenants. Full insurance coverage for firemen was approved and firefighter training began. The department membership was reported to include 254 of the approximate 545 families in the district, and dues were to be reduced to $5. It was decided not to go out of district on fire calls except to aid other departments. A further decision was approved to charge a fee of $100 for calls to non-members. Director/ telephone service was added and fire-call telephones were established at Anderson’s Store, Clapp’s Store and at the residences of E.A. Adams and J.B.Sockwell. While fund-raising had been rather successful, more monies were needed to pay for the truck and to meet other expenses due January 1, 1952. As a result, Worth Gannon, R.B. Fryar, J.G. Clapp, S.C. Anderson, Fred Paisley, R.M. Murrell, H.C. Harrell and E.A. Adams agreed to loan, interest free, $100 each for one year. Finally, after over sixty meetings, expenses were met and the truck was paid in-full.
In 1952, training was intensified, fund-raising dinners and dances continued, and the Fire Department even sponsored a circus, set up at the Agricultural Center on Highway 70, as a fund raiser. Fire sirens were added to the station and 19 calls were responded to saving 97.2% of value to members. Firefighters included E.A. Adams, Curtis Clapp, Bobby Fryar, Bill Carmon, Ernest Whittington, J.B. Sockwell, Stanley Cobb, Charles Brown, John Brown, Daniel Brown, Ralph Snow, Dennis Sockwell, R.H. Anderson, Joe Boone, Richard Clapp, E.E. “Bob” Dean, J.A. Fryar, Jr., Grier Gannon, Worth Gannon, Harold Gourley, Wesley Hines, Frank Howard, Harry Jobe and John Lowe. This number was soon increased by the following: Marvin Clapp, David Clapp, Jack Justice, Charles “Red” Newsome, Neal
Tuttle and Boyd Sockwell. These firefighters joined the North Carolina State Firemen’s Association.
In 1954, new boundaries were established for the district to include the McLeansville School district and up to four miles from the station in other directions. An election approved putting the district on a tax basis of up to ten cents per $100 valuation. In November 1954, a 1951-F-7 Ford truck was purchased to be made into a water tank wagon. Mr. Adams designed and produced a working drawing for a tank to go on the truck. This tank was constructed by Mr. Adams and the boys in his shop classes at McLeansville and was completed in 1955 for about $837 or less than half the amount wanted by a local steel company for this construction. Forbis and Murray Funeral Service donated fire-call cards to hang in the homes of families in the McLeansville Fire Department District. These cards had numbers to use in reporting fire calls as well as emergency numbers for the sheriff’s department or for ambulance service. Personal numbers of fire fighters were also included. Publication of these cards continued for over twenty years and reflected the change from Forbis and Murray to Forbis and Dick Funeral Service as well as a growing list of firefighters.
Mention of the county ambulance service reminds one of a local problem. The Ambulance Service of Guilford was providing emergency service to the region. Concern arose over the time it took this service to reach rural areas. Some claimed that they had waited over an hour for service to reach them, much too long in many instances. As a result, J.A. “Junior” Fryar proposed adding a local ambulance service to the fire department and suggested that a similar venture be included in other rural volunteer departments.
Fryar had purchased an ambulance, had it registered as such with the state, had secured emergency insurance on the vehicle and had taken the necessary courses to be issued a first aid card. The vehicle was to be fully equipped prior to its approval for service.
Finally, approval for this service was granted, and Fryar operated the rescue business from 1966 to July 1985. The ambulance was housed in a building adjacent to Fryar’s country store beside his home on Friedens Church Road.
Today E.M.T. services are a part of the department’s services. In fact Medic 4, the emergency medical technicians from Guilford County, have living quarters in the new McLeansville station. The new station includes five beds, two kitchens to serve the staff of nine and the forty-two volunteers, six bays and a meeting room. This main station and the two McLeansville sub-stations answer calls in an area that covers 44 square miles.
Very early in the department’s response to fire calls, an event occurred which is now amusing but was anything but funny at the time. The old store building which housed the fire truck had a dirt floor. It was after a period of heavy rain when a call came in to respond to a fire. Volunteers rushed to the station to respond. The truck was loaded, started and the firefighters were on their way. Well, not exactly on their way for the truck became stuck in the muddy floor of the station. Valuable time was lost as the men got tractors to the station to free the mired truck. Eventually it was pulled from the gook, but the men, determined never to be caught in this position again, had a deep level of gravel applied to the floor. Leaks were repaired and drains were run. Fortunately, no emergencies were met with such frustration again.
It was not until 1955 that the first protective clothing for the firemen was purchased. This included coats and helmets. The first boots were purchased in 1959. Mr. Adams noted that prior to these purchases it was guaranteed that if he wore a new pair of shoes or a new suit, a fire call would come in resulting in burns and water damage to the clothing. Also in 1959, land was purchased for the construction of Station # 7. Waynick and Welker Construction Company was employed to construct the station on a cost-plus basis, the same as the company had agreed to in the construction of a new church for Mount Pleasant. By 1961, the finishing touches to the new station were completed and the station hosted an open-house for the community. Station 27 was built in 1966 and Station 37 in 1974. During 1970-1971, part-time firemen were hired, and in 1972, a full-time Chief was employed. A chief’s car was purchased in 1974. Today, the department has nine vehicles: three pumpers, three tankers, one brush fighter, one rescue vehicle, one maintenance truck and one chief’s vehicle. The total value for all vehicles is $1,275,150. The county E.M.T. units were added around 1980.
The McLeansville Fire Department responds to an average of 1,000 calls a year and in 2006 spent 4, 943 1/2 man-hours on calls. The present budget runs around $700,000 from tax monies. The busiest day for fire calls is Saturday and the busiest month is July. The firefighters spent 451 1/2 hours in training during 2006, which included basic firefighting instruction with hoses, ladders, fire extinguishers, forced entries, live burns and rescues, but also included training with self-contained breathing apparatus and sessions on terrorism. Donnie Shepherd is the current Chief, John Shepherd is the President, Marvin Clapp is the Treasurer and Vickie Swaim is the current Auditor. The McLeansville Board of Directors has twelve members with Andy Clapp as the current President and Rossie Fishel as Secretary. Amanda Shoe Martin is the current President of the Auxiliary.
Fire Commissioners act as liaisons between the Department’s Board of Directors which operate the local department and the county. Commissioners were formed when the fire department went under a tax basis and are appointed by the County Commissioners. These individuals see that local Board of Directors provide adequate fire protection for the district. Curtis Kennedy has served as a Commissioner since the department’s formation. Other Commissioners who have served long tenures are Arthur Honeycutt and Harold Apple.
The McLeansville Department has been fortunate in that there has been only one “lost time” injury and that was from a ruptured hose during a testing session. Only one McLeansville firefighter has been killed in the line of duty. This was Cassandra “Sandy” Powell, who died as a result of a traffic accident during a routine trip between fire stations.
Leadership for this department began with E.A. Adams as Chief. Other chiefs have been Arthur Honeycutt, S.G. Gannon, Richard “Buck” Buckner, Larry Gerringer, Donnie Shepherd, Alan Mullis, Roger Holland, Walt Clapp, Donald Gerringer and Donnie Shepherd again as the current Chief.
This department has done a great deal of work with educating children and youth on the proper response to fires and to accidents or the prevention of such. One program rotates its schedule throughout the Guilford County high schools to educate teenagers about the responsibility of driving a vehicle. It is an emotional, stunning program which simulates a fatal car accident. The program is called Vehicle Injury Prevention for a Very Important Person. A volunteer teen acts the part of the victim whose script is taken from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul and whose words are audible over a speaker system. Numerous fire departments and Guilford County E.M.S. portray the events as they would at an actual accident site. They use the Jaws of Life to remove the victim who wears makeup to reveal his injuries. The simulated wreck is preceded by a program during which the students are given statistics on teenage driving fatalities, the problems with peer pressure and the dangers of drinking and driving. Firefighters share stories about actual accidents and the drivers extricated. Parents and students sign contracts pledging to drive safely and to obey traffic laws.
The program is usually held in the spring before the prom. It is part of the Guilford County Fire and Safety Committee’s work. The simulation is so effective that members of the committee do not believe that any teenager who has been involved in the program has been killed in an accident while he or she was in high school.
The largest fire ever worked by the department was the November 2006 Eastern Guilford High School fire which completely devastated the school. Ten different departments worked the fire for a total time on the scene of 51 hours and thirty-one minutes. Over 100 firefighters were involved. Two firefighters were taken to the hospital. One suffered from dehydration and the other fell, injuring his back. Both were back on the scene working the next day.
The efforts of these men were doomed before they answered the fire call. In many studies done since the school fire, it has been determined that the roof design with no sprinkler system made it impossible for the emergency responders to succeed. It was very interesting to learn that a Texas school fire, which happened about the same time as the Eastern one, did not result in devastation. The building was of a similar design to Eastern’s with the same roof design. The difference was that the Texas school did have a sprinkler system. Of course, when Eastern was built in the early 1970’s, the $30-$40 thousand needed to have installed a sprinkler system would have been deemed cost prohibitive.
The only way Eastern could have been saved without such a sprinkler system would have been for the firemen to have cut trenches in the roof, peel back the roof and wet down the areas ahead of the fire. Three trenches were cut, but the fire had already raced past these points. It was believed that the fire had about a 15–20-minute time advantage over the firemen before the first call was made. Nothing they could have done with the manpower present could have made a difference in saving the structure. Even had the responders been of sufficient numbers to have immediately made the trenches, peeled back the roof and wet down the areas ahead of the fire, there may not have enough volume of water coming from the main to have sufficiently wet down the areas ahead of the fire. In this Eastern was more fortunate than many other schools and other large structures which have no mains available for the firemen to get water.
A return to more pleasant information about the department is necessary. The old Station #7 building stood the test of time. The structure was still in fine shape, but the department outgrew the facility which had only three bays. The old station did not meet the new regulations required today. Consequently, a new station was needed. A grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture enabled the construction of a new station to be erected without costing the fire district anything. The new building, now known as Station 47, was begun in February 2006 and was completed in December of the same year. Construction was accomplished in two phases. First, a new west wing was built, complete with six bays, allowing the firemen to operate out of the old building during this phase. Once the west addition was completed, the station moved into this section as the old structure was leveled, and the eastern phase on the project could be built. This wing of the building contains offices and training-meeting rooms. The total cost of this new station ran about $800,000.
For all individuals who have ever worked with the McLeansville Fire Department and for the community at large, it was entirely fitting and proper that this new station be named for and dedicated to Mr. E.A. Adams. Without his tireless efforts and dedication, this fire department may not have evolved or, at least, not have evolved as quickly or as completely. Certainly, it would have been at a greater cost to the citizens of the community without his resourcefulness.
No dollar value can be placed on the appreciation this community has for the dedicated men and women who train hard, respond promptly and act heroically in their service to the community. The events of 9/11 have made everyone in the nation more aware of the dedication and sacrifices made by firefighters everywhere, and those in McLeansville are truly proud of the staff and volunteers who man the stations in this area.
The next section of McLeansville Fire Department covers 2006 to 2026, written by Robert B. Carmon.
Department History: 2007 – Present
In 2007, the McLeansville Fire Department underwent an insurance rating inspection conducted by the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal. Under the leadership of Chief Donny Shepherd, the department successfully maintained its Class 7 rating. Chief Shepherd continued to serve until his retirement on March 1, 2013, at which time Deputy Chief Roy Rimmer was promoted to Fire Chief.
At the time of the transition, departmental staffing consisted of 11 career personnel and 41 volunteer members, with an annual call volume of 1,191 responses. As demand steadily increased, the department expanded accordingly. By 2019, career staffing had grown to 15 personnel supported by 31 volunteers, responding to 1,566 calls annually. That same year, Station 27 transitioned from a weekday daytime schedule, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., to 24-hour shift staffing, significantly enhancing service delivery across the district.
In 2015, following the passing of Deputy Chief Mike Cobb, the department dedicated its Training Room in his honor. A legacy member who had served with distinction for many years, Chief Cobb was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and later succumbed to the illness. His dedication and impact on the department remain deeply remembered.
In 2016, the Apparatus Committee oversaw delivery of a new Sutphen fire engine at a cost of $460,000, replacing a 1997 American LaFrance engine housed at Station 47.
In 2017, the department underwent an ISO inspection by the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal. Through extensive preparation and the collective effort of department members, the Fire District Insurance Rating improved from Class 7 to Class 4, a meaningful achievement that resulted in reduced insurance costs for residents throughout the district.
Also in 2017, the Apparatus Committee began developing a long-term apparatus replacement plan. In December 2018, the Board of Directors approved the purchase of two new Sutphen fire engines at a combined cost of $1,040,000. These units replaced a 1990 GMC TopKick (Engine 27) and a 1988 E-One engine (Engine 247), while the 2003 Pierce engine (Engine 37) was reassigned to reserve status. The new engines were placed into service at Stations 27 and 37. In December 2020, the Apparatus Committee initiated the next phase of the plan by beginning specifications for a new tanker.
In 2019, McLeansville Fire Department entered merger discussions with Fire District #13 and the Northeast Fire Department, facilitated by Guilford County Emergency Services. Multiple committees were formed, research was conducted, and findings were thoroughly evaluated. After more than a year of collaboration, Fire District #13 and Northeast Fire Department elected to advance to the next phase of merger discussions, while McLeansville Fire Department chose not to continue. The process nonetheless proved productive: the department implemented several internal improvements, including increased training requirements, salary enhancements, and long-term staffing objectives.
By 2020, the department operated on three shifts, each staffed with three firefighters and one Captain, alongside a Training Officer, an Operations Chief, and the Fire Chief.
COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic brought significant operational disruption beginning in March 2020, when a state of emergency was declared. With statewide stay-at-home orders in effect, all face-to-face training was suspended in May 2020, and new protocols fundamentally changed how emergency calls were handled.
By late summer, some restrictions eased and limited training resumed with enhanced safety measures. However, as case numbers surged again near Thanksgiving, additional restrictions were reinstated and training was once again suspended in December 2020. The department adapted throughout, developing procedures that allowed it to operate effectively within a new operational normal.
2022 – Present
In late 2021, Chief Roy Rimmer announced his intent to retire effective July 2022. The Board of Directors launched a search for his successor in the spring of 2022, and Operations Chief Brad Tucker was appointed Interim Fire Chief upon Rimmer’s departure.
In September 2022, Tommy Gregory was selected as the incoming Fire Chief, assuming the role in January 2023. Chief Gregory came to McLeansville from the Chapel Hill Fire Department, where he had served as Fire Marshal and most recently as Operations Chief. He also brought a personal connection to McLeansville, having begun his paid fire service career there in the early 1990s as a night fireman before later joining Colfax Fire Department.
Also in 2022, the Apparatus Committee undertook a project to replace Tanker 27. After evaluating operational needs and fleet composition, the committee recommended reducing the tanker fleet from three to two units while increasing overall capacity. A proposal for a new 3,000-gallon Sutphen tanker was presented to the Board of Directors but exceeded budgetary constraints, prompting the department to pursue a more economical alternative.
In early 2023, a used apparatus in Connecticut was identified as a strong candidate. The unit had previously served as a foam apparatus in Halifax County, Virginia, carrying 2,000 gallons of water and 500 gallons of foam. With modest modifications, it could be converted to a 2,500-gallon tanker. Members of the Apparatus Committee traveled to Connecticut to inspect the vehicle, and following purchase and conversion, the apparatus was transported home and placed into service.
In late 2022, Guilford County Emergency Services initiated a countywide transition to a new Records Management System (RMS), the first time all Guilford County fire departments would operate on a unified platform for call reporting, hydrant management, inventory, and training documentation. Implementation began in early 2023. For McLeansville, this meant transitioning from Firehouse software, in use since the early 1990, to the new Fireworks RMS platform.
In the years that followed, the department continued its commitment to growing career staffing in support of full engine company operations. By 2026, three personnel were on duty around the clock at Station 47 and two at Station 37, bringing total paid staff to 17 alongside 30 volunteers. Combined with the full-time Fire Chief and Operations Chief positions, this represented the highest staffing level in department history.
That sustained investment in personnel, training, and operational readiness culminated in 2024, when the department achieved a Class 3 insurance rating following a North Carolina state inspection, the best rating in McLeansville Fire Department’s history.