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Flames engulf a house at 14 East Ashville Street, March 12, 1954.
Below: Wrightsville Beach firefighters perform drills behind the fire station
March 27, 2010.
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
process of becoming a firefighter. In the
department’s early, all-volunteer days,
that process was simple and swift.
“You were introduced one week,”
Powell says, “and in the second week,
you were handed your gear and told to
be careful.”
“Now,” he adds, “it involves about
four months of training, and at every
level of certification, there are continuing
education requirements — about 36
hours per year, or more.”
In addition, every member of the
department has to attend at least 24
training drills every year.
Some things, though, do not change;
there has always been and will always be
a special bond among those who serve.
Shared by members of the armed forces
and law enforcement officers, this bond,
generally referred to as a “brotherhood,”
is forged in an atmosphere of potential
danger, awesome responsibility and a
need to know that the man or woman
working next to you has your back; that
you, in turn, have his or hers. In the
early days, this bond was as much social
as it was professional, because the man
or woman next to you was often your
neighbor.
“When I joined, it was all volunteer,”
Powell says, “and everyone lived on the
beach. They were businessmen, tradesmen,
and it was a community service
thing, a need of the community.”
One of the advantages of this all-volunteer
force, Powell says, was a diversity
of backgrounds, which would often bring
unexpected tools to bear in emergency
situations.
“If we had a lighting strike on a roof,
for example,” Powell says, “we’d have a
roofer, who’d have shingles and nails in
his truck. Someone else would have tools
or lumber, or electrical supplies.”
As the department has evolved to its
present force of 15 career personnel and
some 25 volunteers, the brotherhood
bond has evolved, as well, to embrace
a more professional organization.
Though all three components of today’s
Wrightsville Beach Fire Department
— career staff, volunteers and members
WBM file photo Courtesy of the WBFD