The Chief's Corner

Chief’s Message

“And Still They Come”

On August 21, 2009, the Boyle County Fire Department was faced with its largest and most complex fire in its fifty year history. As always, its members responded to the fire without regard for their personal safety and did their job.

A normal Friday evening for most firefighters turned into a long and unforgettable night when a riot at Northpoint Training Center around 7:45pm turned from violence to arson. As firefighters arrived we found two buildings on fire and smoke just starting to show on three other buildings. Radio and TV stations reported that hostages had been taken and prisoners had escaped. Firefighters continued to arrive. As they staged on the grass ball field near the Command Post, dressed in their bunker pants and boots with their coat over the shoulder, they reported into the Command Post for work. Each handed me their accountability tag, picked up his or her air pack and walked to the staging area near the prison control gate.

The guards struggled to maintain control inside the prison fence using tear gas that the chain link fence failed to contain. As firefighters coughed, their eyes watered but they stayed in their positions ready to go inside and extinguish the fire. After two and a half hours, the prisoners were mostly contained with only a few left on the yard.

Fifty firefighters entered the compound, now a war zone. Seven buildings were fully involved and access between buildings prevented fire engines from getting near enough to use pre-connected hose lines. Firefighters struggled with pulling hoses by hand hundreds of feet around the compound using only hydrant pressure to extinguish the fires. Prisoners continued to run among the firefighters eluding the guards.

After four hours the fires were under control, by this time Boyle County Fire Department had issued its first “All Hands” call for personnel and equipment. Seventy firefighters were on the prison grounds. Some had been fighting fire for three to four hours carrying 40 pounds of equipment and pulling hoses the length of a football field. The job had been done; no one had been seriously injured. A lot of fire for so few firefighters.

The next day as I returned to the prison to overhaul the burned out buildings, I thought back to the original call to a riot at the prison, buildings on fire, hostages taken and people seriously injured or dead. Why would anyone respond to such a call? Each of our firefighters made a decision to leave the safety of their home and family to go to a place where tear gas was being used and shots were being fired. Why did they come?

Every Fire Chief is proud of the department he or she serves. On the night of August 21st I was not only proud but humbled at the dedication of our firefighters. They knew this was no ordinary fire. It was dangerous at many levels, still they came.

To all of those who responded goes my respect and gratitude. You are a fine group held together by trust and respect. It is an honor to be your Chief. 

Chief Donnie Sexton