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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 |