Raves, Rants & Roses

ROSES: The oil well fire in Rusk County Friday was quickly contained by Arp Volunteer Fire Department's paid full-time firemen and heavy-attack apparatus. Arp was called by a citizen who walked in off the street and notified the fireman on duty that a huge fire had just sprung up east of Arp, and it was putting off a lot of black smoke. The fire was, in fact, in Turnertown of Rusk County.

While one Arp fireman went to check out the situation, Arp fireman Steve Kitchings started en route with a 3,300-gallon tanker with a remote controlled water cannon capable of expelling huge volumes of water over 150 feet to the fire.

This vehicle was the only one out of all of the fire departments responding to the fire, capable of getting close enough to the huge flames and intense heat to enable the well-servicing company the opportunity to salvage a semi-truck valued at more than $100,000 and prevent oil storage tanks close by from exploding. More importantly, it enabled the firefighters to safely fight the fire and eventually extinguish the fire in under three hours from the time of ignition.

More than 12,000 gallons of water were used to completely put out the fire. Other departments shuttling water to the Arp tanker were New London, Carlisle and Overton.

This would not have been possible without the ability of the Arp VFD to train for these exact scenarios and be immediately available to respond to these hazardous situations. This is all due to the funding through the Emergency Services District No. 2.

Without the funds to train and be readily available, more property damage could have been the result as well as injury or loss of life to other firemen and oilfield workers.

This is just one of many examples of how the formation of the Emergency Services District No. 2 has benefited not only the firefighters and citizens of Smith County, but our neighboring counties as well.