It is 6:27 a.m., and I have just returned from dropping off our guest evangelist at the Richmond International Airport, for his journey back to Texas. He came to us from a place called Spanish Fort, which is located along the Red River, on the Texas/Oklahoma border. You may say, how did we find someone there to come and lead our revival services? The answer lies in a Southern Baptist seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has, for years, sent out students and faculty, across America, to preach revival, through a movement known as “Revive This Nation.”…

I had just driven by Station 1 and saw the TSO parked on the ramp and Engine 1 sitting in quarters. As I sat in the line at the Rite Aid, I heard the TSO and Engine 1 head out on a call. They had to have gone north, south or east, since they did not pass behind me. As I left the drug store, I looked east and saw black smoke in the sky, in a place where it should not have been, a chief indicator that they were headed to a working fire. For those who are thinking…

Though Chesterfield Fire & EMS predates 1950, the first salaried Fire Marshal was hired in 1966. In 1969, the first salaried firefighters were hired and it was at this time that Robert L. Eanes went from being the Fire Marshal to Chief of the Department. Chief Eanes would lead the organization until 1996. Chesterfield would go from being an all-volunteer department to a combination department. Chesterfield Fire Dept. grew to be a great organization, with great firefighters and state of the art equipment. I appreciate Chief Eanes, since he was the one that gave me a job in 1985. Serving…

Last Wednesday was an unusual weather day in Virginia. Seven tornadoes ravaged different parts of the state, causing loss of lives, multiple serious injuries and extensive property damage. Though I applaud our local news agencies for moment-by-moment reports, I do not believe that we are ready for this type of weather, in this part of the country. I was working on August 6, 1993, when the tornado hit the Walmart in Colonial Heights. What I remember from that experience was that the people inside the Walmart played a major role in the rescue efforts, immediately after the tornado struck. From…

To implore means to beg or ask repeatedly. The issue that I am imploring about seems like a “no-brainer,” but some people obviously have to be reminded constantly. The other night, a minor accident on 288 turned into a major accident, when a vehicle careened into the accident scene from the other side of 288. The conditions were extremely hazardous due to ice on the roadway. The first accident was caused by icy conditions and resulted in two vehicles ending up in the median. Though I am not certain of all of the details, an engine, ambulance and state trooper…

I recently spoke at a Christian school, to the junior high and senior high class. One of the questions that I got asked was, what was the most rewarding call that I ran during my career? Believe it or not, I do not remember which call that I told them about. We ran a lot of calls when I was in Chester, when I was in Manchester, when I was at the airport station, and even when I was in Matoaca and Ettrick. There were calls that went well and there were calls that did not go so well. We…

Electricity is something that we pay for and expect it to be there every time that we need it. As a firefighter, we responded to the problems caused by electricity. Last night, while watching the news, I saw where Richmond Fire Department had responded to an apartment fire, caused by a faulty electrical system. Again, electricity is a vital part of our lives until, for some reason, we lose it. Some of you may have read that my wife and I had an electrical problem in our home after the snowstorm. We came home one evening to find that everything…

We had plenty of advanced warning about this most recent snowstorm. Whatever snow total you listen to, we got more this time than we usually get. I thought that I would talk about things that I observed during this snow event, with the hope that each of us will be more prepared the next time. I will have to say that storms like this one make me miss firefighting. Whether it was a winter storm, a hurricane or just a passing line of thunderstorms, it always made for an interesting day in the fire station. We were fortunate that most…

I know of three fires, in single-family dwellings with attached garages that have resulted in fatalities, in Chesterfield County alone. The fires that I am thinking about have spanned a number of years, the most recent was a few Sundays ago, but all had devastating results. Each one of these fires was horrific to the families that lost loved ones. I will not speak of any one of these fires as being worse than any other. In addition to these fatal fires, there have been fires in homes, with attached garages, that have destroyed those homes. Do we stop building…

The numbers are in for 2015. Chesterfield Fire & EMS answered 39,000 plus calls for service, where greater than 75 percent of the calls for service were medical in nature. The greatest number of fire-related calls was alarm activations. The greatest number of medical incidents was difficulty breathing. What do these numbers mean for you and I versus what do these numbers mean for firefighters? In this article, I will only skim the surface of what the numbers can teach us. The first thing that we see is that calls for service have increased, and I do not expect them…