The Shadow
Two veterans of the firefighting wars were honored by the Covington Fire Department Saturday evening.
Richard “Huck” Tyree and Percy Caldwell were honored for 50 years of service during the department’s 108th annual banquet and meeting.
President Richard Baker presented them with 50-year pins in recognition of their service to the department and the community.
Both Tyree and Caldwell joined the Covington Fire Department in September 1960 and have held numerous positions and offices during their tenure.
The banquet was held in Wolfe Hall at Station 1 on Hawthorne Street.
Three widows were also remembered during a memorial service conducted by Chaplain Bob McCallister.
All three – Kathryn Faudree, Alma Dickson and Jenny Williams – died during 2009.
Their husbands, Bervie Faudree, Leonard Dickson and Jimmy Williams – were very active during their respective services to the department.
Following dinner, which was catered by Country Kitchen of Christiansburg, officers for 2010-2012 were inducted by Alleghany County Sheriff Kevin Hall.
Social officers are Richard Baker, president; B.J. Rice, vice-president; David Crosier, secretary; Dennis Trainer, treasurer; Jerry Burks, quartermaster; Bob McCallister, chaplain, and Mike Collins, legal advisor.
Working officers are Wes Walker, chief; Al Fox, first assistant chief; Kevin Pettitt, second assistant chief; Andy Rickett, first captain; C.W. Smith, second captain; Ron Smith, third captain; David Crosier, fourth captain; Eddie Joe Entsminger, first lieutenant; Brad Hicks, second lieutenant; Seth Lamb, third lieutenant; Eric Schultz, fourth lieutenant.
Safety officers for 2010-2012, which are appointed by the chief and working officers, are Jerry Gibson, Clyde Selman and Curtis Craft. The fire marshal is C.J. Entsminger.
Later, Chief Wes Walker gave a report of the department’s activities during 2009.
During the year, the department received 230 calls for service, which was down 12 calls from 2008.
A breakdown of calls for 2009 is as follows – 39 structure fires, three vehicle fires, 12 brush fires, 68 motor-vehicle accidents, 30 fire alarm activations, 16 hazardous materials calls, 33 mutual aid calls and 29 miscellaneous calls.
Fire damage for the year was $836,450. Property value of incident locations was $3.7 million.
Command units marked en route to calls on an average of two minutes and 30 seconds and arrived on the scene on an average of five minutes, 23 seconds.
Responding apparatus marked en route to call on an average of six minutes, and arrived on the scene on an average of nine minutes.
An average of 15 firefighters responded to call for service.
During the year, firefighters worked a total of 3,109 hours. Firefighters travelled 3,494 miles delivering services to the community.
In 2009, 132 calls were located within the city of Covington, while 98 calls were located in Alleghany County.
Since last year’s banquet, the department has added 10 new members – Crista Patterson, Sarah Rose, Travis Hicks, Andrew Crawford, Lee Roe, Russell Daniel, Ron Brunetti, Nicole Neff, Kayla Pauley and Creigh Via.
To date, the department has a firefighting force of 68.
Walker then recognized top call responders for 2009.
The top call responder for the year was Andrew Baker, who responded to 161 calls, or 70 percent of calls received.
Responding to 30-39 percent of the calls were C.W. Smith, Greg Burton, Brad Hicks, Russell Daniel, David Crosier and Jerry Gibson.
Responding to 40-49 percent were Jeff Horn, Ronnie Helmintoller, Eric Schultz and Skipper Wright.
Responding to 50-59 percent were Eddie Joe Entsminger, Al Fox, Andy Rickett and Kevin Carson.
Responding to 60-69 percent were Jerry Burks, Kevin Pettitt and Wes Walker.
In 2009, the department, under the direction of First Assistant Chief Al Fox, provided fire prevention training to about 900 area residents.
Firefighters contributed 1,368 hours to various fire prevention programs.
Other members of the Covington Fire Department are G.C. Fawley, Richard Tyree, Percy Caldwell, Danny Milton, Roy Markham, Shawn Douglas, Greg Burton, Don Heironimus, Tim Yancey, Skipper Wright, Tim Dick, Jeff Horn, David Horn, Dewey Perkins, Howard Thompson, Darrell Sampson, Petey Gibson, Chuckie Simmons, Kim Vass, Shawn Selman, Lewis White, Alan Staton and Milton Wiley.
Also, Shane Wright, Jason Linkenhoker, Corey Bowles, Shawn Phillips, Kevin Carson, Andrew Baker, Cortez Jordan, Trey Dressler, Chris Selman, Joe Lawson, R.J. Stevens, R.J. hematinometer, Steven Fox, Dusty Hicks, Crista Patterson, Sarah Rose, Brian Brookman, Travis Hicks, Andrew Crawford, Lee Roe, Russell Daniel, Ron Brunetti, Nicole Neff, Kayla Pauley and Creigh Via.
Retired members of the department are Roscoe E. Humphries, Chuck Chapman, Buzzy Kelley, Harrison Scott, Roscoe R. Humphries, Larry Snead, Charlie Walker, Bobbie Joe Dawson Sr., Claude Hunter, Jerry Givens, Aaron Wooding and Bob Loving.
