Spur fire chief Wess Abbott reaches down to the bottom of the bent aluminum roll-up door and gives it a shove upward, finishing off the task with a pole to shove it high enough for the big pumper to clear.
If what you picture in your mind’s eye, or from the movies, are firefighters speeding down the pole, suiting up, and gunning the engine through the remote-open bay doors, that’s not quite how it happens in Spur.
Abbott, a career firefighter who has served for years in Spur’s volunteer department when he’s not on duty at the station in Lubbock, has plenty of experience with both scenarios. He and a dedicated volunteer department (most recently under the leadership of Rick Paschall, who retired as chief in 2020) have worked wonders with the 1920s–era brick station where Spur’s apparatus has been housed for decades.
But equipment is getting larger and more sophisticated, and industry technology is enabling better and faster responses to emergency calls. Spur’s building, in its current condition, has been patched and refitted many times in an attempt to keep up with prorgress. Abbott thinks the facility has about reached its limits.
“Look up at the roof and ceiling from the inside, and you’ll see the leaks and rotted timbers,” he said during a tour for The Texas Spur last week.
Some of the leaks have forced abandonment of the training space on the mezzanine (itself sturdily built by the Spur crews from oilfield scrap and other materials); others damage the concrete floor, threaten sensitive equipment or create shock hazards with electrical connections.
“We had to adapt the bay doors to accommodate the larger trucks” as well, Abbott explained. The building has four, all with manual doors.
The department may have invested lots of personal time and resources to make the building function for training, planning, refrigerated storage, kitchen, and other needs—but the lack of air conditioning and insulation (and only one working heater) and the substandard lighting are bigger problems.
Space is pretty tight, too; there are multiple trucks, including two brush trucks, a command vehicle, two engines, and the vintage “Old Betsy” parked on the bay floor with inches to spare between them. While Abbott’s young son, Porter, who came along to help on the tour, might slide through the narrow walkways easily enough, imagine burly guys jockeying into their gear and maneuvering to open fire-truck doors when seconds count. Their protective gear is lined up in an alley between vehicles, while spares are stored in a converted rail car outside.
Turnout time, as industry standards call it, is crucial in every step of modern firehall design, according to a recent article on firehouse.com.
Abbott presented an overview of the situation at the June 15 city council meeting, as an introduction to considering solutions. No action was sought or taken in that informational presentation, but the fire department has begun raising money, starting by organizing a Fourth of July celebration and fireworks show this weekend.
Spur Mayor Louise Jones described these steps as “the beginning of a long process,” pledging the city’s support of the Volunteer Fire Department “in any way we can.” Whether that process will involve new construction, refitting, or a combination is yet to be seen, but the city fortunately owns additional land adjacent to the current station that has been cleared and leveled already.
Several council members took part in an informational tour June 29. The general takeaway, as Abbott summarized it, was, “We had no idea the building was in that condition—from the outside it’s strong and well built, but in horrible shape on the inside.”
Mayor Jones said, “Our Firemen have gone above and beyond helping the citizens of Spur and residents outside of the city” and encouraged anyone, whether resident or not, to make a donation to the fire station.
See page 10 for photographs from last week’s tour. More photos of the current facility may be viewed at tinyurl.com/ SpurFireHouseJune2021
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