Sullivan County Fireman's Association

East Tennessee Fire Rescue Conference

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:43:51 +0000

Join us for the second annual East Tennessee Fire Rescue Conference at Northeast State Community College in Blountville, Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17, 2010. Click here to download the 2010 registration packet. Thanks to everyone for making our inaugural event a success, with your help we plan to make this year’s even better. If have any questions, contact us at events@scffassociation.org or call Ben Wexlet at 423-384-5296 or Drew Deakins at 349-7771.

East Tennessee Fire Rescue Conference

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:08:39 +0000

Join us for the East Tennessee Fire Rescue Conference in Kingsport, Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25, 2009. This event is sponsored by the Sullivan County Fireman’s Association. Classes will be held at Sullivan South High School. The cost per student is $50. Deadline for registration is October 10, 2009. Download your packet here for more information. If have any additional questions, please contact Ben Wexler at tnfireman2002@charter.net or call (423) 384-5296. We hope to see you there!

Doug Wallace

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:29:51 +0000

Hailing from Leesburg, Virginia, Doug Wallace has been living in Blountville for 4 years. He is a volunteer at Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department as a fire fighter, and also helps out Bristol Lifesaving Crew, which he has been doing for 2 years in Tennessee, and 7 years back in Virginia with the Arcola Volunteer Fire Department. In his everyday job, Doug owns and operates Tri-Cities Lock & Safe, along with Bristol Lock & Safe. Doug is currently separated and has twin boys and a daughter, and attended Loudon County High School in Virginia. In his free time he collects and races Ford Mustangs, along with enjoying Hunting and Fishing. Doug says that volunteering at Sullivan County VFD is a lot of fun, though a lot of work as well, but is great because he’s working with his second family. The volunteers in Sullivan County are nice people just trying to give back to the community and helping out, and if you are thinking about joining, helping out and giving back is probably in your nature- so there is no reason not to.

Chris Berry

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:24:19 +0000

A 6th and 7th grade social studies teacher for T.A. Dugger Junior High School, Chris is very involved with helping the people around him. He grew up in Piney Flats, Tennessee, and that is still where he currently resides today. Chris attended Sullivan East High School and went on to East Tennessee State University, earning his Bachelor of Arts in History and Education. He volunteers his services at Piney Flats Volunteer Fire Department, where he has been at for 7 years and currently serves as Assistant Chief. Along with teaching and firefighting, Chris also serves as the Missions Coordinator for the church he attends- Edgefield United Methodist Church in Piney Flats. He says that throughout high school he remembers a couple of his friends that volunteered for EMS that originally got his interest in volunteering for some form of rescue service, and when Piney Flats VFD started to do some scouting to recruit people, he was in. The biggest thing that Chris has received from the fire department so far is the brotherhood bonds that form while you are volunteering, and turns into a close group of family. There is a huge commitment that comes with being a volunteer firefighter and it helps when you are making and keeping that commitment with close friends.

Adam Delph

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:21:43 +0000

When Adam was about 10 years old, the house he was living in caught on fire, and ever since then he has worked at the fire department in some way. Soon after the house fire, Adam began to hang around the local fire station, East Sullivan Volunteer Fire Department, and while he was too young to officially serve, helped out around the station in whatever way possible. He started off just working the radios and opening gates for the trucks when there was a fire until he was 16, and could officially sign up to be a firefighter. He now serves as Capitan, Chairman of the Board, and part of the First Response team at East Sullivan VFD, has been volunteering there for 16 years. Adam is originally from Bristol, Tennessee, and attended Sullivan East High School. He still lives there to this day and is married with 3 boys. He also owns and works at an Embroidery Silk Screen Business in Bristol for his everyday job. In his free time, Adam enjoys playing softball and riding bicycles. He also races dirt bikes, his personal bike being a Honda 450cc, at different events up and down the east coast. Adam says that one of the most important things at the fire department is the trust you have to have in your fellow fire fighters. The bonds that are formed way before the fire happens are what makes safe and successful rescues- when you can trust your fellow firefighters in all situations, everyone can be safer and faster in rescue and firefighting emergencies.

Jerry Crawford and Jarod Lindholm

admin — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:33:47 +0000

Showing that volunteering is something that can easily run in the family, Jerry Crawford and Jarod Lindholm, grandfather and grandson, actually come from a family with 4 generations of volunteer fire fighters/rescue crew members. Jerry and Jarod both are members of Kingsport Lifesaving Crew- Jerry has been there 41 years and Jarod has been there for 2 years. Jarod also volunteers part time at Sullivan County Volunteer Fire Department. Both are originally from Kingsport, and both attended Dobyns Bennett High School. Jerry is a retired Maintenance Mechanic with Eastman, and Jarod is in Paramedic School at Northeast State. Jerry is married with 2 children. In their free time they both enjoy outdoor activities like fishing and camping, and are both members of High Ground Baptist Church in Kingsport. Jerry originally got involved with volunteering after an auto accident put him in intensive care for 4 days. It actually turned out that his future father-in-law was one of the people who helped with pulling him from the car that night. As far as Jarod’s entrance into the volunteering life, you could say his family had a lot to do with it- both his mother and uncle are paramedics, as well as Jerry. Their advice to anybody thinking about volunteering is that you need to make sure you have the time to commit to it, willing to put in some hard work, and need to have the right attitude about volunteering- but the best thing of all is that it’s just a fun experience to be a part of.

Gary Free

admin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:23:50 +0000

Serving as the Fire Chief at Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department, Gary Free has been volunteering for just about 30 years. He is originally from and currently lives in Kingsport, and attended Ketron High School before it turned into Ketron Middle. He started working at Eastman in 1973, and has ever since, most recently as Quality and Manufacturing Facilitator. Gary is married with 1 son, who is a member at Bloomingdale VFD as well, and also has 2 granddaughters. Outside of work and being Fire Chief, Gary attends Grace Place Church in Kingsport, and lives in the Bloomingdale area. When asked how he got involved with Bloomingdale, Gary says that his next door neighbor at the time he started was the Fire Chief there and talked him into it in a variety of ways, including CB radio discussions on their way to work. Gary’s advice to anybody thinking about signing up to be a volunteer is just to enjoy it- it’s a really good way to give back to the community and is just a fun experience.

Steve King

admin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:16:45 +0000

A lifetime member of Sullivan County Fire Department, and currently a part of the Blountville Emergency Response Rescue (BERR), Steve King has been volunteering for 20 years now. For his normal job, Steve is a Lowe’s Employee in the Appliance Section. Steve is originally from Kingsport, attending Blountville High School then ETSU, earning his Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing, and now lives in Indian Springs. He attended Northeast State and graduated as an EMT with IV therapy certification. At BERR, Steve volunteers as an EMT, is the treasurer of the department, and also serves on the Board of Directors. Steve is married and has 2 sons, 3 grandsons and has a granddaughter on the way. In his spare time outside of everything else, he like restoring and rebuilding old cars- his current project is a 1965 Dodge Cornet. His eldest son became involved first, and Steve decided to join when his son turned 16 and could be a full member at Sullivan County Rescue. Then when SC Rescue was shut down, they took some of the members of SC Rescue to form BERR. Steve’s goal in volunteering is just to try and make the community better.

Ben Wexler

admin — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:13:36 +0000

Ben Wexler, a Kingsport native who attended Sullivan South High School, is perhaps one of Sullivan County’s most heavily involved firefighters. While he is the Fire Chief for Warrior’s Path Volunteer Fire Department, his normal paying job is working as an Engineer (Driver) for Kingsport City Fire Department. In Sullivan County, Ben has been volunteering for 7 and a half years, starting out at Sullivan West Volunteer Fire Department then moving onto Warrior’s Path. In his free time he owns a landscape management business and currently lives in the Colonial Heights area. When asked why he wanted to volunteer as a fire fighter, Ben said that he simply had a want to help people and become an EMT. Besides wanted to give some of his time back to the community, he just says that it’s a fun job to have, and you build amazing families at the departments. The best way to get involved according to Ben is just to get your feet wet, because while you think you might know a little about what the Fire Department does, you have no idea.

Volunteer Focus

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:17:23 +0000

We’re proud of our volunteers and we want to tell you about them. You’ll be seeing members of our volunteer fire departments and rescue squads featured throughout Sullivan County as part of the “Join Us” campaign. On this site we will be focusing on some of those people, telling you more about their story.

George is an 84 year old firefighter and still going strong! While he may not fight the actual fires anymore, he is an active and vital member of the Sullivan West Volunteer Fire Department- from being Chairman of the Board, to being the mailman for the department, and any jobs in between. Originally from Corbin, Kentucky, George is World War II Veteran- seeing action with the 101st Airborne at Normandy during the D-Day invasion.

In 1945 he was discharged from the army and relocated to Sullivan County, Tennessee, a place he has seen in his time with the army and liked it so much he decided to stay. He worked with the Organic Chemical Department at Eastman for a number of years, but now enjoys volunteering at the fire department and at the Veterans Association Center, being retired, and riding his motorcycle everywhere. He is an active member of Rolling Thunder, and still rides his motorcycle cross-country to gather with some of his fellow 101st Airborne Veterans from time to time.

George has been married for 61 years, and has 4 kids- 3 daughters and a son. He has been volunteering at Sullivan West VFD for 30 years, joining up not long after the creation of the fire department itself. His rationale behind volunteering is simply helping your neighbors out, and that there is a great feeling that comes along with just being there to help others.