It’s the call every firefighter dreads, responding to their own station to put out a blaze. But it turned into reality for the Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department Friday morning as their building went up in flames.
Sissonville Fire Chief Tom Johnson was on his way to a fire investigation when he got the call that one of his stations was ablaze. He described how he felt.
"Like I got hit in the gut."
By the time he got his firetruck turned around and arrived at the station on Sissonville Drive, there was nothing he or any of his 30 volunteers could do to put out the flames.
"No, they couldn’t get in,” Chief Johnson said. “As soon as they got here it was beyond that. They couldn’t even gain entry to the building at all."
One reason why — explosions going off inside.
"And all I kept hearing was ‘BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!’"
Robin Slater of Sissonville says the sound scared her so much she ran off the road. And just down the road, Johnnie Layne was at home eating breakfast when he heard the explosions and walked towards the fire station to see what was happening.
"It looked like hell,” Layne said. “ It looked like the world was coming down."
Fire departments from all across the county descended upon the burning fire station to help in any way they could but by that time, the building had collapsed. All they could do was rally around their fellow firefighters and help them put out the flames.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper says luckily no one was killed or injured as oxygen tanks, gas cans and fuel in the engines exploded.
"It’s just a kick in the teeth for them,” Carper said. “But we can deal with this. As bad as it is, we can deal with this."
The department lost everything including two fully equipped fire engines, a rescue vehicle, an ATV and all their bunker gear.
State Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis says the firefighters won’t be without equipment for long.
"As soon as Chief Johnson and his staff meet, they will give me a list of what they need and we’ll bring it in from other parts of the state so this community is protected."
Lewis says before the flames were even out, he’d already heard from departments all across the state.
"I’ve already had calls on my phone from Wood County, Raleigh County, Randolph County, Cabell County and untold others saying, ‘What do they need?’ And whatever they need it will be here,” according to Lewis.
Carper says the county purchased a spare fire engine just a year and a half ago for emergencies just like this. The Sissonville Fire Department will have use of the engine until further notice.
The Sissonville Volunteer Fire Department covers 125 square miles and has three stations. Chief Johnson says they’ll work out of the other two stations until they’re able to buy new equipment of their own and rebuild.
"We’re not out of business,” he maintained. “We’re temporarily put in a hole for a little bit. But we’ll make it."
No word yet on the cause of the fire but Lewis say their investigation will be "meticulous."
