For some, firefighting a family affair

Published 3:41 am Sunday, November 27, 2011

From his tractor, Emile Genaro could seethick black smoke rising from the trees. The stench of burning woodfilled his nostrils.

    A neighbor’s home was going up in a violent blaze.

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    Genaro called fire departments but it was too little, too late. Onedepartment couldn’t get there quickly because no driver wasavailable, Genaro said.

    The neighbor’s house burned to the ground. Fortunately, no one washurt.

    Genaro never again wanted to see a house burn for the lack of avolunteer. So he did something about it.

    Three years later, he works as a contractor, sod farmer, and avolunteer firefighter in Loyd Star. His wife, Paula, volunteerswith the fire department as well.

    “It feels good to give back,” Paula said. “It’s like a secondfamily. Everyone looks out for each other.”

    In Lincoln County, it is not unusual for firefighting to become afamily project.

    A number of women have joined their husbands in volunteering forlocal fire departments.

    Paula does not go out on calls to fight fires, but she helps withfund raising. She is currently working to raise money for more firehydrants in the county.

    For Joyce Reeves, 51, it’s a little different.

    Not content to sit in the firehouse, she dons coat, helmet andtank, and mans a hose against the blaze. She says she will doeverything but enter a burning house.

    “I’m too claustrophobic,” she said.

    Joyce joined the East Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department a few yearsafter her husband Steve, 51.

    Steve was trained as a first responder at his previous job at theGrand Gulf nuclear power plant. When he moved to Lincoln County, hedecided to use those skills to fight fires.

    It wasn’t long before it became a family affair. Steve’s son Bryan,22, and Bryan’s wife, Brittany, 21, also volunteer with thedepartment. Visit the Reeves’ home and just about any time of theday, you will hear the tell-tale electronic chatter of a fireradio, a bent coat hanger serving as its antenna.

    Fighting fires is often rewarding, but as Steve knows all too well,sometimes it’s not at all that easy.

    He cited a particularly violent fire over the summer at PhillipsBark Processing, a local wood chip factory.

    The fire lasted more than five hours. It was so persistent that alleight volunteer fire departments and the Brookhaven Fire Departmentwere called to the scene. Because there were no hydrants in thearea, trucks had to go back and forth to get more water to fightthe fire, he said.

    Looking back at that exhausting experience, Reeves becomespassionate about the need for younger volunteers. When a major firehas to be battled for hours, he said, younger people and theirstronger stamina would be of immense help.

    Meanwhile, he and Joyce monitor their squawking radio, keeping anear out for news of another fire.