WITH THANKSGIVING JUST a day away, a lot of people are thinking about what they are thankful for.
Things worth thanks on the West End are its volunteer fire departments.
Neah Bay, Clallam Bay/Sekiu, Quillayute, Beaver and Forks volunteers respond at all times of the day and night.
Their only compensation is when we say “thank you.”
In the early days of the Forks Fire Department — officially known today as Clallam County Fire District 1 — fire calls were received on a party line which got weaker as more phone lines were added.
In the 1960s, a fire phone system was installed.
Special phones were located at the fire hall, phone company, Lefler’s General Store and in homes of some of the volunteers.
Each phone had a push button that set off the alarm at the fire station. As the siren would blare, business men and citizens nearby could be seen running for the fire hall.
Over the years, the majority of fire calls have been for small structure and chimney fires, but on occasion the Forks Fire Department has battled some doozies.
It was on Nov. 19, 1976, when one of the oldest and largest buildings in downtown Forks caught fire.
The Woodland Hotel was a three-story structure operated as a boarding house. About 40 people were staying there when the fire broke out around 1:30 a.m.
The Forks and Beaver fire departments worked together to rescue the occupants off the second and third floors with ladders.
Phil Arbeiter, who has been fire chief since 1972, recalled that some people became anxious waiting to be rescued, and as the flames intensified, some jumped, hitting the ground running and they just kept going — so an accurate account of how many people were rescued from the Woodland that night was never made.
Although the building was a total loss, there was thankfully no loss of life.
It was about five years later when the Forks Fire Department would once again be tested.
In the early morning hours, the Antlers Hotel and Restaurant caught fire.
Just a few feet away sat the Coast to Coast building; it would surely go up in smoke, too.
As dawn broke the Coast to Coast had been spared, but the Antlers was toast.
Over the next 20-plus years, Arbeiter and the Forks Fire Department volunteers continued their training and pre-planning on certain structures in the downtown area in the event of another major fire.
A few weeks ago, when the Olympic Theatre caught fire, the pre-plan went in to action to save the Chinook Pharmacy and the other structures in close proximity.
With the population aging, the fire departments of the West End have been advertising for new volunteers.
Arbeiter says that good numbers of young people have stepped up — and the future is looking good for replacements.
It takes about two years of training for a volunteer to be ready. There are state classes, paid for by the district, and drill every Tuesday at the fire hall.
For more information about volunteering, call a West End fire department in your area.
The Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fire Department — officially, Clallam County Fire District 5 — even has a web page where you can download an application and access more information at www.clallamfire5.org.
According to State Farm Insurance, more cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year, and grease and cooking-related claims more than double on Thanksgiving Day compared with an average day in November.
The culprit could be those turkey deep fryers — aka “turkey’s revenge” — that have caused some of the problem.
So remember to be careful in the kitchen this Thanksgiving and give our volunteer firefighters something they can be thankful for — a fire-call-free day with their families.
________
Christi Baron is a longtime West End resident who is the office and property manager for Lunsford & Associates real estate and lives with her husband, Howard, in Forks.
Phone her at 360-374-3141 or 360-374-2244 with items for this column, or e-mail her at hbaron@centurytel.net.
West End Neighbor appears on this page every other Tuesday.
