Heroes in Our Backyard

“There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.’
— General Jimmy Doolittle

What makes a hero? Is it inborn, natural, inherent? Or can it be driven spiritually by the simple belief that placing one’s life in peril for the benefit and protection of others supersedes everything else in this life?

Fifty years ago, the South Franklin County Volunteer Fire Department (SFCVFD) was founded on the principle of helping others in time of need. The late K.P. Lester had that principle. He founded the SFCVFD in 1976 and was their first Fire Chief. He held that position until the current Fire Chief, Eddie Rhoades, was twenty-one and assumed the position.

MVNOW sat down with Neta Kemp, the daughter of Mr. Lester, and discussed the amazing history of this Fire Department:

For Neta Kemp, the story of the South Franklin County Volunteer Fire Department begins with necessity. She dates the department’s formal beginning to July 19, 1976, but the need for it had become apparent well before then. South Franklin was a rural community, far removed from the larger fire departments in neighboring towns, and residents had learned to depend on themselves when trouble came. “We knew we needed this fire department in our community,” Kemp said. “Before, it was just everybody grab a toe sack and a bucket of water, and here we go.”

When a grass fire broke out, there was no engine immediately coming down the road. Someone might climb onto a tractor, lower a small disc into the ground, and begin cutting a firebreak. Others carried whatever containers they could find that would hold water. Wet burlap sacks, commonly called toe sacks, became firefighting tools themselves. “You would soak it in water,” Kemp explained. “It was heavy enough that when you hit the fire with it, it would extinguish it. It would choke it out.” The tractors of the day were small, and so were the discs behind them. Kemp remembers people making pass after pass through a field, turning the soil as quickly as possible while watching the fire approach. “You were just trying to put it out,” she said. “Anything to put the fire out.” Getty Oil, where her father worked, could sometimes provide a water truck when a fire threatened the area, but South Franklin remained a long way from outside help. “We’re 17 miles from Mount Vernon. We’re 10 or 12 miles from Winnsboro,” Kemp said. “It was sort of every man for himself.”

That isolation helped create the determination to establish something permanent. Kemp is quick to point out that her father did not create the department alone. “My daddy wasn’t just the only one that did this,” she said. “It was a team of men.” Among those she remembers being involved in the early effort were Dalton Swanner, Robbie Jones, Armand Henry, Joe McHenry and L.C. Jones. Edwin and Geraldine Rhoades were also instrumental in the department’s early years. Kemp also credits Mutt Cooper of Hagansport, who had helped establish the fire department there and provided guidance as South Franklin organized its own. But if there is one thing Kemp remembers most about that generation, it is not a particular truck, meeting or fundraiser. It is their dedication. “What I remember the most was the dedication that these men and women in our community had,” she said. “They banded together and said, ‘We can do this.’”

Doing it required more than answering fire calls. The community held fish fries, cake sales and other fundraisers to provide money for the department. There were no large commercial developments nearby to lean on for support. Residents raised what they could, donated what they had, and volunteered wherever they were needed. Kemp believes that spirit came naturally to people in South Franklin. “We’re about all by ourselves, and we don’t care,” she said. “It’s okay. We understand that. We accept it. And when you accept the responsibility, it’s a community-wide responsibility.” That sense of responsibility was reinforced by the churches, families, and neighbors that made up the area. Information traveled from house to house and family to family. Before text messages, Kemp said, people simply picked up the telephone. If someone saw a fire, they called. If the department needed something, people responded. That tradition continues today. “There are lots of people that stop by the fire department and drop off a case of water,” Kemp said. “They don’t have to. They just do it because we know they need it.”

Over five decades, the department has continued to answer fires and medical calls while remaining a volunteer organization. Most of its firefighters have jobs and other responsibilities outside the department, making the continuity of the organization particularly meaningful to Kemp. “We’re 50 years old,” she said. “We’ve had two fire chiefs. It has never shut down.” K.P. Lester served as the department’s first chief for approximately 12 years. Eddie Rhoades later assumed the position when he was only 21 years old and has remained at the head of the department ever since. For Kemp, the fact that only two chiefs have led the department during its first half-century says something about both the commitment of its leadership and the stability of the community behind it. “Not very many volunteer fire departments in communities this size never shut down,” she said.

The commitment also extended well beyond those whose names appeared on department rosters. Kemp’s brother, Ken, served with the department for a time. A Vietnam veteran, he brought knowledge that became especially useful when medical helicopters began responding to emergencies in the area. “He knew how to land a helicopter,” Kemp said, recalling his ability to help direct incoming aircraft. Her late husband, Jack Kemp, was never formally part of the fire department. A retired police officer, however, he knew how to handle an emergency scene. When calls came, he would sometimes head out to help direct traffic, equipped with flags, flares, and the experience of a career in law enforcement. “Just because you didn’t make all the meetings, that didn’t mean you didn’t make all the fires,” Kemp said. That, she said, is what makes South Franklin’s department different in her eyes. It has never belonged exclusively to the firefighters. It has belonged to everyone. “It’s just been a community fire department,” she said. “Everybody has taken ownership of South Franklin Volunteer Fire Department.”

The history remains tangible. Kemp still has a photograph of her father standing beside one of the department’s early trucks. She said the small Jeep that served the department before that truck, along with other early equipment, has been preserved in storage. Plans for the department’s 50th anniversary celebration include bringing some of those vehicles back out for the community to see. For Kemp, seeing those pieces of equipment again is about more than nostalgia. They represent how far the department has come from neighbors carrying water cans, swinging wet burlap sacks and cutting firebreaks with small farm tractors.

When asked what her father would think if he could see the department today, Kemp did not hesitate. “He would be so proud that Eddie is still the fire chief,” she said. “He would be so proud that it has grown. He would be so proud that it’s still going 50 years later.” But she believes his pride would have little to do with receiving recognition for being the department’s founder or its first chief. “He would be so proud, not that he was the first fire chief,” Kemp said. “He would be so proud that our volunteer fire department is still a volunteer fire department, and it’s still being managed by responsible adults, men and women.”

Kemp remembers her father as a determined man who recognized a problem and believed the people around him could solve it together. He also believed that emergencies were best handled with a clear head. “He always told me, ‘There’s no such thing as an emergency. When you get excited, everybody around you gets excited. Stay calm,’” Kemp recalled. “‘You can work faster being calm.’” It was one of many lessons she learned from a father she still speaks about with unmistakable affection. “My daddy was the best,” she said. “I was my daddy’s little girl.” Fifty years after K.P. Lester and his neighbors decided South Franklin needed a fire department, the organization they built is still answering the call. The equipment is newer. The methods have changed. The community itself has changed. But the principle Kemp remembers from the beginning has remained remarkably constant: when someone in South Franklin needs help, the community shows up.

Whether or not it is an innate ability to be a hero, or a God-given gift to serve others before yourself, Franklin County is proud to have this “Band of Brothers and Sisters” in our community.