History of Woodleaf Volunteer Fire Dept   Compiled by Bob Turner with the help of dozens of members, their families, and old documents. Updated on 8/21/96 The history of the Woodleaf Vol. Fire Department as recalled by several of the original members is as follows: An original diary or history of the department was never recorded. We apologize to any persons not mentioned who have given of their time from their families. If you know of information which should be included in the following narrative we would appreciate hearing from you. Many volunteers over the years have been self-employed and have sacrificed a great deal in the protection of their community. In the early 1950s when the communities of Rowan County were first organizing rural fire departments, a group of civic minded men met many times. In May of 1952 the Woodleaf Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. was chartered by the state. Mr. C. W. Harrell was elected President and Guy Etheridge was appointed Chief. There were nineteen charter members of the department. Shares of stock were sold to help finance the department. These first members (stockholders) worked long hours raising money to buy the first fire truck. The truck was a 1952 Chevrolet truck chassis. A front mounted fire pump was installed. Several of the first members worked for Southern Railroad at the Spencer Shops and built the body and water tank for the truck. Some of the work is said to have been done at Woodleaf School. The truck was originally kept in a garage at a members house at the intersection of Cool Springs Road and Mill Street until volunteers could construct a building to house this piece of equipment. An early, but undated, (c. 1953) set of by-laws lists the stockholders of the department as: Dick Watson C. O. Waller T. G. Waller W. W. Speas Sadie & Ellen Click Worth Benson A. W. Watson Herman Arey Graham Rice William Wetmore Ira Benson J. W. Wetmore J. W. Nesbitt Jimmy Myers G. H. Pope C. O. Swicegood J. S. Moore F. W. Thompson H. C. Burgess W. D. Bailey F. B. Coulter J. K. Hood Everette Swink E. M. Barber E. H. Wetmore Mattie H. Smith W. D. Painter J. W. Ward Leonard Williams A. G. Etheridge S. H. Morgan G. W. Ratledge Rice and Ratledge Mill O. M. Click F. S. Waller E. P. Ratledge Hugh Benson Harold Wetmore Milton Wetmore Guy Etheridge H. D. Bailey C. M. Gillean B. R. Brown M. E. Barber W. D. Myers J. E. Wilson Tom Waller Herman Langford E. T. Correll C. W. Harrell H. M. Bailey Bailey Brothers A. H. Fleming Lewis Godbey A. B. Myers J. F. Shaver J. H. Barringer Bobby Godbey E. E. Shaver J. C. Swaim Sam Seagraves I. T. Bailey Howard Painter   The following names were added (in pencil) to this typewritten list at a later time W. M. Rice R. H. Fleming Jay Foster Mrs. W. L. Lyerly Jim Oddie Oscar Click W. L. Rice Mrs. C. H. Gillean An old share of stock, issued to Keith Kluttz is dated May 1, 1954. It is signed by W.M. Rice, President. Mr. Kluttz' name does not appear on the above list, suggesting that the list is older than his share of stock. A parcel of land was purchased from Hugh Bailey. In 1954, the original cement block structure was built under the direction of Rev. J. C. Swaim with a total volunteer labor force and was used until October 1988. It consisted of two truck bays with a large meeting room and kitchen upstairs. This was also the Community Building. Later a used Ford fire engine was purchased from Derita Fire Department. This gave Woodleaf two fire engines and qualified the community for lower fire insurance rates. This truck was used until Engine 771 was purchased in 1967. In the early days, in the event of a fire the dispatchers at Salisbury Fire Department Central Station would call a contact person by telephone. This person then would call several others. These people then called the other people on their lists. The firefighters were also alerted by the sound of airhorns from an old locomotive. The horns were fastened to the side of a building across Mill Street from the truck. The horns would blow when the first member arrived at the controls, taking a stick out from under a lever. The horns would blow a steady blast until the tank was out of air. After the fire station was built the horns were relocated. When the technology became available in the 60s, the airhorns were activated by radio control from Salisbury. In 1985 the airhorns were replaced with a siren. The old station was razed in 1991. Today firefighters and EMT's are alerted by a paging system.  The pagers are used for all calls. All firemen are equipped with pagers. The station siren is now only activated for severe weather to warn the members of the community . Address confirmation and alarm information is received by facsimile machine. The new fire station, erected in 1988 was necessary because a new fire engine was on order and it would not fit in the old station. Modern fire trucks are too tall to fit under the eight foot high doors of the two story building. By this time we were also housing a brush truck in a garage behind the Community Building. The current building has five truck bays with five 12 foot by 12 foot doors. There is an office which is also used as a meeting room. For the first twenty years or so, the Woodleaf Vol. Fire Dept. answered about 6 alarms a year. By 1983 this number was up to about 18 calls a year. In 1995, we answered 100+ alarms.  Since 1986 we have been responding to medical emergencies, where we provide basic life support to victims of auto accidents, heart attacks, diabetic emergencies and strokes. We provide mutual aid to many surrounding departments. They in turn provide trucks and manpower to help us when we need it. All structure fires in our district automatically get mutual aid from two adjoining departments. Return Home