The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1961-02-17
COUNTY AID FOR
COLUMBIA FIRE DEPT
By BLANCHE w. COHOON

By BLANCHE w. COHOON
COLUMBIA - How long are the
Tyrrell County Commissioners go
ing to allow the Town of Columbia
tax payers who are double taxed,
by both town and county bear the
full burden of fighting fires
through out the entire county? One
fifth of the population have paid
for county wide fire protection,
excludig forest fires, for the past
decade.
Purchased in 1850, the fire
truck was paid for equally by
both the town and the county ac-
cording to page 566 Minute Docket
No. of County minutes which
showed an outlay by the county
of $4,000 for it's half. Since then,
the repairs and requirements. up
keep, and keeping the fire protec-
ton in good and up-to-the-minute
condition has been the sole burden
of the Town of Columbia. The town
auditors report for 1859 showed
amount paid for fire protection as
$1,310.34 and for the year 1860:
I$1,172.01, or averaging about a
thousand dollars year for the
ten years.
! A recent request of the County
Commissioners for some equip
ment: quick hose coupling, the
lack of which, according to several
tof the firemen, was contributing
factor to the loss from fire of a
home in the Sound Side section; a
spray nozzle which allows firemen
closer range to an interior fire.
with protection to himself and less
property damage. To this request
the commissioners turned thumbs
down.
: When the siren sounds and the
fighting equipment streaks by, who
thinks or cares about the cost of
delivering aid to the family in trou-
, bic? No one, yet there are costs to
, be met. If the home is saved all
are grateful. The property saved,
, the more taxes the county can de-
pend on.
The volunteer firemen, all men
!. of the town except two, whose pay
= is one-dollar year plus relief from
] jury duty, risk their life and limb
: with each call. Inadequate and faut
= ty euuipment adds to this risk.
A perusal of the insurance policy
carried on these men while in the
line of duty by the town re-
veals a possibility of the insurance
beverage not extending beyond the
town limits. No claim was paid for
the death Of a recent member and
} Fire Chief, (who was stricken while
in the line of duty fighting fire at
; the John Vanhorn home) according
: to letter read from the insurance
company. The amount of insurance
carried is $1,000. for loss of life,
. one-half of that amount for loss of
: limb ETC., costing the town $162.5O
per year. This amount is negligible
, for the IRISH involved. With county
participation, coverage could be
levelled out to its due, and assure
coverage wherever in the county
they are called.
|, Records kept by the Fire Chiefs,
Floyd B. Spencer Chief, and Tho
mas K. Yerby Jr. Assistant, show
. from August IL, 1860 to the pre-
sent Feb. 8 1861, nine fires were
fought beyond town limits. five in
the town proper and one recipro-
cal call to Creswell, chargeable to
either. No record before that begin
ming date is available.
The unfairness to the town tax
payers in this instance is evident,
and only the short-sightedness on
the part of the County Fathers
would keep them from remedying
this situation, when budget time
rolls around. Town Officer J. l..
Poston informed that 500 feet of
hose costing 1925 per foot was now
needed, but that would take a full
yearly budget to swing, with moth
ing left for other necessary items.
The reader is alerted to this sit
uation here with, so that should you
in the county need this service, and
it is not forthcoming, you will know
where the blame lay. Too, each of
you are asked to be alert to help
apprehend "False Alarm" pranks-
tiers who send the firemen on dam
gerous wild Goose chases, as one
did on the recent sleety Thursday
Night on the ice covered roads to
Alligator.
Composing the group of men
who answer the fire calls: Floyd B.
Spencer, Chief; Thomas X. VERIFY
Asst. Chief; John A Harrison,
Braxton Voliva, Iredell Hassell, ].
d. Sawyer, Sam Davis, Allan Co.
hoon, w. A. Rhodes, Dennis Swain,
James Craddock, Hubert Spencer,
Otto Sawyer and Marvin Hassell.
These men attend Firemen's meet
ing elsewhere TO keep abreast the
new and modern methods for best
fire protection service.