I remember my dad being a Fire Warden back in the l950s and 1960s. Just wondering if anybody has any information about what that involved. Was it in conjunction with the fire department or the Dept of Interior maybe? I remember he used to recruit volunteers to help with fighting forest fires up on the ridge behind our house at Blakely Field. if you were involved with helping to put out the fires, I would love to hear from you.

I used to fight forest fires in McDowell County from about 1969 until 1972 (I was 14 years old when I started). I do not remember the name of the conservation officer who recruited teenagers to fight the fires. It could have been your father, but I am unsure. If he is still alive, please tell him that I remember those days fondly.
The conservation officer first stopped at the playground on Stewart Street in Welch on a September or October Saturday in 1969, and asked if any of us teenagers would like to help fight the fire that was burning on the mountain on the south side of Stewart Street. As teenagers, we saw this as an opportunity to help save our forests and wildlife, and also as an adventure. Of course, we volunteered. On any given day, there were about 6 or 8 of us teenagers, led by the conversation officer, fighting fires.
Typically, we would fight fires on Saturdays and/or Sundays, But also on some weekdays after school, when needed. And if we were unable to do our homework, the teachers at WHS were usually very understanding when we told them the reason that we did not have out homework completed.
We were allowed to fight the underlying brush fires only, and were told to leave the forest and head down to the creek if the trees caught fire. We fought the fires with hand rakes, hoes, shovels, and any thing else that we could scrounge from our parents' tool sheds. Amazingly, no one was ever injured while fighting these fires.
Not only did we have the reward of knowing that we helped save our forests, but we also got a nice surprise in December. The conversation office had kept records of when we fought fires. Shortly before Christmas, we received payment for all of efforts ( about $1.00 per hour per person).
And this happened every year (for me from 1969 until 1972). I went to West Virginia University in 1973, and thus my fire fighting days ended. I still have fond memories of these adventures. And I feel that I contributed to the well-being of McDowell County.

I'm just now reading this.....haven't been on here for quite some time due to some medical issues. I so appreciate your answer. My Dad passed away in 1970. I'm not sure if he was still fighting fires at that time. He was getting up in years at that time, having been in his 40s when I was born. I just remember him having to make phone calls to recruit people to go fight fires and being concerned when the fires got close to the houses. I lived on the mountain above Blakely Field and I can remember seeing the flames near the top of the ridge and Dad springing into action and how responsive all the young people who worked with him were. But I hadn't thought much about the process of how it worked until a few years ago. I've been writing down memories of my childhood for my children so wanted to include something about the firefighting since it was something that was important to my Dad. Thanks so much for responding..... Shirley

Hi Shirley,

I want to provide some additional information about fighting forest fires in McDowell County.

First, I believe that the conversation officer worked for the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (or the equivalent department back in 1969).

On the first Saturday that we teenage volunteers fought a fire, the conversation officer arrived at the playground on Stewart Street about 10:00 am. He asked if we would help fight the fire on the south side of Stewart St., and about 6 or 8 of us teenagers volunteered. The conversation officer went to the house of each volunteer and sought parental permission. He also began recording (unbeknownst to us) the hours that we worked.

It was approximately noon by the time the conversation officer had acquired permission from all of our parents. We borrowed shovels, rakes, and hoes from our parents’ tool sheds. And then we headed into the mountains and walked (briskly) to the head of the fire, lead by the conversation officer.

As we walked up the mountain, staying in the burned-out area, the conversation officer divided us into two teams. When we reached the head of the fire, Team A and Team B went in opposite directions, following the fire line and extinguishing the fire as we walked along the fire line. As we walked to the head of the fire, the conversation officer also taught us some basic fire-fighting rules (ala Lee Marvin in the Dirty Dozen):

1. Always stay in the burned-out area. Never cross into the unburned area.

2. Each team member must remain in the sight of all other team members at all times.

3. If the trees catch fire, leave the mountains immediately, and walk down to the nearest creek (again staying in the burned-out area as we walked to the creek).

4. We must make sure that even the smallest ember is extinguished to prevent re-ignition of the fire.

There were probably some other rules that I fail to remember.

As we continued to walk to the head of the fire, the conversation officer would shout out a number (e.g. 3) and the volunteers had to say, in unison, what that rule was. By the time we reached the head of the fire (about 30-40 minutes of walking up the mountain) every team member had memorized the fire-fighting rules.

We spent several hours that afternoon extinguishing our first fire. We reassembled at the playground on Stewart St. and the conversation officer made sure that no one had been left in the mountains. We were exhausted and hungry and smelled like smoke, but we had a sense of accomplishment.

Apparently we did a good job. For the remainder of the 1969 fire season (and the next 3 fire seasons), the conversation officer would come to the playground between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., put us in a truck and drive us to another fire. Sometimes we would ride in the truck for nearly an hour, and then we would walk to the head of the fire. We typically fought 6-10 fires in any given fire season. And in the four years that I fought forest fires, we had only one re-ignition. And best of all, no one was injured during these 4 years.

A brief correction to my previous posts. Apparently my spellchecker changed "conservation officer" to "conversation officer". Sorry for the mistake. Both posts should refer to the "conservation officer" and not "conversation officer".

AB