GA County Volunteer FFs Proud of Tradition

Oct. 07 -- VALDOSTA, GA -- “Gotta go” was all Capt. Donnie Mercer said before he and the rest of Station 4 rushed to respond to a tree fire.

Although the fire was extinguished before Station 4 arrived, the members of Lowndes County Fire Rescue banded together in heroic efforts.

A 17-year department veteran, Mercer is one of 80 volunteers risking their lives to extinguish flames within the county. The department staffs 12 paid firemen.

With 15 stations, Lowndes County Fire Rescue serves nine districts. Station 4 benefits North Lowndes and has 11 crew members, including Mercer.

It was while a Navy Seal that Mercer acquired his firefighting skills, he said.

“It’s something that you can take pride in. You’re helping your neighbors. You’re on the frontline on the defense on making somebody’s day better or worse,” he said. “You’re there at the worst time of their life. You’re there to help, and it’s a good feeling.”

The desire to assist others flows through the Mercer bloodline as his son is a firefighter with the Valdosta Fire Department.

Mercer said his son first developed his skills while working for the county department.

“It’s a family tradition, I guess you can call it,” he said.

It’s a tradition that continues in the Hinton family, too. Capt. Tim Hinton, a 13-year volunteer, has family members who are Florida firefighters, he said.

Hinton said he probably would have become a firefighter had he not had those close ties.

“Being able to go in and fight fire and help people is something that I enjoy doing,” he said. “It’s just something that I’ve had a passion for, desire to do.”

With a dad who was a 19-year fireman, and an uncle who followed the career path, firefighter Cole Rigdon has always been connected to the job.

“I grew up with both of them, so I’d always watch them run and leave to go help anybody at any time of the day or night,” he said. “It’s always had a special place in my heart.”

Rigdon is also a full-time firefighter for the Hahira Fire Department. The dual role is not uncommon, according to officials.

County firemen endure various training consisting of hose rolling, fire behavior, safety hazards that may arise, car wrecks, extrication, propane, gas lines — and, yes — structure fire.

Training is held every Monday evening for volunteers, said Paige Dukes, county clerk and public information officer.

A day is just like any other day for a volunteer firefighter — well, at least until the tones sound, Hinton said.

“We live our lives just like we normally would until the tones go off; and then, we respond to the department, get our gear and get our trucks and we go into the firehouse mode,” he said.

A volunteer’s ability to be attentive to calls is dependent upon the nature of his or her jobs.

Hinton is not able to handle calls regularly since his job as a flight medic sends him out of town but he said he does volunteer with calls during his off days.

“Whoever’s off and can respond will respond to the station as soon as the tones go off,” Hinton said.

This may take five to 10 minutes to occur, he said, reassuring a truck with paid firefighters will respond prior to the volunteers.

Tending to fires isn’t about saving a person’s house. It’s about safeguarding cherished memories that can’t be retrieved if lost, Rigdon said.

“You can always build another house, but you can’t get the pictures, the memories, stuff like that, you can’t get back,” he said.

There’s an added bonus to being a firefighter, aside from rescuing, Hinton said.

“It’s the brotherhood; it’s the family orientation when you have a family outside of your family that you go around and you deal with,” he said. “You may run three structure fires a year, but you’re around that family all year long.”

Mercer said the bond between firemen is one that is typically unseen. As an example, he cited entrusting Rigdon with his life while at a fire.

“You’re a team. We have a saying, ‘Two in, two out.’ Two go in at all times, two come out. You don’t go in by yourself, you don’t come out by yourself,” Mercer said.

Crew members spend much time together, time that is spent away from their families, Dukes said.

The families never know what type of danger the volunteers are in while at work until they hear from their loved ones.

“It takes a tremendous amount of support of those families to also sacrifice their time for their loved one to be away,” she said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to have volunteers.”

What makes the sacrifice worthwhile is the notion that firefighting is a calling, Mercer said. He said not everyone is able to enter this world.

Mercer has skipped out on home dinners with his wife to tend to his volunteer duties, he said.

“That’s a small sacrifice to make to have the joy working with guys that you literally depend on your life with,” he said.

During periods of expected tropical storms and bad weather, Dukes said firemen will stage themselves at the stations in preparation.

They’ll talk to their full-time employers and have their schedules adjusted, she said.

“They will make sure that we’ve got all of our chainsaws up and running, make sure all of our equipment is working well, and then, they will sit until the trees start falling.

“They are a big reason why we have been on the map across the state for how soon our local utilities can restore power,” Dukes said.

The department teams with public works employees to open roads allowing utilities to restore power, she said.

However heroic their efforts, Lowndes County Fire Rescue members do not depict themselves as heroes.

Firefighter Brittany Barlow said although the department is on scene to be a hero, the volunteers are not Superman and recognition doesn’t matter to them.

Barlow and her peers arrive to take care of everyone on their worst day, she said.

“They’ve lost someone. They’ve lost something. They’re trying to figure everything out, and we don’t care that we don’t get recognized,” Barlow said. “We’re just there to do it and help out because we know if we weren’t there it would be a lot worse.”

They wear no capes, but the volunteers of Lowndes County Fire Rescue certainly work to save the day.

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