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By Dee Dellenbach Staff writer In 1964 there were 10 members on the Delphi Tri Township Fire Department, said Bill Randle, a Carroll County firefighter. Whenever a citizen called to report a fire, all 10 members' Randle phones rang at their homes simultaneously. The phones rang continuously until they were answered. When the volunteers answered, the citizen would report where the fire was located, and the men would take off. Some of them were designated drivers, so they went directly to the fire house. But the rest would go straight to the fire. Although the life of a volunteer firefighter has changed a lot since 1964, Chief Bill Schock, Cliff Baldwin, and Randle were part of the membership in 1964 and are still on active duty at the Delphi Tri- Township Fire Department. Today, Carroll County firefighters have high-tech equipment and specialized training to go along with it. First, though, the volunteers must maintain the fire engines by keeping them on a regular schedule of repairs and maintenance. Next, they have to maintain the rescue equipment. Volunteers go to department training one day each month in order to hone their firefighting skills. They also go to classes outside of the county in order to go to specialized training in areas such as repairing the air tanks and masks that they wear on fire calls, fighting rural fires, and extricating victims from automobiles. Officer training school is also held outside the county. Randle says that many volunteers use their own vacations to go to Indianapolis to attend week-long training courses. He said that spouses of firefighters aren't always happy about that choice. Randle boasted that the Ladies Auxiliary is responsible for having acquired much of the specialized “real expensive” equipment that the departments maintain. Some of the equipment consists of rescue gear like the rams (rescue tools), ropes, and air bags. The auxiliary even bought a camera with a laptop that acts as a simulator. The laptop simulates different fire scenarios and hazards, and the volunteers have to determine the best way to put them out. It's an expensive piece of equipment, but the Ladies Auxiliary was able to provide it by holding fundraisers such as dinners, cruises on the Madam Carroll, and much more. Volunteer firefighting is an alliance of families who join together to promote and ensure safety in their community. As their name implies, the volunteers do not get paid for all the work they do. They do get a small allowance for clothing and gas. So why do these volunteers risk their lives? I was talking to Joel Wagner after a fire,” said Randle, “and he told me he'd been crawling down a hallway, with the fire over his head. He said it was hotter in there than he could ever have imagined, but there's nothing else he'd rather be doing.
Newspaper Details
Delphi Carroll County Comet
Delphi, Indiana, US
Wed, Oct 09, 2002
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Lara D.
USA 07 Aug 2026
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