W. R. Castle/Rockhouse, Kentucky Fire Departments
Monday, September 25, 2006
W.R. Castle/Rockhouse, KY
The W. R. Castle Fire Rescue has a force of 35 members who protect about 3,650 people within the 42 square miles of their response district. Their busiest year for responses was 177. Last year they made nearly 140 calls for assistance. Normally about one third of their calls are for motor vehicle accidents. Watching the cars and trucks whiz by, I did not find his numbers hard to believe.
We also visited with a nearby mutual aid partner of W.R. Castle. The Rockhouse Fire Rescue and is a relatively new fire agency. It protects about 700-800 households within their 25 square mile response district. They were created to replace another department that went out of business. Their fleet consists of a 1974 pumper donated to them, a locally-made 2,500 gallon tanker, and a well-worn ambulance which they use as a rescue vehicle. “The tank for the tanker came from one place and the chassis from another,” Chief Thompson told us. “A local mechanic put them together for us.”
They were founded in July of 2000 and became active in 2002. One of the reasons it took so long to get trained was that they lacked sufficient turnout gear to send their people to school. “People would donate helmets, coats, boots, and hose to us,” Rockhouse Assistant Chief Tim Collins told us. “We would have to swap out our gear when we sent people for their firefighter training. It was kind of embarrassing, but we did what we had to do to get trained.”
W. R. Castle Fire Rescue and Rockhouse Fire Rescue are building close personal and operational ties. Many individuals belong to both departments. They work together, train together, and play together. All of their FIRE Act gear, SCBA, and equipment were purchased to the same specifications. They are committed to creating a local system of operational interoperability.
