When a fire broke out in the attic of a house in the Bradford Chapel Community in October of 2010, it was members of the Sabougla Fire Department that were first on the scene. But they were faced with a dilemma – they didn’t have a firetruck.
The two-week-old fire department instead passed five gallon buckets up to firemen in the attic and successfully extinguished the fire before the Calhoun City and Derma fire departments arrived.
“We were known as the bucket brigade for the next few weeks,” Sabougla Chief Russell Denton said.
Sabougla Fire Chief Russell Denton
Since that time, Calhoun County’s newest fire department has acquired a few trucks. They purchased a pumper from the Clarksdale area for approximately $5,000. They followed that with a grass truck, a tanker, rescue truck and another pumper from the Forestry Commission in Hot Coffee.
“We got the Forestry Service vehicles for only $100,” Denton said.
Now that they have trucks, the biggest need is a fire station to put them in.
R.M. England, a member of the fire department, donated an acre of land on CR 380 for the new station. The land has been cleared and prepared for a new building, but the funding is still being sought.
“The quotes we have show the building is going to cost just under $50,000,” Denton said. “We have around $20,000 right now.”
The funds were raised through numerous fundraisers and help from the community. The women from Bradford Chapel Church and the Tri-Community Homemakers both made significant contributions. Team Freakshow’s 2011 haunted house benefited the fire department. Cannon Motor Company donated body work and and a new paint job for the rescue truck and countless citizens have made monetary donations to the effort.
“From the start we’ve had tremendous support from the county, the surrounding communities and especially our other fire departments,” Denton said.
Area fire departments donated turnouts to the Sabougla firemen.
“None of us match,” Denton said. “We’ve all got different colors, but we’ve got turnouts.”
They used their share of the county’s fire rebate money to buy radios and Denton said County Fire Coordinator Chris Williams and Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Dunagin have “gone out of their way to help us with anything we need.”
The fire department will serve the area from the Hwys. 8-9 intersection south to the Webster County line in Slate Springs and west to the Grenada County line.
“The Calhoun City and Derma fire departments will still be called to back us up and we’ll be assisting them on calls as well,” Denton said.
Sabougla currently has 14 active firefighters, six of which also serve with Calhoun City. They have six EMRs and three that have attended the State Fire Academy for volunteer certification.
“We believe this is important for this part of the county,” Denton said. “We can have a positive impact on response time for fires and accidents in this corner of the county.”
While they continue to work on erecting a fire station, Sabougla fire trucks are being kept at Carl Booth Denton’s and R.M. England’s shops.
“The department wants to serve their community and surrounding communities to the best of their ability,” Denton said. “We look forward to having our building up and all our equipment in one location.”
Other officers with the department include Jess Moore as assistant chief, Donna Denton as secretary and Margaret Black as treasurer.
Denton said they’re aiming to get the building going in the next few months, even if it means members of the community signing for a loan to cover the remaining costs.
“We have some dedicated men and women that have proven time and time again they are willing to do whatever it takes to help others,” Denton said. “I’m proud to be a part of this mission and to live in a community as close as this one.”