The longtime buddies who both once raced to see which one could get to a fire first or fry the most fish for the fire department are Otis Loper, left, and Floyd Kirkland.The two have more than 100 years of service to the VFD at the time of this picture in
In the 1960s, volunteers raised the money to purchase the Atlanta Fire Department’s first rescue vehicle. That’s Fire Chief Dan Davidson (at right) presenting the keys to Mayor Lawson McKelvey. Not everyone is identified in this picture, but shown, kn
The importance of volunteers
The service of emergency personnel called upon to aid citizens in recent bad weather is reason to remember that today’s first responders were once volunteers.
The importance of volunteers is shown in the lives of two now-deceased volunteers, Otis Loper and Floyd Kirkland, who were honored and pictured in this newspaper with a fish fry in 2010.
Loper, then 74, and Kirkland, then 79, had over 100 years of service to the volunteer organization. They had been two of the first three citizens to sign up when the group was organized officially June 28, 1951.
The two enjoyed having a good time as well serving the public. It is calculated they were part of 38 annual fish fries and numerous spaghetti suppers through the years. Sometimes those suppers drew as many as 450 people, according the late VFD historian Eileen Betts.
Volunteers are the same today as then. They serve in emergencies, raise funds and conduct themselves as good citizens. Not just anyone can be a volunteer. One has to be recommended by a member.
But once a member, once trained and experienced, the volunteer simply rises to the occasion when an emergency is called and becomes a full-time fireman.
Floyd and Otis were that way. They liked to try to beat each other to the fire site. Once there and adrenaline having set in, a lot could be accomplished.
Otis lived on East Main and Floyd up by the City Park on Grandview. In the very early days, they would have needed to hear the whistle that blew loudly from a telephone pole near Miles Drug Store.
By about the 1960s, the volunteers were connected by a radio device called a plectron that could call everyone at once. The voice on that device would be that of Mrs. Davidson, wife of the first paid fire chief Dan Davidson.
“Mrs. Davidson would get so excited,” remembered the historian, “but she got us to the right spot. Some would go to the fire and some to the fire station maybe to take care of things there or drive another vehicle out to the scene.”
At the same time, fund raising was absolutely essential. The very boots, coats and sometimes vehicles might well have been purchased by the volunteers.
Once a volunteer fire fighter, always one. Not everyone could do it, Kirkland and Loper agreed. It’s a job primarily for the young with its high intensity. It is often hard for the older person to recover from. And there is sadness.
But at 74 and 79, Otis and Floyd were still rescuing friends. They were good buddies, too, who shared the satisfaction of service, of being part of the Atlanta Fire Department and its volunteers.