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building became the Sperryville Emporium and is now leased to Faith Mountain Company. Garland M. Black, then the manager of the Mount Vernon Stock Farm, off U.S. 211, was elected the first fire chief. . .
Pete Estes’ grandfather Charles was one of the founding members. Charles’ grandfather, James A. Estes, contributed his red barn behind the present Sperryville post office for the first fire station.
According to old meeting minutes, each of the 15 charter members contributed $200 of their own money to purchase two U.S. Government surplus fire trucks from Fort Meade, Md.
One truck was quickly sold to a Shenandoah fire company. The other, a 1920s style open cab truck, is also being sought. Built to government military specifications, it was a very heavy truck for its time period, with a top road speed of only 45 mph and a water storage capacity of 250 gallons. It had a long hood with no windshield. Centered on the radiator shroud were three large letters — “USA”.
Things had not changed much by the time Estes became Chief in 1980. “We had no running gear, not even hard hats, for years,” he explained. “We finally got gear donated from other companies in 1983.”
Most of the time, water had to be pumped directly from ponds. This meant that firefighters had to wade into the water, dragging the hardsleeve end of the hose to a point that was deep enough to accommodate the pumper. “We tried to keep at least one pair of hip boots on the truck for laying the suction hose for the pump. It would collapse if any air got sucked into it.”
Until 1982, when the dispatch center came on line, Ethel Clater kept a telephone in her home. She or one of her family stayed on duty $4 hours a day. They would answer incoming fire calls and set off the siren on top of
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