Interview with
Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Woods: Fire Department Auxiliary

On Tuesday, March 12, 2002, Mrs. Williams and her daughter Mrs. Wood came into our Social Studies class to share their experiences as Fire Auxiliary members at the March 2nd Carthage Fire. These two ladies are noon hour monitors at our school and it was interesting to meet them in a very new role. Mrs. Williams is President of the Auxiliary (about eight women) and her husband is a member of the Champion fire department. This all-volunteer department of twenty-five men was among the twenty that responded to the call for mutual aid early Saturday morning. After listening to the scanner for a while, Mrs. Williams knew that her help would be needed.

Mrs. Williams told us that she and the other women served coffee and donuts to the firemen in the morning but that in the afternoon, they needed water more. Firemen can get dehydrated when they are fighting fires. Many of the local fast food restaurants and super markets were quick to donate sandwiches, pizza, snacks and drinks that the volunteers delivered to the firefighters. The men did not have time to go somewhere – they ate where they could and when they could.

Students listen attentively and ask questions: how many meals did you deliver? No actual meals – the volunteers probably fed 250 firemen two or three bag lunches each and hundreds of assorted types of drinks.