Tuesday, September 07, 2010

 

One man had a vision, to start a fire department in a small town in southeast Texas whose only fire protection was from a town 15 minutes away. Paul Turaska (born 3-12-1914) moved to Splendora from Amarillo and decided he would do something himself In 1963 he talked to the County Commissioner. Doug Alley, and was given a 1953 International truck which the county had used as a dump truck. He then found an old 1000-gallon round tank, which he bought for one dollar of his own money. Mr. Turaska’s wife held a barbecue to raise money and a pump was bought for the truck. Some friends donated pipes and valves and along with the $1.00 tank Mr. Tauraska welded together a red fire truck, this truck had no license or tags, but using a red line the truck would shoot water for 100 feet. Splendera Volunteer Fire Department had begun.

 

The Splendora V.F.D. consisted of 7 original members. Paul Turaska (who was the Fire Chief), Vernon Coleman, Richard Daw, Dick Johnson, Doug Simon, W.T. Turner ( who was also the Splendora Fire Marshall), and Bob Tullos. Each member paid a $ 5.00 membership fee plus $1.00 monthly dues. The first fire station was at Paul Turaska’s Shell gas station at the corner of 2090 E. and Old Highway 59 where the truck was parked outside the gas station. A small metal building was built beside the gas station to house the fire truck and this bacame the first Splendora Fire Station. There was no 911 system, so a few of the members had fire phones in their homes. All of the members had CB radios, so when a call came into a home, that member would call the other members and they would use the CB radios to communicate while enroute. There was no funding form the County or from the City at that time, so the firemem had no gear or operating money. Money for gas, ethel gas, came from the Fire Chief for years. No water towers or fire hydrants were. in town at that time, so all the water for the fire truck had to be drafted from ponds or nearby rivers, however most of the water came from Hayden's pond on 2090.

Mrs. Turaska along with 4 or 5 other ladies formed the Ladies Auxiliary, and holding barbecues and rummage sales to keep) the Fire Department operational and the membership of the Fire Department grew along with the equipment. Soon everyone had fire boots, coats and helmets. Another truck was bought, a 1946 Ford and a 750- gallon tank was mounted. The Ladies Auxiliary decided to have dances at the fire station with live bands every Saturday night for the teenagers in the area. Admission was $1.00 per person and soft drinks were sold. In 1973 the Fire Department moved the metal building behind city hall on 2090 E, added an office, and also put a down payment on a 1969 2-1/2 ton white Dodge truck. Total cost of this truck was $3500.00. Bo Coleman from the sawmill donated sheet metal and members Ben McKee, Jr. McKee, Richard Daw and Buster Clark started building a 2000- gallon tank for this truck. These members worked every night for two years to complete the tank. Former members have stated this truck was so heavy, that the front end would rear up when someone started out.

Paul Turaska said during his time with the Fire Department, not one life was lost due to fire. One man had a vision, and out of that vision came todays Fire Department with a new station an engine, a tanker, a booster truck, a rescue truck, a water rescue boat and over 40 members And Thanks to Paul Turaska, Hopefully many more lives and property will be saved.

* Since the writing of this history; the SVFD has continued to grow tremendously.  The SVFD currently runs out of two station (Station 161 & Station 162) with: two (2) Engines, one (1) Tanker, two (2) Boosters, one (1) Rescue, two (2) Utility Vehicles, and one (1) Water Craft.  All members have been issued VHF level communications devices to be notified of emergencies and NFPA approved fire gear.  Scott Brand AirPacks are available for every seat on Engines and Tankers.  Thanks again to Former Fire Chief Paul Turaska for starting this department and allowing it to be the department that it has became today.