Billows of smoke lined the treetops surrounding the Commons Apartments. A fire, beginning to devour a building, voraciously began consuming the walls of the apartment.
Trey Wilemon, a student firefighter, received an emergency page and sprang to action.
Wilemon was living on University Drive at the time. He could see the billows of smoke from his house. When he arrived, he rendered first-aid to a resident and quickly began to battle the flames.
“We fought the fire, and it was about until 2 a.m. when that fire was contained. Assistant Chief Corey Burtelson and myself stayed on the scene. We were there 16 hours straight. We stayed all night because the fire kept starting back up,” Wilemon said, shaking his head.
Wilemon said it was the most intense fire he’d seen in the two years he has served with East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department.
“It was huge. It was by far the longest on the scene, pulling in the most help. We had everybody from the county come,” Wilemon said, shaking his head. “I don’t know how we contained that one building because it was rolling.”
But Wilemon isn’t the only student who fights fire outside of class.
Fifteen student firefighter volunteers serve in Oktibbeha County’s seven departments, said county fire services coordinator Kirk Rosenhan.
D.W. Blackwell, a junior from Tupelo who recently began volunteering at East, said his first call came while he was between classes. He has not received formal training yet, so he helped as needed.
“My first call was a trailer, and it was a rush as soon as the page went out,” Blackwell said. “When I got there, I did what I was told. After it was over it was like ‘this is what I joined for’-knowing that I helped out.””
The underlying factor that draws student in is helping the community, Blackwell said.
Wilemon sang a similar tune.
“A lot of people don’t get excited about cleaning up the station and the fund-raising events, but I just love being at the station,”Wilemon said smiling.
Wilemon said he’d wanted to fight fires his whole life. He didn’t know anything about it when he approached the department chief at East, but went to the three required meetings and joined. While volunteers aren’t required to respond to calls, their passion to serve often outweighs the difficulties, he said.
“It’s strictly volunteer, so we don’t have to respond. But we do,” Wilemon said. “Sometimes it’s hard, but nobody complains about it. We have the option to respond or not to respond, but we do any ways just because we love doing it.”
Volunteers spend time at the station besides responding to calls, Wilemon said. They participate in community activities and help raise money for the department.
“We had an activity with about 200 Boy Scouts where we taught them how to render first aid, and how to put on personal protective equipment. The kids love that because they get to put on firefighter equipment. I think it brought a sense of joy to everyone’s heart,”Wilemon said.
Students serve on the county departments, offering assistance to individuals outside city limits, Rosenhan said.
“If the page goes out and no one from the volunteer department responds, the 911 dispatch will not page out the city department. If we don’t respond, it burns,” Wilemon said.
Rosenhan said, “Basically, we protect anything that is not the university or the city of Starkville.”
The city and volunteer departments work independently, Wilemon said.
“The city doesn’t pass the city limits. It’s all relying on volunteers, and if volunteers aren’t willing to help them, then there’s nothing they can do but watch their house burn down.”
“People think that we hold the hose for the city people, but that’s not true at all,” Wilemon said.
Rosenhan said the departments do lend each other aid, although they usually stay within their districts.
“We do work together. They call us on occasion for help-for water or assistance. We help each other out,” he said.
Students firefighters must not only meet emergency needs, they also face challenges balancing classes and work.
Wilemon said attending class sometimes competes with stopping fires.
“I tell my teachers ahead of time that I’m a volunteer, so if I ever get up and leave class to please excuse me. Most of my teachers have always helped me out as much as they could,” Wilemon said.
To volunteer as a firefighter, some guidelines apply, Rosenhan said.
“We have some very basic criteria. One is being a warm body,” Rosenhan joked “We also have an age limit, and each member can only have certain jobs, depending on what training they’ve had.”
Rosenhan said volunteers assist in smothering fires, accompanying ambulances for illness in accidents, responding to highway accidents or other “run of the mill” accidents that need the assistance of personnel or equipment.
While some volunteers have undergone extensive training, some haven’t had any yet, Rosenhan said. Each volunteer takes his or her role in stride, each step highly critical.
“I have people who have never gone in a burning building for health or personal reasons, but they’ll do other things like filling the air tanks,” Rosenhan said.
Rosenhan said student firefighters subject themselves to a variety of settings.
“They readily expose themselves to bad weather and 2 o’clock in the morning calls. They experience some things no one would ever want to see. It’s something these guys do without hesitation,” he added.
“Each day is a new experience and each day is a new challenge. Everything we do is new. There’s no two calls alike really,” Rosenhan said.
Many of the student firefighters carry their skills and passion to a home department after college, Rosehan said. He’s seen several students serve as professional firefighters after graduation.
Wilemon, like many student firefighters, intends to continue his work.
“As long as I am able, I’ll be a volunteer firefighter,” said a smiling Wilemon.