Page 4/ r The Battalion/Thursday, April 23, 1987
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Department of Food Services
Texas A&M University
"Quality First"
Rural areas take extra care in summer
Wan
Local firefighters face busy season
By Mark Beal
Reporter
For many people, summer means
simply watermelon, swimming pools
and the smell of suntan lotion. But
for a handful of rural residents,
summer means brittle old farm
houses and parched, dry grass.
It’s a time to listen for the crack
ling of their scanners that will sum
mon them away from dinner or
work to the scene of a fire.
They’re volunteer Firefighters,
and this is their busiest time of year.
The Precinct 1 Volunteer Fire De
partment is one of four volunteer
fire departments created nine years
ago in Brazos County in a money
saving move.
Before that, rural communities
had to rely on the College Station
Fire Department, costing the county
$1,000 each time a truck left the city
limits.
Now the county pays only $2,000
a year for each truck belonging to a
volunteer Fire department in Brazos
County. This covers about 25 per
cent oF. the fire departments’ bud
gets; the remainder is raised
through membership dues and do
nations.
The five trucks belonging to Pre
cinct 1 stand in the driveways of Fire
fighters’ homes across Wellborn,
Rock Prairie and Peach Creek. That
way, they will be on hand when the
volunteers are called to the 70 to 85
Fires that will spring up this year be
tween Highway 60 and the Brazos
River.
Most of the firefighters say they
were brought into the fire depart
ment by a sense of responsibility.
“I just Figured I should help out,”
is the way several of them put it. Pre
cinct 3 Assistant Fire Chief Rocky
Ware says he joined after a nearby
house caught on fire and only three
firefighters showed up.
But for three-year veteran Billy
Junek, volunteer firefighting is a
way of coming closer to a high-
school goal.
“I was with the (Boy Scout) Police
Explorers in high school,” says Ju
nek, an employee of Junek’s Grocery
in Wellborn. “But I didn’t have the
right background for the police, so I
decided to go into the fire depart
ment. Since the College Station Fire
Department wasn’t taking any appli
cations, I decided to apply for the
Wellborn Fire Department.”
But for Precinct 1 Fire Chief
Mark Lenz, it’s a tradition.
“It kind of runs in the family,” he
says. “My dad was a FireFighter for
Texas A&M when they provided
protection for Bryan-College Sta
tion. Then the county created the
volunteer Fire department and I
thought, ‘Hey, Daddy did it — why
not me?’ ”
Getting in isn’t hard.
Junek says, “All you have to do is
pay the $10 dues and show some in
terest.”
The 15 active FireFighters of Pre
cinct 1 meet twice a month to discuss
Finances and fundraising, and to
make plans. Four times a year, they
spend a day at A&M’s Brayton Field
for practice and training.
But when there’s a Fire, Precinct 1
treasurer Lynn Carnes says, it means
dropping everything.
“When we have a Fire alarm, these
men have to leave their jobs to fight
fires,” she says.
University Policeman Robert
Meyer, who is Precinct 1 Assistant
Fire Chief, adds “And not too many
will let them.”
That makes daytime fires the
most troublesome for the volun
teers. Only a portion of the firefight
ers are able to leave work, anil for
the few who can leave, there may be
a cost. Ware says he has had to use
his vacation time to go fight Fires.
Sometimes, more than one pre
cinct must be called in to provide
enough FireFighters.lt also takes
longer to reach daytime Fires.
Delays resulting from trying to get
a boss’ permission to leave and then
from fighting daytime trafFic to
reach the trucks usually double the
normal 10 minutes it takes to reach a
fire.
To speed things up, Carnes keeps
a radio system in her home. From
there, she dispatches the FireFighters
and makes sure utilities to burning
houses are cut off.
“And when they’re going to be
late, I make sure to call their wives,”
she says.
The FireFighters grin when she
says' this; she’s called their wives a
number of times.
The C«
luted belt
W the Br
rtment
sed on
insj
X)RED
Fire Chief Mark Lenz checks the pumps on one of the firetnicki
95:
Sticky
lor at 30
Calls usually reach her through
office, which is the offi-
the sherifFs
cial channel to reach the volunteer
. i’ ^ >.n a •.(». 11«ji■ *< <n«ni*ji
fire department. Sometimes,
though, people will contact individ
ual FireFighters they know.
Meyer warns that alarms
shouldn’t be called to the city Fire de
partments.
“If you call them, they have to call
the sheriff’s office," he says. “It slows
things down by about 10 minutes."
II you ask firefighters what the
biggest rural Fire hazard is, they'll
smile at each other as if they’re shar
ing a private joke.
Then they’ll blurt out — maybe in
pnison — “Burning trash!"
Davie
Burning trash is the '
firefighters’ biggest headadni Buranf.s
and over thes cchnihr"r .®id tacil
i ,h <•( iil u hni wiu burntm gsaalh 1/
They would prefer peoples
entirely, but concede dial!
dies can h<>[>e for is caution
"Watch trash when rou
ing it." Meyer says. “Itm
good idea to cover it with a
keep sparks from flvingoiit
Lenz even suggestsalliifj
department before buminp
leaves so they can be readv
House approves measure
to punish drinking motorists
AUSTIN (AP) — House members
voted Wednesday for a Senate-ap
proved bill that would allow motor
ists to be fined if a police officer
catches them taking a drink while
driving.
The tentative approval came on
voice vote and a final vote is ex
pected today.
Although the measure passed the
Senate earlier, it will be sent back for
consideration of House amend
ments.
“People who operate a motor ve
hicle have a responsibility to operate
it in a responsible manner,” Rep. Bill
Blackwood, R-Mesquite said.
“And when a driver drinks in
public, it becomes a public matter,”
he said.
Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso,
said, “This is just another of those
bills that confuse the public. You
know very well that under present
law if an officer sees a driver with a
can of beer in one hand he is going
to stop that driver and see if he is
drunk.”
Moreno said El Paso members of
Mothers Against Drunk Drivers
have told him the bill would just con
fuse the issue of punishing drunken
drivers.
Rep. Ed Watson, D-Deer Park,
asked, “What about these drivers
who have deeply tinted windows on
their cars?”
“This bill says the officer
must see the driver actu
ally consume an alcoholic
beverage. ”
— Rep. Bill Blackwood, R-
Mesquite
The maximum fine that could be
levied for the misdemeanor would
be $200.
One House amendment provides
that it must be a “police officer” giv
ing the ticket, not just an “officer.
Another amendment removed
language in the Senate bill that inad
vertently referred to children stand
ing in a school bus, Blackwood said.
Blackwood said, “The officer will
just have to look closer. This bill says
the officer must see the driver actu
ally consume an alcoholic beverage.”
The House also tentatively ap
proved a Senate-passed bill that
would repeal a provision of the 1984
school reform act that would require
teachers to be tested on their basic
literacy and the subjects they teach.
Amid much controversy, the basic
literacy test was given to all certified
teachers in 1986. Students entering
teacher training programs must pass
a basic skills test and then pass a test
on their subject areas before being
certified to teach.
A violation would allow an officer
to give the driver a written notice to
appear in court and the driver
would have to sign a written promise
to appear.
The House finally passed 131-9
and sent to the governor a bill allow
ing employees and members of the
Texas Railroad Commission to con
duct informal meetings.
Texas Court
to hear cos
on polygropi
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Supreme Court WeiMB,
agreed to hear argumentsiEiw^^PL 1 .
(lct< (toi i ,im' that the W ^° f 5 '
I 11><■ i tics l ninn iu- rlWung his
against the T exas DepartnS 1 *; e ^ le
Mental Health and Mental ™ sed 1
dation. p i here
An Austin trial courtdt® 1
the MHMR polygraph reff
tions invalid in 1984ande»j®
their enforcement. How®
3rd Court of Appeals ath
rejected the argument of® 1
ity, but said the case shof
back to the trial courtto
mine whether the regoha
“are invalid on other ground’
The TCLU appealedtod* :
preme Court on behalf d 1
Texas State EmployeesU* 11
The MHMR regulations?
vided that departmenteropd* |
may be required to submf
polygraph examination ®
fal inches
should hav
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It
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