Singerly Junior Officer Recalls Fire Company Working a Presidential Detail

During an interview with the Singerly Listening Station, LeoryHampton Scott III talked about over a half-a-century of dedicated service to the company.  He joined the ranks as a rookie in 1958.  Scott had may recollections, but some stood out more than others for him.  One was when the junior officer was part of a Nov. 14, 1963 detail, helping protect President Kennedy during his 62-minute visit to dedicate I-95 at the Maryland – Delaware State Line outside of Elkton.

Click this link to read the full post on a Window on Cecil County’s Past.

Saving the History in the Attic, a Box at a Time

The other evening Singerly Fire Company Chief Engineer Joe Gipson had some exciting news for the museum staff.  Engineer Gibson had come into possession of papers, photographs, 8-mm home movies, ribbons and more, which had been saved by former chief Norwood Atkinson.  Chief Atkinson lead the department in the 1920s.

The volunteers will sort and catalog these materials in the weeks ahead.  But our preliminary review found some important historical materials, including half-a-century old photos, the program for the 36th Annual Maryland State Firemen’s Association Convention in Elkton in June 1928 and lots more.  We have some sorting to do and the materials will be examined more carefully.

Saving long forgotten treasures stored away in attics and closets is one our missions as we share the heritage of the fire department and honor the memory of the volunteers.

Chief Engineer Gibson with some materials he saved for the fire company museum.

 

Singerly Fire Company Museum Mission Statement Approved by Board of Directors

In 2013, the Singerly Fire Company Board of Directors approved the mission statement for the Singerly Museum, the working group tasked with recording, documenting and celebrating the heritage of fire department serving the greater Elkton area.  This governing document provides guidance to focus the museum’s work.

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The mission of the Singerly Fire Company Museum is to advance the knowledge and appreciation of the Department’s history and traditions by protecting, preserving, interpreting, and displaying artifacts and records. The museum  creates its values proposition, one that strengthen the organization’s larger purpose, through practices that are of the highest professional standards and through innovative approaches to deliverables centered around research, collections, exhibitions, and education.

Specifically

• Provide responsible leadership and guidance in the preservation and maintenance of the tangible records and artifacts;
• Serve as the recorder of the organization’s history and its contributions to the community;
• Engage the community, volunteers and professional staff in educational and outreach programs that include publications, online exhibitions, and museum exhibits.
• Advance the understanding of the organization through new research;
• Create an oral history record that captures the ongoing Singerly story and records the organizations heritage, folkways, and norms as it evolves; and
• Through curatorial efforts collect, arrange, and preserve materials, objects, photographs and records.

 

A quiet June Evening at the firehouse . Singerly Fire Company, Station 13., Elkton, MD. June 2013.

 

From the Singerly Listening Station: Retired Firefighter Robert McKinney Joined the Ranks in 1969

Last month, Singerly Fire Company launched an oral history project to document the Department’s story. The project is initially focusing on recording interviews with the most senior members.

As the initial interviews are collected, we are sharing brief outtakes from the much longer sessions. In time, as the initiative advances, we will use the raw footage from the extended tapings to interpret the company’s history and produce materials to share the Singerly Story.

In the meantime, we are sharing these segments as we continue our work

Firefighter Robert McKinney shares his story, in this interview from July 12, 2014. Bob joined the company in 1969, and served in many positions. He was often the company’s top responder to alarms.

Singerly Listening Station Opens as Senior Fire Service Members Share Memories

Singerly Fire Company officially kicked off an oral history initiative, the Singerly Listening Station, on July 12, 2014. Part of a larger process that is preserving and documenting the history of the department, the recordings will be archived in the company museum. Longer, raw footage is retained for research and future use. A shorter edited video production of about 10 minutes will feature highlights from each interview.

For the first session, fifteen of the most senior members gathered to reminisce and share memories, speaking from first hand knowledge and experiences.

In this interview, a past president and assistant chief, Walt Morgan, shares the story about over a half-century of volunteer service, having joined in 1961.

Look for additional screenings of interviews in the weeks ahead, as we archive and edit over 9 hours of recordings.

This is an ongoing process and a data collection strategy has been devised. The company started with the oldest members and in the months ahead more interviews will be done. In addition as command officers (administrative and line) retire from positions, they will be interviewed.

As we continue our work, here is Walt sharing the narrative about over a half-century of volunteer service in Elkton and Cecil County.

 

Chief Slaughter Led Singerly Through a Period of Growth and Commanded Major Incidents

Just before 7 a.m. High flames and dense smoke tower over a Chesapeake City fire truck working to contain the uncontrolled incident.. Source: Cecil Whig.

After thirty-seven years of “sudden suppertime departures and early moving arrivals,” Singerly Fire Company Chief Edgar (Spec) Slaughter, Jr. told the Cecil Whig it was time to “hang up his hat” in 1970.  The 53-year-old had been a firefighter at Cecil County’s busiest department for 22 years, eleven of those as the chief.  Before that he fought fires with the Townsend Delaware Fire Company for 15 years.  “I’ll be around if they need me, but to be fair to my wife, well . . . I think I’ve had enough,” he remarked.

Coming up through the ranks in Elkton, he had seen a lot of changes.  Singerly grew from “two pumpers and one ambulance to four pumpers, two brush trucks, two ambulances, and an aerial platform snorkel truck.”

On his watch, he served as the incident commander at two of Maryland’s largest accidents.  Chief Slaughter directed the response to a horrifying crash of a Pan-American World Airways Flight, which exploded in mid-air over Elkton in December 1963.

In the pre-dawn darkness of October 31, 1965, a Pennsylvania Railroad freight train rumbled through Elkton.  As the 118-cars  neared the municipal limits on the western edge of town, 41 of them, some of filled with toxic chemicals and liquid propane, derailed.  The Sunday tranquility in the county seat was jolted by the noise of the crash, which was sending huge flames and dangerous smoke into the sky.

While Chief Slaughter mobilized his forces and requested aid from as far away as Wilmington and Aberdeen, an enormous explosion sent a towering mushroom type fireball into the sky.  Soon 100 firefighters were on hand, struggling to contain the spreading flames.

Chief Slaughter commands the response of 18 fire companies from three states, while struggling to containing spreading flames and dangerous smoke during the major train wreck. Source: Cecil Whig.

About 7 a.m. the chief ordered an urgent, mandatory evacuation for parts of western Elkton.  The Sunday morning DJ working the early shift at WSER took to the airwaves, broadcasting the emergency information as National Guardsmen went door to door to make sure residents departed immediately.

By 1 p.m. the situation was under control, but it was reported that the fires “would burn all night.”  A spokesperson from the railroad said, “it was the worst wreck he had seen in the last 20 years because of the location and the danger from the burning cars, which were filled with poisons and liquid petroleum gas.”

The election of a new fire chief took place on February 2, 1970.  On that day, Jack Cook, a member for 20 years took command.  After eleven years on the job, Chief Slaughter was able to put away his hat, knowing that another capable leader was taking up the watch.

Chief Slaughter, a respected fire service leader, led the department through a period of rapid growth and served as the incident commander at major incidents.

At the Elkton plane crash. Source: Cecil Whig

Chief Slaughter, with Firefighter George Robinson. Source: Cecil Whig, 1966

 

Singerly Station 14 Shines on the Last Day of Spring 2013

As Cecil County anticipates the arrival of summer, the Singerly Fire Company Station in Kenmore was looking fine in the late afternoon sunshine on the last day of spring 2013.  Station 14, some seven miles from Elkton, opened in 1978 to serve the far northern part of the fire protection district.  It serves Fair Hill, Providence, Lewisville, Appleton, Cherry Hill, Pleasant Hill, and other northern reaches of the territory.  It was dedicated to Edgar (Speck) Slaughter Jr., who was the chief from 1960 to 1969.  Gary Storke was the president of the company overseeing the opening of the substation, which greatly reduced travel time to an emergency.

Singerly Fire Company Sta. 14 in Kenmore.

Evening Arrives at Singerly Sta. # 13

After a heavy thunderstorm moved through the area, causing a heavy June downpour, the evening sky cleared up on Newark Ave., and a tranquility settled over the station that had been busy answering alarms as the front passed through Elkton.

Amish Carriage-Maker Restored Two Hand Pumpers Nearly 30 Years Ago For Fire Company

Nickle Mines Coach Shop

In the mid-1980s, members of the Singerly Fire Company started gearing up for the company’s 100^th anniversary in 1992.  One of the tasks for the centennial celebration was the restoration of two old 19^th century hand pumpers that had been the hero of many a fight with the smoke and flames in Elkton.  The first piece, a hydraulion, had been built about 1817 and arrived in Elkton in 1827.  The second unit, a suction engine, arrived here in 1859.

These aging relics were in need of work so members of the company started searching for some contacts to help them with the restoration.  They located Jack Robrecht and Al Wills, two experts associated with the Philadelphia Fire Museum.  After visiting here they suggested we contact an Amish carriage-maker so in 1985 members of the company traveled to Bart, PA and talked with the fire company there.  They suggested we visit the Nickle Mine Coach shop just a mile or two up the road.  At the shop we met a master Amish craftsman, Christian Petersheim, Jr., who was given the job of restoring the equipment.

Today I visited Mr. Petersheim, at the shop on Mine Road in Paradise, PA.  He has since retired, but the business is being managed by his sons.  He recalled working on this project nearly 30 years ago and had a photo album containing some of his fire engine restoration work.  After finishing the Singerly projects, he restored about seven additional pieces of hand-drawn fire apparatus.  The equipment came from VT., FL, PA., NY,  and MD and included one hook and ladder.  By-the-way, today he was upholstering two museum-quality automobiles from the first decade of the 20^th century.  He has taken up that work since his retirement from carriage-making.

The work of this fine craftsman appears in the Singerly Fire Company museum, looking as good today as it did nearly thirty years earlier when it was returned home to Elkton.

The Nickel Mine Coach Shop on Mine Road in Paradise, PA. It is just outside of Bart PA.

This old piece of firefighting equipment, a hydraulion, was restored by Nickle Mine Coach Shop.

Singerly’s Oren at Fire Station Dedication

Photo of Singerly’s 1952 Oren during the dedication at Station 13 on Newark Avenue in Elkton