7=:
Tuesday
20c
Volume 94, Number 41
Tuesday, May 26, 1981
Kings Mountain, North Carolina
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Firemen Rush To Burning House,...
Classwork, Burning
Train Young Firemen
By GARY STEWART
Herald Co-Editor
The travelers on busy U.S. 74
slowed down for a closer look.
Residents of the area came for
city blocks to see the blaze.
The whole area must have
been burning down.
But the fire which appeared so
serious was a practice burning by
38 firemen from nine Cleveland
County fire departments who
had spent four nights of inten
sive training conducted by the
N.C. Department of Insurance.
The firemen could have some
fun, knowing no one was inside
the house and there was no
danger of anyone losing life or
property.
Firemen from Kings Moun
tain, Grover, Chestnut Ridge,
Forest City, Number Seven,
Cleveland, Shanghai, Oak Grove
and Number Three took part in
the “Unit One” class which in
cluded classroom work on Mon
day through Wednesday, and
the house burning on Tracy
Street in Kings Mountain Thurs
day.
Earl Denny, a training officer
with the Fire-Rescue Division of
the Department of Insurance,
taught the class and supervised
the burning. The old wooden
house, donated by a local cor
poration, was set ablaze and ex
tinguished several times by small
groups of firemen, and finally
burned to the ground.
Denny, who has worked for
the Department of Insurance for
18 years, said the class was
designed primarily for inex
perienced firemen who have on
ly recently joined the depart
ments. It'was a way for them to
gain experience without the
pressures that will face them in
the real thing.
The class covered protective
clothing, breathing aparatus,
nozzles and their uses, and the
actual fighting of the house fire.
‘They all performed well,”
said Denny. “Chestnut Ridge
has no building and was using
borrowed equipment, but their
men performed like experienced
firemen.”
One group that included a
Chestnut Ridge firemen entered
the burning house, and that
firemen’s bell which signals the
near-end of oxygen sounded.
“You hear that bell?,” asked
Denny. ‘That means he has only
five minutes of air. Most people
would knock a whole in the side
of that building trying to get out.
But he stayed calm.”
While Denny was conducting
classes in Kings Mountain, other
training officers were at other
departments in the county con
ducting more advanced classes.
In all, seven classes were con
ducted in the county last week.
The program was begun in the
late 1950’s after a statute was
discovered that the Commis
sioner of Insurance is the Fire
Marshal of North Carolina.
Training officers, who are bas
ed in Raleigh, average 42 to 45
weeks a year conducting classes.
Since it was found impossible to
cover all phases of firefighting in
one week of classes, the depart
ment was broken down into
units.
Over 95 percent of the
firemen the department works
with are volunteers, thus, Denny
says it is simpler for the training
officers to go to the firemen in
stead of them going to Raleigh.
“I’ve been with the depart
ment for 18 years and weVe
never been caught up,” said Den
ny. “We stay about a year
behind.
“We start with the basics,” he
went on, ’’such as self
protection. The fireman first has
to take care of himself before he
can save others.”
The “Second Unit” class
moves up to breathing aparatus.
“We’re putting much more
emphasis on that nowadays,”
Denny said. “We have a lot of
. ->s
0
Earl Denny
Talks With Firemen.
firemen injured from toxic gases.
Some of them don’t realize the
importance of having the
breathing equipment on every
time they go into a fire.”
Cleveland County, Denny ex
plained, is fortunate to have the
fire protection that it has. The
county has its own training com
mittee, which meets regularly
with County Fire Marshal
Delane Davis, and it decides
what training is needed and
assigns the firemen to whichever
class he needs to attend.
‘That method is much better
than letting the firemen decide
for themselves,” Denny said. “If
the individual firemen decided
which class they wanted to at
tend, most of them w ould go to
the burning class and you’d have
only two or three people in the
other classes.
‘The young ones need to be in
the burning clas.ses,” he said,
“because they’ve never done it
before.”
Davis Heads
Sixth Region
Kings Mountain District
School’s Superintendent William
F. Davis has been installed as
president of the Southwest
Region Superintendent’s Coun
cil for the Sbtth Education
Region.
Region Six includes 16 school
administrative units including
Anson County, Union County,
Monroe City, Charlotte-
Mecklenburg, Cabarrus County,
Concord City, Rowan County,
Stanley County, Albemarle City,
Kannapolis City, Gaston Coun
ty, Cleveland County, Shelby Ci
ty, Kings Mountain District,
Salisbury City, and Lincoln
County.
The Superintendent’s Council
meets on the third Thursday of
each month, usually in
Charlotte, to consider issues and
concerns which are common to
the superintendents of the 16 ad
ministrative units in the region.
The Superintendent’s Council
also serves as an advisory board
to the regional office of the State
Department of Public Instruc
tion which is located in
Albemarle.
Supt. Davis said that Region
Six has established seven high
priorities during the 1981-82
school year. They include; to re
quest the Institute of Govern
ment to set up a special meeting
for Southwest Region ad
ministrators relating to policies
on drugs and discipline by June
30, 1982; to continue one
renewal credit workshop for
superintendents and key
assistants based on a specif
management topic to be chosen
by participants; to fully support
and seek ways of coordinating
with the new District IV North
Carolina School Boards Associa
tion; to investigate alternatives
for improving two-way com
munication between local boards
of education and county com
missioners; to continue to hold
the fall and spring cortferences
and the Duke Management
Symposium for superintendents
and assistants; and to pool infor
mation on strategies for pro
moting the School Bond
Referendum.
Graduation
Set Friday
Commencement exercises for
the Class of 1981 of Kings
Mountain Senior High School
will be held Friday night at 8
p.m. in John Gamble Memorial
Football Stadium.
Senior class officers will lead
the program and special music
will be presented by the KMSHS
Chorale and Ensemble.
Diplomas will be presented to
230 seniors will be presented by
Principal Bob McRae, assisted
by Supt. William Davis and
Chief Marshal Pamela Hatch.
Stephen Joseph Gnandt, Jr.,
Vice President of the Class of
1981, will give the welcome and
Class President Jane Hambright
will present the Class of 1981.
Edie Schronce, class treasurer,
will present the class gift which
will be accepted by Mrs. George
B. Thomasson, chairman of the
KM District Board of Educa
tion.
Janice Marie Scoggins, class
secretary, will recognize honor
graduates. Mary Ann McClain
will pronounce the benediction.
The KM Junior High Ninth
Grade Band will play the proces
sional, under the direction of
Christopher C. Cole.
Rev. Tom Patterson, jiastor of
Macedonia Baptist Church,
delivered the baccalaureate ser
mon to graduating seniors Sun
day evening at B. N. Barnes
Auditorium. Other ministers of
the community participated in
the service.
Awards Day at Kings Moun
tain Senior High School begin
Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
City Police
Report Larceny
Kings Mountain Police are in
vestigating several incidents of
vandalism and larcenies during
the weekend.
Police reported that Trailer 12
at Dixie Trailer Park was van
dalized with approximately $75
in damages.
Lee Sullens, of 1009 N. Pied
mont Ave., reported that so
meone broke a window on the
back porch of his residence.
Bob Causby, of 105 McGinnis
St.,reported damage to his pro
perty, larceny and communica
tion of threats. A juvenile was
charged in the incident.
Patricia Logan, of Bessemer
City, a nurse at Kings Mountain
hospital, reported that hub caps
were stolen from her vehicle
while it was parked in the
hospital parking lot. The hub
caps were valued at $400.
Irene Irvin, of 29 Dixie Trailer
Park, reported that $50 was
stolen from her residence during
the weekend.
Corbet Nicholson, of Henry
St., reported the theft of a
lawnmower.
Jesse Price, of 1910 Alpine
Street, reported that $4 worth of
gasoline was stolen from her car.
KMHS Drama Students Tour New York City
Twenty-three Drama Club
students from Kings Mountain
Senior High School spent an ex
citing day in New York City
recently.
Participating in the excursion
were Lisa Roark, Deana
Lovelace, Louisa Wood, Karen
Dixon, Sandy Horn, Dana
Horne, Linda Gsellman, Mary
Anne White, Philip Wright,
Mark McSwain, Lee Ann
Wilson, Gaye Caveny, Teresa
Leonhart, Todd Weaver, Todd
Chastain, Wanda Witherspoon,
Anne Tate, Daune Brazzell,
Brad Curtis, Toasty Hardin,
Suzanne Thornburg, Sharon
Bumgardner, and Glynis
Drumm. Accompanying the
students were Mioss Francoise
Picaronny, Mrs. Vivian Duncan,
Miss Jeanne Cornett, Mrs. San
dra Murphrey, Mrs. Lois Curtis,
Mrs. Jerry Gantt, Mrs. Betsy
Wells, Mrs. Nancy Clay and
Principal and Mrs. Bob McRae.
Mrs. Betsy Wells, head of the
KMSHS Drama Department,
had been planning the trip since
October.
The group flew via Eastern
Airlines, departing from
Charlotte on Saturday morning.
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