The Firehouse

I was thinking about my dad today. John H. Harriott. He was a volunteer fire fighter for the City of Beaufort for about 5 years, then became the Fire Chief and remained the volunteer Chief for about 15 more years. The pictures today are of the old firehouse (I think they call them stations now). The only thing that even looks like the fire house I remember as a kid are the bays where the fire trucks were parked. The bays are glassed in now making a wall for, of all things, a coffee shop. One other neat thing I remember was getting to sit in the trucks on our frequent visits, maybe even getting to ring the bell. (Very big stuff ringing the fire bell.) Another thing I remember was how clean every thing was, the trucks, the floors, the bunk rooms, everything shined. I am told that was on orders from my dad. Another thing that came I guess as a by-product was lots and lots of friends. My dad passed away April 17, 1999. That's when the friendships really became evident. One really cool thing at my dads funeral (if cool things are allowed at funerals) is that Steve Brown (not the caterer) sang "He did it his way" (his rendition of "I did it my Way") for my dad. Steve was the first black man to apply as a firefighter back in the early 60's. The City fathers were not so keen on the idea. But Steve said my dad told them if they did not hire Steve, they better be looking for a new chief too. Steve is now a retired fireman, I see him on occasion in town. There were so many people at my dads funeral, one estimate was 650. To this day there are people who still refer to him as Chief. My dad was well liked by a lot of folks and very much loved by us. I miss him. I'll probably have some more pics on my dad's life later. One last note to LT, thanks for the assignment. And thanks to ASW for starting me on this thing called a blog!