DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Pharr Volunteer Fire Department. Now, some stories begin with a fire. This one begins with two fires — one that nearly destroyed a town, and one that, in a roundabout way, helped save it.
It's July 1916. The city of Pharr had just been incorporated by its voters that very same year — barely a town on paper — when a large fire laid waste to an entire downtown city block. Gone in the blaze: Pharr Lumber Co., Pharr Mercantile Co., Folsum Hardware Co., the National Theatre, and several other businesses.
An entire block. Just like that. You want to talk about a rough start, that's a rough start.
But here's where the story takes a turn you wouldn't see coming. During that same era, National Guard troops had been stationed in the area to combat incursions from revolutionary forces in Mexico. When those troops left at the beginning of World War I, they left something behind — hose reels.
Just sitting there. And the community of Pharr looked at those hose reels and said, well, that's a start. So the people of Pharr did what Texans tend to do.
They organized. Judge L.J. Polk, Sr. and a man known as D. "Chief" Simmons led local residents in loosely pulling together a group of ten to twelve volunteers, directing citizen efforts in fighting fires.
Loosely organized, sure — but they were showing up. Then came the winter of 1921, and things got official. The Pharr Volunteer Fire Department formally came into being, with J.E.
Rogers stepping in as chief. Over the next ten years, the volunteers kept coming, and the department grew into three full companies: engine, chemical, and hose. That's a real fire department taking shape.
In 1928, the city commissioned assistant fire chief O.C. Brown to build the first fire station. Now here's a little detail the marker just tosses in like it's nothing — a room in the rear of that same building briefly served as the city jail.
Multi-purpose, you might say. Two years after that station went up, the fire department received a state charter. Official, stamped, and recognized.
The decades rolled on. By the 1980s, the population across Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo had grown enough that a control room inside the station was handling tri-city fire alarms. Three cities, one room, all those volunteers still answering the call.
And then in 2001, that original fire station — the one O.C. Brown built back in 1928, the one that had seen all of it — faced demolition. Citizens worked to preserve it.
They pushed back. The city eventually built new facilities for the department, and that old station got to keep standing. From a borrowed set of hose reels to a tri-city operation spanning decades — Pharr's fire department didn't start with a grand plan.
It started with a fire, a loss, and neighbors who decided somebody had to do something about it.
What the marker says
In July 1916, the same year voters incorporated the city of Pharr, a large fire laid waste to an entire downtown city block. As a result of the blaze, the community lost Pharr Lumber Co., Pharr Mercantile Co., Folsum Hardware Co., National Theatre and several other businesses. During that same era, National Guard troops were stationed in the area to combat incursions from revolutionary forces in Mexico. When the troops left at the beginning of World War I, they left behind hose reels that the community adopted as its first fire equipment. Judge L.J. Polk, Sr. and D. "Chief" Simmons led local residents in loosely organizing a group of 10 to 12 volunteers, and they directed citizen efforts in fighting fires. During the winter of 1921, the Pharr Volunteer Fire Department officially formed with J.E. Rogers as chief. During the next 10 years, the number of volunteers grew and the department organized into three companies: engine, chemical and hose. In 1928, the city comissioned assistant fire chief O.C. Brown to build the first fire station; a room in the rear of the building briefly served as city jail. Two years later, the fire department received a state charter. In the 1980s, as population grew in the Pharr, San Juan and Alamo area, a control room in the station enabled volunteers to respond to tri-city fire alarms. Citizens worked to preserve the original fire station when it faced demolition in 2001, and the city later built new facilities for the fire department. (2006)