Brothers Under Fire

McMechen Firefighters Take a Look Back

McMechen - George Stewart and George Bilich share many similarities.

The next-door neighbors were born and raised in McMechen, and both served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Stewart and Bilich worked together for many years at Allied Chemical Co., and the two men also chose to raise their own families both had two Sons in their hometown.
But perhaps the most striking thing they have in common is that both have been “Always Ready, Always Faithful” in their service to the community through more than a half-century of participation in the McMechen Volunteer Fire Department.
Stewart was 11 years old when he joined the department in 1938. His father, Harold Stewart, was a long-time volunteer and often took his son along to help with various tasks at the station. So, it just seemed natural for George Stewart to join up as a junior member of the department.
Stewart became a senior member in 1941, when many older volunteers were overseas fighting in WW II Despite his youth, the department was experiencing a lack of manpower, and he was called upon to serve as an adult. “There were no requirements. They were just glad to get us,” Bilich said of the department in the 1940s.And Stewart’s family has an even longer history of devotion to firefighting in McMechen. His grandmother mortgaged her own home, as did the fire chief at the time, in order to help pay for the department’s first fire truck in 1926.

Above, Stewart, standing second from right, poses with other department members while wearing his uniform from his service with the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War.

Bilich was slightly older — about 25 — when he became a volunteer in 1947. Bilich said he became a member because it was “something to do something to do for the community.” Now, 58 years later, he still serves the McMechen VFD as a safety officer and trustee for both men, one of the most tragic incidents they had to deal with was the death of a baby in a fire started by other children playing with cigarette lighters.

Another loss that has stuck with both men over the years is the death of a department member who was attempting to help victims of a flood in the 1970s. They said the flood water rose so high that many McMechen residents and most local volunteer firefighters could not leave their homes. But volunteer Frank Criswell made it to the fire station and was in the process of entering a side door when a nearby creek exceeded its banks and swept him beneath a vehicle on Ninth Street where he drowned.
Both Bilich and Stewart fought fires in their street clothes and served on the fire brigade at Allied Chemical. And today they remain good-natured as they reminisce about the lack of proper firefighting equipment in the department’s earlier days, saying they would often enter burning buildings with nothing but their hands over their faces and would “breathe at the end of the hose” where rushing water helped clear smoke from the air — while fighting structure fires.
But the two members of “the Greatest Generation” seem to prefer recalling the good times they have had serving the community.

Volunteer George Stewart portrays Santa Claus as he rides on the back of a McMechen Volunteer Fire Department truck. Haying Santa at area schools is one of Stewart’s fondest memories of serving the community through the VFD.

From playing Santa Claus at local schools to retrieving cats from trees and chasing greased pigs and climbing poles at summer festivals, the two said they have had some wonderful times thanks to their involvement with the department.

Street fairs and fish fries are among their favorite memories. Bilich recalls selling fish sandwiches on Fridays, and Stewart said he helped his father with this task when he wasn’t even “knee-high to a grasshopper.”

The late Harold Stewart, father of George Stewart, shows off his volunteer firefighter uniform. His son often accompanied him and assisted with department tasks before also joining the McMechen
Volunteer Fire Department In
1938.

In fact, Stewart remembers the VFD’s original firehouse, which contained only one stall where a truck, a sear-driven pump and other equipment could be stored. Stewart said he helped carry the bricks for construction of the department’s first building and helped set the I-beams that still sup-port the second. Together Stewart and Bilich installed the siren atop the VFD’s current home — and nearly tumbled from the roof when other department members tested the siren before they were able to climb down. Both remember selling fish sandwiches from the fire station before a new building and shelter were constructed nearby. And their wives also got involved through the departments auxiliary.
Stewart’s wife, Nancy, said she sold sandwiches, coffee, funnel cakes and more at street fairs sponsored by the department in order to raise money to buy equipment. And although she, too, enjoyed the opportunity to serve the community, she also sometimes resented her husband’s dedication to the department. She said her husband’s volunteerism took time away from her and their children.
“if! was dying on the floor and that siren blew, I think he’d step over me on his way out the door and say ‘I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she joked. “I always said the fire department was his first love and I was second.”
In addition to chances to serve

McMechen residents and to assist in other local communities such as Benwood, Moundsville and Wheeling when needed, Bilich said his years with the VFD also have given him the opportunity to make friends “all over the state.” He and Stewart both have attended many statewide firefighters conventions and become acquainted with hundreds of others who are willing to sacrifice their own time and safety in order to help others. They have also formed close ties to other firefighters in the Northern Panhandle through their involvement in the Marshall County Firefighters Association.
“You get a good education and have a lot of good times,” Stewart said of volunteering.
“And you can get a good job” as a result of being a volunteer firefighter or paramedic, Bilich added.
“A good job with good pay,” Stewart commented, citing the employment of former McMechen VFD member Mike Connors as a lieutenant with the Wheeling Fire department
And although “there’s no pay involved in a volunteer fire department,” Bilich said “more young people ought to get involved,” noting that the hard work involved in completing the proper training and keeping the department’s equipment in top-notch condition will give young volunteers something to do while helping them “stay out of trouble.”
for them to be of assistance.
Jeff Cady, assistant chief of the McMechen VFD and the department’s representative to the Marshall County Firefighters Association, agreed that there is a need for volunteers locally. He said Marshall County has 17 volunteer fire departments more than nearly any other county in the Mountain State and only two of those have “sufficient numbers.” Kady said the Marshall County Commission and Bob Munn of the Green Tab helped put together an advertising/recruiting campaign a couple of years ago, but after six months it yielded only two new volunteers.
“People’s lives are busy, and his takes a lot of time,” Kady said.
He also pointed to stringent training requirements as an obstacle to burring and retaining volunteers.
‘We need more training and tighter standards,” he said. “But with that comes less participation.” Stewart echoed Kady s comments, noting that state-mandated
training including continuing education demands are part of the reason “it’s so hard to get people to help.” He estimated volunteers average 100 hours Of training~ each year, all in their “spare time.’ Firefighters are required to complete 36 hours of training, he said, while 120-600 hours can be required of Emergency Medical Technicians.
“People are juggling family and work schedules,” he said. “It’s not easy to ask them to do this.”
Stewart also said he’s witnessed a changing trend in volunteerism locally. He said it has become more difficult to replace volunteers who leave with younger people. He added that the majority of young people who do get involved come from families that volunteer.
He pointed to his own family as an example — his wife, Amy, is the VFD’s secretary, and her brother is a member. They follow in the footsteps of their father, uncle and grandfather, John Lewis.
He also pointed out that anyone can be a volunteer. He noted that members of the Belmont VFD come from all walks of life. And because people in various professions have different skills, they are all used in different ways. For instance, firefighters help load and drive emergency squads, and squad personnel assist at fire scenes by treating firefighters for fatigue and injury or by simply providing comfort and relief in the form of a cool drink.
Stewart believes there is a shortage of volunteers statewide and nationwide. But he also believes volunteer departments will survive. “I think they’ll always be around. There are so many rural areas in this country, and volunteers provide personal, quick service in a small, rural setting,” he said. Stewart stressed that volunteer fire service is “not a job, not something you have to do.” Instead, it’s “simply the reward of saving someone’s life or property” that makes the task worthwhile. “It’s not about a paycheck or glory,” he added. “l~feel an urge and need to help people.”
But not all volunteers work for free. Stewart said his department has implemented a small reimbursement for members to cover their expenses in terms of gasoline, clothing and other things required of volunteers. Belmont VFD members currently are paid $10 a run, with an average run time of two to three hours.
Stewart also is taking steps to solve the department’s manpower problem. The VFD has implemented an “on-call” program which two EMTs and a driver are on call from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. seven days a week. Those personnel must remain in town during their shift.
The department may soon implement a similar program to ensure weekends are covered. Stewart noted that the department has a zero-tolerance policy regarding alcohol use among members who are on call.
‘The benefit of volunteerism in small towns is the dedication of the people. Especially today, their hearts have to be in it...,” Stewart said. “The people of the community are getting a response from people who want to be there.”