Happy New Year!!

Ok, so it's a little past January 1, but we still would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Last year saw some great successes for the fire department, as well as a few low spots, but we still are pushing forward towards our goal of providing the best fire and ems protection that we can. The officers for this year are the following:

Fire Chief-Dave Crawford (7101)

Assistant Chief-Operations -Kelcey Trotty (7102)

Captain/Training Officer- Mike Shepherd (7103)

Lieutenant - Mike Owen (7113)

Lieutenant - Ray Murillo (7114)

We have many projects and activities planned for the year that hopefully will allow us to expand our service to the citizens of our area. As always we welcome new faces and any questions, comments, or concers that you may have. Feel free to stop by the fire station at any time, give us a call, or shoot us an email.

Christmas is coming!!

   

Appleby Fire Department members attended the annual Christmas party held at Appleby Sand Mercantile last night. We enjoyed a good dinner and a speech by our Chaplain, Mr. Bob Hurst. Awards were given for Firefighter, Rookie, and Officer of the year. The winners were:
 

Zack Bohannan-Rookie of the Year
Brian Walker- Firefighter of the Year
Liz Trotty- Officer of the Year

Congratulations to all award winners!!

Don't forget that Santa will be making a stop in Appleby at the Fire Station on Saturday from 10am-2pm. There will be games for the kids, a bounce house, and other activities. The Knights of Pythias will be handing out free bicycle helmets as well. We will also be accepting items for out clothing, toy, and canned food drives! Come celebrate, donate, and have your pciture taken with Santa!

The Latest....

It's been a busy last couple of months for the fire department, but thankfully we have slowed down long enough to get some things accomplished. August was our busiest month so far with 65 runs. That may not seem like much compared to some departments, but for a department our size that is a substantial increase from the usual 30-40 calls a month. Like every other department in Texas, we saw a large increase in the number of grass and woods fires in the months of August and September. Some notables include The Angelina River Bottom Fire in the Western part of Nacogdoches County as well as assisting Cherokee County with a large fire just East of the Nacogdoches County line.

We also saw a sad time as Bert Appleberry, one of the founding members of the Appleby Fire Department passed away. The department members attended the funeral to pay tribute to Mr. Appleberry and his family.

The Department also conducted a tanker shuttle drill to help our ISO Rating. After our inspection in April we received a rating of 4/5/8b, which was down from a 5/6/9. After completing the tanker drill, we are optimistic that our rating will drop to a 4 throughout the district maybe even a 3. This would translate into a substantial savings for the homeowners in the district.

Nacogdoches County is still under a burn ban even though we got rain. The penalty for a burn ban violation has increased from a simple fine to jail time. As always we ask that you be safe with all of your outdoor activities. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or praise for the fire department please feel free to give us a call or shoot an e-mail our way.

Thank you for your support!

Dry weather keeps crews busy..

Appleby and surronding departments have been busy over the weekend with woods fires. On Saturday Boosters 14 and 15, Engine 14 responded to assist Garrison VFD with an approximate 100 acre woods fire on CR 168. The Texas Forest Service also responded with 3 tractor plow units. No homes were threatened, but several oil and gas wells in the area were in danger.

On Sunday Boosters 14 and 15, Engine 11 responded to assist Central Heights VFD with woods fire sparked by a tree on a power line. The fire destroyed 2 outbuildings and a travel trailer on the property. 2 houses were threatened as well as a shop belonging to a construction company. The Texas Forest Service responded with 2 tractor plow units to assist.

There area several other large fires burning in East Texas. Please remember to keep hydrated and stay safe!

Appleby FD attends Firefighter Funeral

Appleby Fire Department members John Cassimere, Liz Trotty, and Kelcey Trotty attended the funeral of Huntington VFD Assistant Chief David Goins on Wednesday June 15. Truck 13 was used to fly the American flag as the funeral procession arrived at the cemetary. Asst. Chief Goins died Thursday June 9th while working a woods fire. See the funeral coverage at this link. http://www.ktre.com/story/14917548/huntington-firefighter-laid-to-rest