DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / March 29, 2000

CONVENT -Chief P.J. Amato says the St. James Parish Volunteer FireDepartments have come a long way since the days when his father’s Lutcher crew were seen pushing the fire truck down the road just to get it started and out to the fire.

Back in the old days the parish volunteer fire departments had to scrape together whatever parts and equipment they could find in order to fight fires in their communities. The differences between then and how the firemencurrently operate can be illustrated by perhaps one of the most difficult days the fire crews had to face.

Four years ago, parish volunteer firemen headed out to assist in five accidents across the parish. In thick heavy fog, the men had an accident onboth the Sunshine and Veteran’s Memorial bridges and others across the parish.

On the West bank was the worst accident. A tanker truck clipped the edge ofa restaurant, breaking a natural gas line, rolled over and spilled 6,000 gallons of gas into a residential area. Due to the advancements, not just inequipment but in organization, the firemen, parish emergency services and local industries gathered together to contain the volatile spill. “As a team wewere able to handle the situation. There was no ignition and the only injurywas that of the driver,” said Director of Emergency Preparedness, Gerald Falgoust.

This extra ordinary cooperation, a practiced and efficient organization, was born in the vision of the late Noland Oubre. Knowing the difficulties offighting traffic, dealing with their own injuries, handling people and other problems the volunteer firemen had to contend with while facing a fire, Oubre looked to get the firemen together.

The Fireman’s Association was begun by the work Oubre started before he died, said Amato and Vacherie Assistant Chief Erving Schexnayder. Amato,president of the association, and Schexnayder, the association’s secretary, saw the Fireman’s Association become reality in 1985.

“It’s a matter of getting to know the players,” Schexnayder said. “It’s easierto work with people you’ve eaten with and know than it is with strangers. Noone knew each other when we started, now we’re family.”Falgoust agreed that familiarity is essential in the success of the association, “No one is trying to figure out each other at two in the morning” with a job to do, he said.

The Fireman’s Association began by gathering together and familiarizing themselves with the counterparts and each others problems. By 1986, theassociation had support from the parish government in four mills of funding.

The millage not only helped upgrade badly needed equipment, but helped secure the parish by way of fire prevention.

In some areas there was inadequate or no water supplies around residences or schools, said Amato. The project of improving the fire protection of theparish focused first on people, then property and then the inadequacies in the current resources, Falgoust said. The Firemen’s Association, being aparish-wide organization, prioritized areas across the parish. They completedone large task at a time, rather than divvying out small amounts of money to many areas. “Over time, everyone gets taken care of,” said Amato. “Andeach year the worst areas are a little better,” added Schexnayder.

Though the parish holds the capital trust fund, used for the fire protection projects, the Firemen’s Association controls its use. In past years they’veimproved the parish’s operations in a variety of ways: new long play tapes were bought for the 911 operations, Hepatitis B vaccines were purchased, they assisted in funding both the first and second radio upgrades for the parish, and last year they paid $250,000 for over 100 mobile radios for the parish.

However, the success of the association doesn’t lie in the upgrades or advancements in the parish’s fire protection resources. Amato, Schexnayderand Falgoust adamantly agree that the cooperation of the parish’s emergency services, fire departments and industries complete a team that has handled every difficulty faced in the area.

After the firemen brought themselves together, they began seeking the assistance of local industries, often already housing their own fire fighting personnel and equipment. Now under the name of Mutual Aid, these variouscompanies work to assist and back each other up in times of emergency: Air Products, American Iron Reduction, Chevron Chemical, E.I. Dupont, ERGON,IMC Agrico, Eagle Asphalt, Kaiser Aluminum, KOCH, LaRoche’ Industries Inc.,LOCAP, LOOP Inc., Occidental Chemical, Port of South Louisiana, EquilonPipeline, St. James Parish, Motiva and Marathon.Together with these companies, the parish volunteer fire departments and their chiefs service the parish: Union-Convent, Chief Edward “Butch” Arceneaux Jr.; Paulina-Grand Point-Belmont, Chief Camille Carnaggio Jr.;Lutcher, Chief P.J. Amato; Gramercy, Chief Andy Detillier; North Vacherie,Chief Lloyd Laurent and South Vacherie, Chief Lynn Reulet.

A lot of the respect of the Firemen’s Association is given to the dispatchers of the parish’s EOC, said Falgoust. Under tremendous pressure and numerousincoming calls, the dispatchers organize the emergency relief with such efficiency that “we wouldn’t be able to do to this high level without them,” said Falgoust. Government officers from all over the country come toinspect the organization the parish’s emergency services have achieved. Asone of the first 911 systems set up with a central dispatching point, the parish has had time to hone its emergency support to a fine edge.

Amato is confident with the organization they’ve set up over the years. Itlooks great on paper and even better, it works as good as it looks, said Amato. “Forget about territories, forget about egos. This is how do what wecan do best,” said Falgoust. Schexnayder agreed saying, “I sure don’t wantto go back to the ‘good ol’ days.’ For us, the ‘good ol’ days’ are now.”

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