Through The Fire

Dave Tarrant and Sarah Mervosh: He sat alone in the dark, the tip of his Marlboro glowing red with burning ash.

After the fire and the explosion and the mushrooming black cloud that spread over the town like a shroud, C.J. Gillaspie found himself in his office. It was the one place in all of West where he could be alone.

It was several hours after he and the other firefighters had responded to the most dangerous call of their lives. Gillaspie didn't want to see anyone. He didn't want to talk, or explain what he'd seen.

Gillaspie, who is West's public works director and a captain in the fire department, had been a commander at the scene of the fire at West Fertilizer Co. that night.

He thought about the men who were like brothers, volunteers who made up West's fire department. Its 30 members include the town's constable, a pharmacist, repairmen, city employees and insurance salesmen. Across Texas, 8 in 10 fire departments are volunteer.

Each of West's firefighters wears a pager. When the dispatcher calls, they drop whatever they're doing. And they go. Most of the calls are for brush fires. Sometimes it's a two-car crash on a back country road at 3 a.m. Whatever it is, they show up — without pay — to keep their town safe.

Because somebody's got to do it.