Sunday, May 5, 2024
Billy Vaden raises the glass and aluminum overhead door on the south side of the Gatesville Fire Department, a rambling, thrice-expanded metal building located between Taco Bell and 7-Eleven. Walking across the concrete floor, he pauses at a gleaming, red and white behemoth.
“This truck,” he says matter-of-factly, “cost over a half a million dollars.”
And that’s just one of the 20-plus pieces of firefighting vehicles that he oversees as fire chief. Tank trucks, transport vehicles, a dozer, rescue watercraft, maintenance units, various trailers - they’re all part of the department’s equipment inventory. Then there are the 33 full-time women and men volunteers under his watch.
Vaden, 75, joined the Gatesville Volunteer Fire Department in 1970. He was elected Chief in 1975 and has served in that role continuously since then, a tribute to his competence and skills. Fire Department members vote annually for their preference as Chief and have re-elected him for 47 years.
His Gatesville roots run deep. Vaden was born here and graduated in the class of 1965 at Gatesville High School. He was employed at Powell Supply Company after graduation, working in the metal shop. After a stint in the National Guard, he worked at Con Site, now known as MATES (Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site) at north Fort Hood, repairing heavy equipment and Army tanks. After two years at Powell Chevrolet Company, he and a partner opened an auto repair shop.
One morning, Vaden saw a notice in the Waco Tribune-Herald seeking firefighters. “I was 30 years old and I applied,” he says. There were 270 applicants and he was selected to fill one of five vacancies at the Waco Fire Department. “It was 24 hours on and 48 off so I could continue to work on the side. I still was a member of the Gatesville VFD.”
Over the years, Vaden kept busy with various enterprises. He built up an automotive hauling business, eventually owning five big trucks and coping with employee and other logistical issues.
“I was with Waco Fire for 25 years when I retired,” he explains. “It was time to sell all those trucks and make some changes.”
He'd been spending many of his off-time hours at the Gatesville Fire Station. “They asked if I’d just stay there 8 to 5 during the week and they’d pay me,” he says, emphasizing that his wife Peggy was an essential element in his career. “She’s always been very understanding of the time it takes to do this job.” The couple were married in 1970 and have two daughters and five grandchildren.
Vaden reflects on changes over the decades. “Back when I started, the only equipment we were given was a pair of coveralls from the Walls outlet store,” he says. “No hats, boots, nothing. Today everybody has two sets; a structural set for entry into a building, as well as a dual-purpose set, which is good for everything else except entering a structure.” He smiles as he remembers the trucks in use years ago. “Those old vehicles just don’t compare. Most were old military trucks that were converted; lots of homemade jobs. Now they’re all factory built.”
The shift to a partly paid fire department is a change that Vaden predicts. Currently, he’s the only paid employee, a situation that he’s quick to point out “saves the City of Gatesville a terrific amount of money.” The city allocated the department $229,000 this year. Coryell County contributes an amount that varies each year based on several factors and this year’s lump sum was $144,000. Vaden mentions a Texas Forest Service grant received five years ago and federal grants “since I don’t know when”.
Female and male volunteers are always needed and Vaden adds that it can be difficult to recruit them. “People sometimes don’t realize that there’s so much else to do around here besides fighting fires,” he explains. Applications are available online and at the fire station.
The area protected by the Gatesville Fire Department encompasses 287 square miles and the department receives an average of 700 calls each year. Vaden is effusive in his praise of the women and men that serve as volunteers. “There are truly great people on our team,” he stresses. “They are unflinching when given orders. They know that I’ve been there and done everything I’m asking them to do.”
