Peninsula In Passage

When he was discharged from the Army in 1973 Taylor joined the fire department of the new City of Nansemond. He remembers - Ed Hollowell was the chief and there were two stations, Number 1 on the corner of Adams and Walnut Streets and Number 2 on Pitchkettle Road. All the outlying areas were handled by the volunteers. We had 16 to 18 men and worked 24 hours on and 24 off. With the merger of the two cities in 1974 Chief Carter of Suffolk was named chief and Hollowell, deputy chief. Lt. Brian Bunting was still in Yeates High School when he joined the Driver Volunteer Fire Department in 1990 and recalls -

We had about 70 members at the time, with six or seven people manning two engines on each shift. There was a paid crew that worked 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the volunteers staffed nights and weekends. When the department was in its prime, at least one new person was voted in every month. Driver Fire department has always been known for training and produced a lot of career fire fighters – every city in Hampton Roads has at least one.” His first call was a structure fire in Pughsville. “I felt overwhelmed but I knew there was a job that had to be done,” he says. Then there was the foggy night the volunteers were called to Holland to help deliver a baby. “That was a happy call,” Bunting says. “911 is a last resort and anytime you can make someone’s bad day better – that’s a happy call.” After a stint as a professional firefighter in Chesapeake, Bunting came home and joined Suffolk Fire and Rescue. “There’s a real place for volunteers – they do a heck of a job - but times are changing and their time is limited,” says Taylor. “Employers now won’t let employees drop everything to go to a fire.” The public safety center, Station #5, opened on Bridge Road in 2002 with a staff of fire and rescue professionals. In June 2012 the city staffed Driver, Station #10, with fire and rescue professionals, including Bunting, round the clock. Interim Chief Edward Taylor

“The city staffs the station 24/7 and runs all first calls,” he says. “The volunteers can staff an engine or come in anytime. If our resources are tapped out we call for the volunteers.” “As the community grows larger, we’ll need more people and more equipment,” Chief Ed Taylor says, adding that an additional fire station will likely be opened at some time within the Harbour View complex.

Lieutenant Brian Bunting

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