By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Several Glasgow firefighters were honored with medals Monday evening for their roles in rescuing a man from a burning residence and containing the fire, and a longtime city-pool employee was given the honor of having a new aquatic center named after her through a unanimously approved resolution.
Those two things occurred early on in the regular meeting of the Glasgow Common Council, which, with all members present, also approved a second resolution and first reading of an ordinance with all affirmative votes.
Glasgow Fire Department Chief Lucas Tinsley’s pride in his team was evident as he read with a voice that became full of emotion an account of what happened at 9:49 p.m. Oct. 27.
“I stand before you tonight to praise and honor your Glasgow Fire Department and, more specifically, a few of its members,” he said before starting the narrative.
He said the department was dispatched to a structure fire with someone still inside the building. Within 30 seconds of that notification, trucks were rolling. The national average for that, Tinsley said, is roughly 60 to 90 seconds.
The first engine, Rescue 2, arrived at the scene within 90 seconds of the notification, the chief said, with Sgt. Colin Manley, Sgt. Tyler Edmunds and then-firefighters Nick Cooper and Tristan Carter aboard. Cooper is now a sergeant.
As soon as Manley began assessing the scene, he heard someone beating on an upstairs window and immediately called for a ground ladder to attempt a rescue.
“Firefighters Cooper and Carter, who were getting ready to begin fire attack, dropped what they were doing and went into rescue mode,” the chief said.
Manley found that the front door was unlocked and went in and straight up the stairs to attempt the rescue that way rather than through the window. Carter put on his mask and followed him.
“Once at the top of the stairs, Sgt. Manley found blackout conditions and high heat,” Tinsley said. “He began a right-hand search, knowing it would put him in the direction of the window.”
Soon, he made contact with the occupant, who was combative at first but then became unresponsive. Manley got him back to the door of the room, calling out on the radio that he had a victim. It was 44 seconds after the initial dispatch, Tinsley said.
Carter and Cooper then assisted with getting the unconscious occupant down the stairs and out the front door. After getting the patient some care, Manley, Carter and Cooper went back inside to check for further occupants, Tinsley said.
In the meantime, two other units – Ladder 2 and Engine 1 – had arrived soon after Rescue 2, bringing Lt. Darren Thompson, Lt. Tyler Solum, Sgt. Brandon Glass, and firefighters Titus Thornhill, Patchez Childers and Calvin Richardson, who had begun working on fire attack while the rescue was occurring, the chief said, providing further details about who performed which tasks with water supply, ladders, etc.
He said Solum and Thornhill, the latter of whom incurred an injury in route, almost losing a ring finger, began making forced entries into neighboring apartments looking for other potential victims and/or possible fire extension.
“The amount of sacrifice and courage displayed is unmeasured,” Tinsley said, clearing his throat to speak through the emotion. “The amount of time and effort spent training for scenarios like this is great. It is the training that makes the rescues like this possible.”
The chief said that every man who responded that night “played a critical role in saving a man’s life – a man that is still with us today.”
He said those members of the department are an example of putting the people they serve before themselves.
Quoting John 15:13 from the Bible, where it says there is no greater love than a man laying down his life for his friends, Tinsley added, “These members were willing to lay down their lives for strangers. They’re not only great firefighters but great people, people that I’m blessed to call colleagues and friends, people that are not just here for the t-shirt.”
He called Manley, Cooper and Carter to the front of the room, and they received a standing ovation from the council members and audience as well as medals of valor, presented by Capt. Dustin Harper. Five of the other seven people from the latter two units to arrive were present at the council meeting, and they were then called up to receive meritorious medals from Harper. They were also greeted with a standing ovation.
The chief said the crews held the damage to one room’s contents and light damage to the next apartment over.
“You guys saved a fourplex apartment building that night, and they did an excellent job,” Tinsley said.
While he had the floor, he took the opportunity to thank all emergency responders in the county, listing each agency.
“We work every day, and we try to work together as best we can, and the ultimate effort is protecting those we serve,” the fire chief said.
Mayor Henry Royse said that, if nothing else, knowing we have that level of quality individuals working with the city, “should make you sleep better each and every night.”
He said that level of training, the skill set and the commitment to doing the job right, regardless of when they’re called on to do it is something we’ve got to be proud of, and he congratulated those who had been presented with awards.
Aquatic center name
Up next came the honor of a different kind for Joyce Driver, who was seated in the audience with her husband of 29 years and several other family members.
Councilwoman Chasity Lowery, who chairs the council’s parks and recreation committee that recently had voted unanimously to recommend approval of a resolution naming the aquatic center under construction at American Legion Park in Driver’s honor, made the motion at this full council meeting.
Robert Driver, from left, applauds as his wife, Joyce Driver, gets a standing ovation at the Glasgow Common Council meeting Monday. The applause came after the council unanimously approved a resolution officially naming the Joyce Driver Aquatic Center. Driver worked at the former Glasgow City Pool for 40 years. Melinda J. Overstreet / for Glasgow News 1
Driver had been the manager of the city pool and concessions manager for the entire Parks and Recreation Department over the 40 years she worked at the pool. She had also worked for Glasgow Independent Schools for 31 years, serving as a teacher aide and bus driver for children with special needs and cafeteria manager.
After the second was made by Councilman Tommy Burris, also a member of that committee, Lowery said that in the years she had been blessed to be a member of the council serving the committee, that was probably the easiest decision she’d ever made and probably got the most positive feedback.
“For every child she had loved, whether it was through the school system or the city pool, she did so because that’s who she is and not because she would ever get something back for it, because that’s her character,” Lowery said.
Lowery spoke of the love her own children had been given by Driver as they grew up along with thousands and thousands of others, and said it was appropriate for a place that will bring great joy to be named for a lady who brought great joy.
Councilman Randy Wilkinson, who has served in various roles, including administrative ones, in that same school system for 43 years, said he hadn’t known Driver was such a “pool person,” drawing a chuckle from her. He said she’d had one of the toughest jobs in the school system, and there wasn’t a better school employee he’d ever worked with.
“She’s one of those people that you just kind of want to be around, and that’s not always the case when you walk up and down the aisles. She made you happy when you were around her. She was always positive. She’d keep you happy. If you had a bad day, you’d go down there, and she’d be smiling and tell you something positive,” he said, adding that she was very deserving of this recognition.
After that unanimous vote took place, Driver was also treated to a standing ovation.
“Congratulations,” Royse said. “You have quite the fan club, you know.”
Other business
The other items addressed during the meeting were:
– A second resolution approved the receipt of a parcel of real property from Barren County Fiscal Court. The property is at 216-218 W. Main St., between a parcel that was donated to the city by then-council member Patrick Gaunce and the building housing the county attorney’s office, which will still be owned by the county.
The parcel contains a total of 2,085.53 square feet.
City officials wanted the land because it adjoins a city-owned parking lot, and the retaining wall supporting one side of that lot, which is at a considerably higher elevation than the West Main Property, has deteriorated through the years and needs repair. Gaining the adjoining property allows the city to access the wall much more easily. The lot the city already owned had buildings there, but they were in poor condition and were demolished to clear the way to the retaining wall. It has been stated at a council committee meeting that the portion of the retaining wall on the county property is in even worse shape than the portion the city owns. The fiscal court had approved the transfer of the property that, according to the deed, is worth $10,000, to the city at no charge.
– The proposed ordinance, if a second reading is approved, would amend the previous ordinance establishing the budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30 as a matter of housekeeping.
The amendment would transfer a total of $685,000 from the unappropriated General Fund as follows: $330,000.00 to the Pool Contractual Improvements Account for the American Legion aquatic center project, $40,000 to the Parks and Recreation Contractual Improvements Account for the American Legion aquatic center project, and $315,000.00 to the Administrative Contractual Improvements Account for the farmers market project.
It would also transfer the sum of $241,500 from the unappropriated Sanitation/Landfill Fund to the Landfill Construction Equipment Account for acquisition of a dump truck.
These items were in the prior fiscal year’s budget, but some of the bills hadn’t come in until after July 1, when the current fiscal year began, so the expenditures needed to be accurately reflected from that budget.
– The mayor gave notice within the agenda distributed last Thursday and again at the meeting that he had signed seven executive orders making changes to portions of the Glasgow Police Department Standard Operating Procedures. The changes relate to policies on facial recognition, phlebotomy in law enforcement, vehicle towing, vehicle stops and searches, requesting outside specialized units, animal control response, and missing persons.
– The mayor announced the following:
– The free summer concert series organized by Entertain Glasgow begins at 7 p.m. Aug. 22, with Lost No More and Collin Raye. This concert is at Beaver Creek Park. Gates open and a food truck will begin serving at 5 p.m., bring your own blankets or chairs.
– A Jeep drive-in is from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 23 on the south side of the Glasgow Public Square with live music by Nick England.
– The Glasgow Parks and Recreation Department is taking team registrations for its fall volleyball league for participants 16 years and older and for its fall soccer league, which has four age divisions – ages 5-6 (U6), ages 7-8 (U8), ages 9-10 (U10) and ages 11-12 (U12).
Call the departmental office at 270-651-3811 or 270-651-9012 for more information.
– Drivers are reminded to exercise caution as new academic years begin Wednesday for Barren County Schools and Aug. 26 for Glasgow Independent Schools.
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