John Denver (center), in a photo from his time as president of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association. HIs two vice-presidents stand with him.
John Denver, a past president of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, joined the ranks as a probationary member of the Singerly Fire Company in 1968. Over the decades, he served the company in many positions, and two years ago he served as in the senior leadership position with the State Association.
In this session with the Singerly Listening Station, an oral history project of the Elkton Fire Department, John shares his stories about the company. This is a brief outtake from a much longer interview, which is being archived for future projects and research purposes.
Calamity Jane, an all-purpose rescue truck, arrived in Cecil County late in 1953. This special emergency vehicle was available for use in Cecil, Harford, and Kent counties. The truck had nearly 100 different types of extraction equipment, every imaginable tool, mechanical device, and article needed when lives and property were endangered.
It was one of six heavy rescue vehicles that Maryland Civil Defense stationed in various parts of the state. The truck, a bright and shiny Reo with the familiar red-and-blue CD symbols on it, was under the command of rescue squad Captain W. Andrew Seth of Civil Defense. John J. Ward, Jr. the chief of the agency said that while the truck was primarily here to “protect the community in the event of an air attack by a hostile power, it could be used for any disaster which might occur.”
It had been manufactured by the Reo Motor Company of Lansing, MI. It was capable of carrying a crew of eight and traveling at a speed of about 55 miles per hour. The manufacturer called it a “combination Red Cross ambulance, fire truck, and utility company trouble-shooter.”
A major explosion rocked Chestertown in 1954 when the Kent Manufacturing Company’s fireworks plant exploded. The charred five acres of plant property, leveled buildings, and critically injured workers called for massive emergency response from throughout the region, and calamity Jane, Cecil’s heavy rescue vehicle, rushed to the scene to provide aid.
Calamity Jane, a Civil Defense Rescue Truck arrived in Cecil County in 1953. It was one of six CD vehicles stationed around the state. Source: Cecil Whig, Dec. 3, 1953
When an explosion charred five acres of the Kent Manufacturing Company Fireworks plant, the CD rescue truck responded. John Farrell, John C. Cooke, and Andrew Seth were the crew on the truck. Source: Cecil Democrat, July 22, 1954.
