April 19 – “The Home of the Chief”

Yesterday was one of those times when I got to be a part of a random community event indirectly involving the fire department.  Two years ago one of the East End historical district houses was sold to a San Antonio family intensely interested in Galveston’s history.  It had already been renovated into a beautiful showcase home.  They did some more research on the house’s history and saw to it that the home found its place onto the registry of historic homes in Galveston.  Yesterday they were doing a house dedication.  They asked Fire Chief Wisko to read a history of the house and me as Fire Chaplain to pray a blessing.  On duty crews from Stations One and Two were there with their engines, but the Station Two crew was called out before the ceremony started.  Retired Fire Chief Brantley brought his old restored fire engine from the 1950’s.  Invited guests included past owners of the house as well as descendants of the original owners.

So other than the fact that we have really cool dress uniforms, why involve the fire department?  Well, as it turned out, the house was originally the home of Galveston’s fire chief during the 1900 Storm.  Not only did it survive that catastrophe, but it became the sanctuary of 150 people who rode out the storm together.  Not all of them started out inside the house, though.  One of the fire chief’s family members shared a family history anecdote about that event.  They kept the windows open, and as people would float by clutching the roof of a house or clinging to a stray bit of debris, they would throw out one of those old ice hooks and pull them to safety.  The chief’s wife reported that the morning after the storm she baked 400 biscuits to feed everyone.  The chief retired about a year later, but it wasn’t long before the city asked him to come out of retirement and become the city’s … get this … Police Chief. 

Our fire fighters represented the department and themselves admirably.  They interacted with the people with respect and professionalism that certainly made me proud to be a part of the department.  Oh, and Chief Wisko did an amazing job of telling the house’s story.  He had four pages of notes, but didn’t refer to them even once.  I think there may be a docent job in your retirement future, Chief.

Psalms 84:3 says, “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young — a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.”

Father, thank you for personal stories like the ones from that house.  They really make history come alive.  Amen.