'We showed the compassion': Graceham Volunteer Fire Co. closes after 64 years
Louis Powell Jr. thinks what set Graceham Volunteer Fire Company apart was the passion of the volunteers working there.
After more than 60 years, the fire company closed its doors to Thurmont and the surrounding areas earlier this year.
The members voted in November to dissolve the organization after not being able to get enough volunteers to respond to the volume of calls coming in.
Powell started working at the fire company when he was 17 in 1991 — and he stayed there for more than 30 years, becoming the company's fire chief in 2021 and staying in that role until it closed.
What kept Powell there, he said, was the camaraderie and tight-knit community.
While several other organizations in the area adequately serve people's safety needs even without Graceham being around, Graceham's volunteers brought empathy and dedication, he said.
After responding to calls, sometimes fire company members would follow up with people to check in and make sure they're doing OK.
"With us, we didn't get a paycheck. Our only paycheck was knowing the satisfaction that that patient or that family was helped in their time of need," Powell said. "We showed the compassion and the empathy helping that patient."
Graceham hosted a closing ceremony at the end of September, during which the fire company recognized honorary members of the organization, members of the former ladies auxiliary, life members of the organization and more.
During the event, attendees also heard about the fire company's history, from its creation in 1960 to when it struggled in the 1990s — when members were paying expenses out of their own pockets — before it got back on its feet 1994.
The fire company donated $5,000 to several other local organizations, including Guardian Hose Company, Thurmont Community Ambulance Service, Rocky Ridge Volunteer Fire Company, Lewistown Volunteer Fire Company and Wolfsville Volunteer Fire Company.
Additionally, Graceham donated its former building on Graceham Road to the Catoctin FFA Alumni and Supporters.
Tyler Wolf, that organization's treasurer, said the Catoctin FFA Alumni and Supporters hopes to officially move into the building by the end of this year.
In June 2022, the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services (DFRS) placed Graceham on an operational suspension due to missing more than 20% of calls coming in, Powell said, because there weren't enough volunteers to meet the call demands.
Over the next year and a half, Graceham's members tried to get more volunteers and meet requirements set forth by DFRS — but in 2023, the fire company voted to begin the process to shut Graceham down.
"We realized that we just couldn't sustain what the county code was and what the county was asking," Powell said. "It was an endless cycle."
"[I have] nothing against the county. I understand there's county codes and stuff, and yeah, we're a small department ... but I feel that they didn't give us a fighting chance."
DFRS Fire Chief Tom Coe said the operation shutdown at Graceham went into effect this past June.
He said people who would've received services from Graceham aren't in danger of being unsafe or not getting emergency responses, due to the number of other fire companies in the area that can meet those needs.
Coe said Graceham is the first volunteer fire company in recent history in Frederick County to dissolve.
"I'm incredibly grateful for the services provided to the community by the hundreds of volunteers of the Graceham Volunteer Fire Company since their inception," Coe said. "... Several of those remaining have decided to continue their services to Frederick County by transferring their membership to one of our other 24 volunteer corporations."
Powell said dissolving the fire company is the last thing any of its members wanted to do.
He said something special about Graceham was that the people whose calls the fire company responded to could feel more reassured about their safety, since they knew the names and faces of the Graceham volunteers.
"We wanted to be there for the community forever until we couldn't do it anymore," Powell said. "I just want the community to know that we were very thankful for their support for the last 64 years, and helping us and everything. ... We're sorry that it came down to this."
