By Anna Pitts

Early Wednesday morning on Nov.3, 2004, five poultry farmers from rural Covington County, Ala., rose early to start, what seemed to be, another ordinary day. Buried deep in their daily tasks and routines, a mid-morning phone call brought news of a wreck near their farms. Pullets, broilers, breeders and eggs fell to the bottom of their priority list as these growers hurried to the scene.
      A concrete truck had wrecked and

landed on an eight-inch gas main, with 600 lbs. of pressure. For 10 intensive hours, they, and 50 others, waited in 80 degree weather as the driver was cut out and three wreckers carefully worked to remove the truck from the gas main.

    The five growers were not called  to  the  scene  because  of their poultry knowledge. They were called because they are all firemen with the Union Grove Volunteer Fire Department, which they organized 10 years ago.
    Union Grove’s five philanthropists are: Wayne Farms breeder growers, Earl Baldree, Donnie Mooney and Ronald Mooney; Perdue Farms breeder grower, Carl Hollinghead; and Perdue Farms pullet grower, Ray Brooks.
     The idea for forming a volunteer fire department    in     the     Union    Grove

community came from the high insurance rates on their homes because the closest fire department was nine miles away in Opp, Ala. The first step was to survey the community to see if there was an interest in such a project. In March 1994 an organizational meeting was held at nearby Fleeta school, officers were elected and Earl Baldree was chosen as fire chief.
  Through donations, community barbecues and fund-raisers they raised enough money to provide training for the volunteer  firemen  to  become   certified

and to begin building their station. “A the man in the community, Frank Bryant, gave us our first .” donation of $500,” said Donnie Mooney. “He said he thought that a fire department was the   best  thing  that our

community needed. ”John Duke, a retired professional fisherman from Opp signed along side them on a $67,000 loan to assure it was. approved.
     Earl Baldree donated land to build the station on and Covington County provided the five foundation dirt. For eight months fire department volunteers met after work to construct a 40x80 fire station.
     “If we’re running eggs, we quit, sometimes for three or four hours and go,” said Ronald Mooney. “We do it for the    community.    Everyone    in    this

state provided a brush truck and they purchased their pumper and tanker trucks. Poultry producers don’t have a lot of spare time, yet these men of the Union Grove community found the time to make a difference in their community.
     “I want to extend my sincere thanks to the Union Grove Volunteer fire department and the hundreds like them all over the state,” said Johnny Adams, Alabama Poultry & Egg Association executive director. “For a fire to occur in a poultry house would be more than many growers could bear. Having professional firemen nearby can help growers rest easy.”