Resident buys his own brush truck to help fight fires

By Jillian Nachtigal
Wise County Messenger

HELPING HAND — Craig Browne’s personal fire truck drives through smoke as he assisted with extinguishing a fire on his neighbor’s property last week. BRENDAN MARCHAND/WCMESSENGER

When a fire broke out on his neighbor’s property, Craig Browne was more than prepared to jump into action. 

Browne bought a fire truck from the Frisco Fire Department several years ago. When living in Sierra Nevada, California, fires were abundant. This is where he and his neighbors decided to do what they could to help.

“Fires were every year, and California had new rules come in that for a volunteer fire department you had to be a full fledged EMT which just decimated our volunteer fire department,” Browne said. “So with a couple of neighbors, we decided we should get some equipment to do structure protection on the forest. We moved to Texas and I was going to sell the truck, but where we sit, our response time from Alvord can be half an hour.”

On July 16 around 6 p.m., a fire broke out near Browne’s property. His main priority before more help arrived was to stop the fire from going towards his neighbor’s home. He knocked out a couple of tree clusters, and his truck ran out of water before aid had arrived. 

This was not the first time Browne has found himself in this situation. Last year, he said he fought five fires individually or alongside Bridgeport and Decatur fire departments.

“When this fire broke out, you know, we’re going to be the first responders. We live here,” Browne said. “The fire started at a neighbor’s property from fireworks. He called, ‘are you home? I’ve got a fire.’ I was down there in maybe four minutes. That’s the importance of having a fire truck when your departments are so far away.”

Decatur, Bridgeport, Alvord, Greenwood and Sunset fire departments all responded to the fire. Decatur was the first to arrive after about 30 minutes, he said. Browne was able to get more water when Bridgeport arrived, and the fire was contained around 8 p.m. 

“The response from the county was amazing,” Browne said. “It was amazing to see how much help showed up. This could have been really bad without all that help.”

Browne’s desire to help others was what led him to fight fires. He said his entire neighborhood fits that bill, and in the peak of grassfire season, they are planning to develop a company to better assist the community.

Freedom Ranch Fire Protection, owned by Browne, is in the process of scheduling training for those who are interested in receiving firefighting certificates. Once everybody is trained properly, Browne said the U.S. Forest Service can start calling them for assistance when needed.

“It was never necessary before, but after this fire it appears that it is,” Browne said. “I think that we can be a mutual aid to the county like they were to us. It’s a very small neighborhood here, and there’s not anybody who lives here that wasn’t interested in being a part of this.”