We Will Help With Almost Anything Except Snakes

A 3:45 a.m. dispatch. Flames pushing out of the Beacon Plant. And a chief who still talks about service like it’s personal because it is. We sit down with Swannanoa Fire Chief Anthony Penlin, a Swannanoa native who started as a volunteer firefighter in 1990 and never stopped showing up. His story is equal parts leadership, local history, and the quiet grit it takes to wear the uniform year after year.

We get into the September 2003 Beacon Plant fire and how major emergencies leave a mark on a community’s memory. We also talk about Helene recovery and why rebuilding isn’t just about fixing roads and replacing buildings. Anthony says it best: the landscape can change, but the character stays. If you care about community resilience, disaster recovery, and what it really takes to rebuild a small town without losing what makes it home, this conversation goes there with honesty and respect.

Then we pull back the curtain on the day to day reality of a modern combination fire department. Call volume has surged, volunteer firefighting has changed, and most calls are medical. Anthony explains how Swannanoa Fire provides EMT first responder care while Buncombe County EMS handles transport, plus the prevention work people don’t always see: school visits, smoke detector help, and the oddball “please help” calls that remind you why trust matters. He also shares why he’s running for North Carolina House District 115, focused on making sure Swannanoa and the wider area are rebuilt and not forgotten.

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Transcript

Welcome And Swannanoa Roots

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Chief Anthony Penlin. I am so glad you're here. You and I have gotten to know each other recently in the last, I don't know, six or eight months. Christmas time maybe. Anyway, but I finally called you and I said, okay, I want to just go to lunch. I want to learn all about Anthony Penlin. So I learned a lot about Anthony Penlin that day, but I thought that um it would be cool to have you in here.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

So thank you for coming. You're very welcome. Thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Of course. So I usually start with, what's your story? Where are you from?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Well, I I tell a lot of people I was born and raised in Swannanoa, but actually I was born at Mission Hospital and raised in Swannanoa. There you go. So yes, but I've been in Swannanoa for 58 years.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

I grew up in the Grove Mont community until my wife and I uh got married, and then we moved uh over to the Bee Tree community. We actually had the opportunity to buy her mom and dad's home. Oh, that's cool. So we she's actually still living in uh her childhood home. So I've been there for uh 58 years.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

You don't look 58. I'm gonna start eating whatever you eat. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. So you've you're born and raised there. You went to what high school?

SPEAKER_01 1:33

I went to Owen High School. Okay. Uh I went when I went to school, it was at the middle school.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

So yes, but I went to Owen High School, graduated in 1986, and after graduation, I attended Montreat Anderson College, a two-year junior college at the time. Got an opportunity to play some college baseball there at Montreat and transferred to UNCA really, really young, didn't know what I want to do in life. And so in 1990, I was asked to become a volunteer firefighter, and I never would have thought that after 36 years, I would still be doing something I really love to do.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I don't think you should do it if you don't really love doing it.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Well, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

That's my theory about any job.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Well, I put I love putting my uniform on every day and going out and serving the people of my community. So I got my degree actually in fire protection technology from A B Tech and then got a four-year degree in business fire and merge service administration. Is that at UNPA? Fayetteville State.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

Okay, I was gonna say, really?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Okay. No, Fayetteville State's where I got my four-year degree.

unknown 2:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

I always wanted to go to EKU to their fire service. They got a very good fire.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

I'm in Oklahoma State, but I didn't know that, but that makes sense. Because we talked about it. That's where the fire museum that's really good is in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City? Oklahoma State? Oklahoma. Where is it? Uh it's Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

This will still, yeah. I'm not sure exactly. I'm not a fire museum.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Let's go with that. It's okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Yeah, it's okay. All right. So you are the fire chief today, but you probably weren't the fire chief from the beginning. So you started as a volunteer.

Volunteer Firefighter To Fire Chief

SPEAKER_01 3:02

1990, started as a volunteer firefighter. I told the officers who interviewed me if they just let me, you know, drive the truck one time through the red line blowing their horns, I probably would quit. Hysterical. But uh and uh in 1995, I was honored to receive a a job offer from the department. And I served as the board of directors treasurer in 91 to 95. Then I became a full-time employee. I stopped doing that. And 2001 I was appointed to the role of fire chief.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Okay, so you've been there a minute. I have been 2001, 2002 is when the big fire happened, right?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

2003.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Three.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

September 2003. Okay, September what? September third. Oh, 2003. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

On baby brother's birthday. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Uh at 3 45 in the morning we got dispatched to uh structure fire, and when I arrived five minutes later, it was flames were blowing out in the top fifth floor window across South Avenue, and we knew we were going to be in for a very, very long day.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Yes. Um I recently saw the movie, the the Blanket Town movie, and I didn't know anything about it. I knew there was a fire, I knew that Beacon was there, and I knew all of the things, but I didn't know the Beacon story till I saw the Blanket Town movie. I'm trying to get them to show that up in Black Mountain because it it really taught me a lot about Swannanoa.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

I got to see that that movie as well. My my grandparents moved from Clay County in 1958 to give their children an opportunity for a better job. And so my grandfather actually went to work at Beacon and he worked there for a little while until he was asked to go manage my grandmother's cousin's funeral home in Asheville.

The 2003 Beacon Plant Fire

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

And that's what got them into the funeral business.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

And that's where Penlin Funeral Home comes into play. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

It was Penlin and Son's funeral home for a number of years. And then my cousin and uncle bought everybody out and changed it to Penland Family Funeral Home.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Okay. Still called that.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

It is, yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

It doesn't have those words on the building, though.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Yeah, still Penlin Family Funeral Home.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Maybe I should play pay closer attention. Yes. So Penlin Furniture.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

It's a neat story. Penlin furniture, to our knowledge, were not related. Related. However, my dad's name was Jerry Penlin. The owner of the furniture store was named Jerry Penlin. My grandmother was Ruth Penlin. His mom was Ruth Penlin. And we live maybe 50 yards from each other in Grove. That's funny. So and so there were several times where we would get phone calls asking about furniture, and they would get phone calls asking about funerals and I'll never forget my dad took a phone call one day and they were asking about a bed, and he said you got the wrong Jerry Penlin. The bed I still may not be ready for it.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

That's awesome. So now is Swan Noah volunteer and paid? Is it a mix?

SPEAKER_01 6:13

What's the story? We are a combination department. We have 20 full-time staff members and 13 part-time staff members. And we still have some some active volunteers. But when I joined in 1990, the fire department ran about 30 calls a month. Now we run about 160 calls a month. The volunteer fire service has declined over the years. What because what happened is in these small communities, you know, the the workplace like Beacon would allow their members to volunteer for the fire department. And if a call came in, they would allow their workers to go out and go to the call and then come back and go back to work. And as we saw people having to leave their communities now to work, you know, five 40 hours. When they come back, they just don't, you know. And and some of the training requirements that's put on our firefighters, it's just uh it's a lot to ask. So we but we do have some active volunteers that we rely on, and um and when I look at them, they're just they're trained just like our our paid staff is, and so but yeah, we uh we wouldn't be able to do it as as a volunteer fire department anymore. Right. It would take uh the service to the community, but it's not be there.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Yeah. So Swannanoa, it doesn't have a they're unincorporated.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Unincorporated community.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

So none of my darn business, but how do they pay for a fire department?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Well, the Swanoa Fire District in 1976 imposed upon the citizens, imposed upon themselves a fire tax. Okay. And so from 1976 on, a fire tax has been levied per the the value of your home. So for every hundred dollars, you know, fifteen cents of that goes to the Swannanoa Fire Department to run the uh fire station, the fire department.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Okay. I don't love talking about Helene on here because nobody wants to talk about that anymore. But obviously that's a big part of y'all's story now. It's it's as big as the beacon fire, or maybe even bigger, I don't know, but affected the same kind of people that just all live right there. So I had heard that you're you were paid by the business tax, not the homeowner tax. So it's not that's not true.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

No, it's there's uh the same fire tax is levied on the businesses and levied on the residents.

SPEAKER_02 8:32

Okay.

Staffing Calls And How It’s Funded

SPEAKER_01 8:32

So no, there's not a separate business. Not a different thing. Okay. I mean pays pays a tax. And and that's 25 square miles. We cover 25 square miles. Okay. Uh and so yes, so everybody would would pay the okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I just I misunderstood and I love to dispel rumors. So there's a good one. Yeah. So you all are I I don't love to talk about Helene, but y'all are rebuilding and it it's amazing to me. We have people that come in the visitor center all the time and say, wow, town looks really good. And I say, Well, you know, it does look good. You need to go outside this town a little bit and you'll see, you know, we we actually send people back through Swananoa. I try to get them to go to the stores there and that sort of thing, but almost always send them back through there. And I say, I'm not sending you on, I don't, I'm not showing you disaster tourism. I don't want you to think that's what I'm showing you, but I want you to see what it did. I want you to see what it still looks like. And quite frankly, it looks so much better. It's there's still obviously ways to go, but but it wasn't until the anniversary of Helene when we started seeing videos and things like that, that I realized, oh my goodness, how much what a difference. But I do send people through there and try and get them to definitely go to short sleeves and roots and branches and places like that and and try out the different, um, the different retailers that are down there and be sure that they're seeing it. But I always send people through there. And I I just am completely impressed by how much has been done. And a lot of that is he's got a backhoe and he's got a rake and she needs her yard fixed, and that's what's gonna happen. Also, a lot of it is disaster teams coming from outside to help us. But but I've heard lots of y'all's stories too. I don't want to hear the horrible ones, but I'm always grateful for all the things that y'all did. And I know that people say that all the time, but how do we, how, how do we what's the best way to say thank you to y'all other than just hey, thanks?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Well, th thank you is is is is good enough for us. I mean, we uh we we get got into this to help others and um it's one of those things that yes, it it's I had one of my staff members tell me you know, a little bit after the storm, what our little community has been through. We've we've seen a lot through in our community that you probably wouldn't see in, you know, we had the 2004 floods back to back, we had the beacon fire, we've had you know wildfires, we've had this 2024 storm. So uh but we just enjoy, I mean actually we enjoy it. We do it, and um and so so yes, thank you is this is how it's but it it doesn't feel like enough for for those of us that you helped.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

I guess we should say it that way.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

But it's it's one of those things that we signed up to do.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

That's well, we appreciate y'all. Uh we also are excited about a fireworks show that's coming this summer and that y'all have agreed to help us with. I guess we just have to have you on standby over at the KOA campground. And I appreciated y'all um helping us with that. That is going to happen during Sourwood, trying to find ways to make Swannanoa more a part of the Sourwood, well, more a part of everything we do because we are the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce, not just Black Mountain, like a lot of people think, but gotten to know a lot of people because of the chamber. I'm just getting to know people down in Swannanoa. One of our favorite places, well, ours, that sounds like we're dating or something. I don't mean it that way. The place we went to lunch was Okie dokie's, and that's one of my favorite stories. People don't know the whole story because they don't want us to share it. But those are two of the most giving people I have I I I cannot believe the generosity that they uh bestowed on others. We'll just say that, but also really good barbecue.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

It's it's it's it's very, very good. And and I Steve and Jody have been in our community for for a very long time. Now I I forget what the name of it was called, but when they first got started.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

The red wagon.

Helene Recovery And Community Resilience

SPEAKER_01 12:44

No, this was before that. Oh, yes. This was a little uh barbecue place right there on the Ingalls uh uh site. That little area where they first got started. Uh actually, I think Steve actually worked for this this guy. Okay. And uh I wish I knew what the name of that was. And we would go down there and just be in that community. And we knew that when he reopened, that if you wanted to go to lunch, you might want to get in line about 10 30 because we do we do miss it. And and I have a uh I have four children, and my uh oldest daughter loves Okie dokie's barbecue because she lives in South Asher, so she would call out and my and my granddaughter might have a soccer game. She said, Let's go to Okie dokie. It's like, well, unfortunately, they're closed today. That's right. Oh no, so so but it's just a great thing. And and to see them come back and uh and to see the community actually come back, each each each piece of rebuilding is another blessing, and we'll take our blessings, you know, one one blessing at a time. And that's right. Uh and yet we have a long way to go. We know that, and but we'll we'll get there. Yep. For someone who has lived there their entire life, it's a it's a little little different. Uh seeing some of the buildings that I went into as a child and as a high school teenager going to baseball games and stopping in at the convenience store there at the bridge and knowing that it's not there now. And um I remember someone telling us if if they would just tear the buildings down, it might not be so traumatic for us to keep looking at when we go to work, but then when the buildings were taken down, now it's like that's the final that's the final piece. So it brought a little bit more of a sadness, especially if you were actually had a a history with those those those buildings. I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, and uh but it's uh I was asked, you know, about the storm, you know, Chief, this is gonna change the character of your community. You know, no, it's gonna change our character. It'll change our landscape. Sure. Our character's gonna remain the same. We're gonna we're gonna still be the same community that supports each other and does what is right for each other. And so and that's what we're seeing. And it will take them, you know, one blessing at a time.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

And uh we're excited about what's going on in and around the the the central part of Swannora, then when when the beacon plant came and they had all these little shops and things there around the the beacon plant and uh see that thing maybe coming back now with with the hardware store and the potential of the you know the pretzel place and the coffee and it's it's just exciting to see. It is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Good. All right. If you had to s name somebody in your life who's still around that was an inspiration to you from either from high school or from where you grew up, somebody who's who would jump out in your head.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

That have to be still around. Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Well, that'd have to be a guy that I played baseball for in high school. Okay. Coach J. De Hansen. As a high school baseball player and the things that he made us do, I thought this guy is just totally but I had the opportunity to work with him and coach beside him. We we actually coached for close to 25 plus years, uh high school baseball at Owen, American Legion baseball, and we were at Carolina Day School coaching baseball as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

So it was a uh he's been there, he's been a a mentor, and and after my dad passed away, he actually was, you know, I we w I consider him family, even though, you know, but I would say he he's been a big part of my my life.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Still in Swananoa?

Mentors Rivalries And A House Run

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Well or the area? He he yes, he he he lives in East Asheville. Okay. Uh and he's uh uh he actually is now teaches down at the high school again. So yes, but um just um just a great great individual, great family.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Uh what does he teach?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Do you know? You know, I don't really know uh I had to ask your question, didn't know. It's um his children are I I I tell you what, I would I would get it wrong.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

So I don't know just underwater basket, we'll go with that, sure. Who knows? Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 16:57

But he's always been, he's been one of those that's been a a a good person to call on. And um you know, the he he's uh to show you our relationship, he's a he's a Duke fan. I'm a Carolina fan. And when Duke and Carolina play basketball, usually I have who if Carolina's winning, I've got his number dialed up, waiting for the the final seconds to hit the button, and he vice versa. He'd do the same thing. And so but yes, he's been the smart man.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

I like him a lot.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

He's been a part of me.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

He's my guy. Okay. Yep, always gonna pull for Duke. Sorry. Well, that's okay. I'm not a but I'm not that girl who pulls against UNC, unless they're playing Duke. Then you have to. I'm not really against them then. I want everybody to have fun and do well.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Well, we were watching the NCAA double tournament NCAA tournament with my family, and my son-in-law is like, We all we gotta at least root for Duke, you know, like and my daughter's like, You don't know my dad. You don't you're in the wrong country to say something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Well, why were you even watching it?

SPEAKER_01 17:56

So I really wasn't paying attention.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Yeah, I was gonna say there's no reason for you to shit. Yeah. Yeah, that was fun. People cheering against Duke in the end of the um March Madness, and they were calling me and going, How's Duke doing now? I'm like, I don't know, how was your team in the first round? Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

We got we got better things on the horizon.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Of course. That's right. No, but you gotta have a friendly rivalry forever. That's kind of how it goes. So we don't talk politics on here, and we're not going to, but I know that you're you're running for office. What I did homework on you and I found out all these things you've done that just meeting you on the street, you wouldn't think you had done all these things. So it's pretty cool. I don't necessarily want you to give a resume. What are you running for? And uh I'll give you like 10 seconds to tell us why.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

I uh I'm running for the North Carolina House in District 115 that represents a little bit of Swantanoa and it represents the other parts of Bump County. And I'm I'm running because I want to make sure we rebuild and and we're not forgotten. Right. Uh I just want to make sure that you know we still have people that are living in campers and that's just one of the things and uh and the fact that I've been in public service for 36 years of my life, and it's just it's just another way and opportunity to serve the people in a different capacity.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

So all right, so I go to Valley Hope Church right there in in Swantanoa, and I know that y'all have worked with them as well with all the things that they did. Um one of the things that's a it's not a bummer. It's one of the things I want to try and help Valley Hope with is to not be the church that rebuilt, helped rebuild after the storm. I want them, I want people to know all the other things that they do. And so I think I think that's probably true with y'all too. Uh do you all uh you said you get 130 calls a a month? Is that right?

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Oh uh about 150, 160 on average. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Okay. And you do the EMS, you do the all the things?

Medical Calls Prevention And Two Stations

SPEAKER_01 19:56

85% of our calls are medical related. Now we don't transport. Okay. Um we provide first responder. Okay. So basically what that does means is our staff are trained EMTs. So they go out and they make the first contact with the individual, try to make sure they stabilize and provide, you know, any care the care that they are trained to do while we wait on a transport unit comes from Buncombe County.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Uh, currently right now, be due to the things that are going on with the town of Black Mountains fire department, we actually are housing the paramedic truck and the community paramedic at both of our stations.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

So are they able to respond to your things or just to Black Mountain?

SPEAKER_01 20:36

No, the the the the county EMS responds all over the county. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

So that's a bonus for them to be down there for you.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

It's good.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

But you know, as our call volume has increased, so has their call volumes. Right. So there's a there's a lot of times where, you know, EMS four may be stationed out in the eastern part of the county, but they may be so busy that they you don't and we may get another truck from another part of the county. So, but yes, that's what we do, and then we do a lot of other things. We do uh fire prevention, we go out and do things for schools, and we're gonna have an open house June the twentieth, I believe. We're gonna have an open house and let bring people in, let them see a meet our our firefighters and just see exactly what we uh do. And it's just one of those things that and we'll and we this past weekend went and changed smoke detector batteries for a community uh that has very high ceilings, and those are things that you know we we there's a lot of things that we do. Sure. I recall one time where we were dispatched to a place where the lady was just screaming for help and didn't know what we were getting into, and what happened is is she needed help turning the shower off. Okay. So those are things, and and and it's just one of those that that's it's but she'll remember that you showed up. She did, she will, and she'll know that she can call on us for anything she would like. That's cool. Now, the one thing that we have stopped doing, and this is not my doing, but I'm glad we did. We we don't get snakes out of people. Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

No, we don't talk about those things.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

So uh those are one of those things, but but we'll do just about anything you ask us to do. That's right. And uh but yeah, and then and and that's what we uh we we love doing it.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

How many stations do you have?

SPEAKER_01 22:22

We have two stations.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

We have one there in the main park of Swan One, right beside the uh old Beacon site. And then we have one in the B tree community. Now our B tree community fire station, it was damaged pretty good from the storm.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

That's where FEMA was. That's where I went to feet talked to FEMA four or five thousand times.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

FEMA was there. They were station actually stationed in our bays because our administrative area over there was deemed unsafe.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

We were in a bay.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

We were in a bay because our the winds ripped the roof up and water just poured in.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

We had a completely remodel in the uh administrative side of the things.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

Well, so what do you and your wife like to do when you're not at work and you're not campaigning, you're not whatever what do you do when you're in?

SPEAKER_01 23:17

My son came by yesterday and I got to see her at work and I gave her a couple of kisses, so I had to tell my wife. She was and and right now my wife is actually going to their house and she's gonna spend the day. So but my wife and I like to take drives. So we'll sit there one Sunday and we'll be like, hey, let's just go take a drive. And we'll it doesn't matter what which way we head, we just enjoy being together. Uh we've been married be 31 years in July, and so we just enjoy going out and and just seeing really God's beauty. I mean, it's just we we live in a in a great place and and she loves Mount Mitchell. I don't mind it. It's just a long way away. It's just that you know, it it's a little colder up there than it is, but uh but she she loves going up there. So we just do stuff like that and uh just really enjoying each other's company.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Last time I was at Mount Mitchell was when I found that little trail when you're coming back from the little the part, and there's the trail to the right, and you feel like you're in like the Hobbit, one of those movies, you know, like I don't know. Um I had never seen that before. I've gone there many times and never actually noticed it, and we went all the way through the whole thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Well, we were up there one time and we uh we took my mom with us and we Mount Mitchell had a really good um and I think it's still there, the restaurant there. Yes, it's about to open.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Or I think it did.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

It was May 1st. That's great.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

So but we went up there and the thunderstorm rolled in.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 24:40

Oh pretty though. Oh scary. Well, it was scary. Okay, it was one of those things where I'm thinking we gotta gotta pull over because I can't see the road. And oh yeah. And then I got to thinking the wind is just blowing. And I thought, we we're not in a good spot. You know, with these trees. So, and then my mom said she wouldn't go back. Yep. So it scared her to death. No. So, but it's um but we that's what we we we in love, we just enjoy being with each other and um and just taking a ride.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

My husband and I used to call that a car date. You want to go on a car date? And that's what we called it, and we would go and we would just drive around and and people would say, What do you all do? Just like I just asked you, and you're like, I drive around. And it doesn't sound very exciting, but it actually is.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

It it is. Yeah. And and then the when the ice cream place is open there in Black Mountain, we'll come there and get us some ice cream, and then we just drive and we we've made our trips into Montreat, and we've just just going places that we haven't seen.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

And talking about getting improvements, I'm getting a road back this week. I'm getting pavement this, or maybe it's next week. This week they're doing the milling of the road. That's good. It's a new word to me. So I'm super excited about having a road again. Every time I drive home, my phone says, Have you been in an accident? And I'm like, No, I'm just going home. But that is one of the things that's that you were talking about, that it's it's a happy thing. It's like, and I've learned to deal with the road, and but I'll be really excited to see it.

When Fire Hits Home

SPEAKER_01 26:00

So Well, we're um we're getting a new our bridge on Davidson Road. They've already so started that, and and then we got one more bridge in Swannanoa there at the uh Charles Deon Park. I need to replace that one. Yeah. So it's like I said, it's a it's gonna take a time and we don't know patience. Now, but our our human nature is we want to happen tomorrow. Of course. But hey, get it done. That's right. You know, you go you you've interrupted something. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

You had a plan and you've messed it up. Yeah, exactly. All right, so this past week, I've had three things happen that are not my favorite. The boyfriend moved back to Virginia. The work has made him move back to Virginia. He came here for disaster recovery. And then last Wednesday his house caught on fire. And he was a volunteer firefighter, and so was I back in the day. And this was the first time we've had it, and I wasn't there, he was, but it was the first time we've been on the other side. Have you been on the other side? I hope not.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Actually, I have my grandparents' funeral home in 1986 in on Charlotte Street burned. And that's um I was uh uh getting out of school as a senior high school and I was uh went to my girlfriend's house and her mom said your dad just called and said the funeral home's on fire. So and it was one of those things to see my grandfather standing in the middle of his burned out business holding his mom's picture and just bawling his eyes out because it didn't burn. So but yes, so I have experienced what it is to be on the other side. I've been I've been on the other side. I have, and so and that's why that's one of the things that you know we we see people in our profession at some of their worst times. And so that's why, you know, really being just compassionate and and understand what people are going through. And so I I I've seen that and it's something that you know we hope never ever ever happens. Yeah. It's not uh but yes, I've seen that. And then we avoided another one. My grandfather was a um a great gardener. Uh he and what he did, he would start his plants inside and then he would transplant them out into the garden. And so at the house after the funeral home burn, they had bought a house up from the the place where the funeral was at, and one of the lights that he kept is it kind of shorted out. Now that one was didn't get to the point as the the funeral home, but yeah, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

And but he It's hard to be on the other side. It's a it I mean I I'm tearing up thinking about it right now. It just breaks my heart that you know.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

And you go through things about when when I was a kid growing up, my grandparents are in the funeral business. So their funeral home in Asheville, they had an apartment upstairs and that's where they lived. So when we went to spend night with our grandparents, it was upstairs in the the funeral home. And so all our Christmases and our birthdays and Thanksgivings and all that was there. And so when that happened, you're like, oh, there goes our childhood memories. And we had, I mean, and and that's true. I had, you know, there were 10 grandkids, and we we had a blast. Yeah. And and at the time when they were in the funeral business, that's when they also were in the amusement business. So I'll never forget we had a a stretcher that seven people couldn't roll it straight if they all pushed the same way. So we piled seven grandkids on this stretcher and just let go and riding down the parking lot. Yes. And then my cousin, I thought it would be a great idea to take some wheelchairs and see just let go of them and just see how fast, you know. And it really was working in our favor until we got to the end and we realized that the the bank is coming up, and there's no way to stop these things.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Well, there is.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah, well, that's what happened. But um, it was so yes, we uh we I have experienced that and and but uh and our childhood memories of growing up with my grandparents, and that's why I told my wife this, I don't know, probably several months ago. I I just I miss those days. I miss as a kid going and spending out you sitting out there, Charlotte Street in Asheville with your grandfather, discounting cars, going up and down the road. But um that's what I hope I can do that with my grandkids, that they can say, well, you know, our our papa made it to all of our sporting events, he made it to all of our, you know, and and in the fire service is kind of hard to do those things. But that's what I I we try to make sure that that all of our folks know that we're family oriented and we all have families and what what we have to do to each to help each other get to some of their family events. And and a lot of people, you know, we I coach baseball for 28 years, and we have some of our staff that was coach that coach baseball. So it's just one of those things that we try to make sure that we can do those family things.

Firehouse Family And Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 30:52

That's right. You're part of a family who takes care of your real family, not that they're not your real family, but yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:57

Oh, yeah. Well, that I tell you that's uh it truly is a family, and and I I I tell the staff all the time, I I feel like they're my my children and and I want to make sure that they are protected the best I can do. And then we were filling out a continued education uh uh roster for A B Tech, and on that roster, I put down your birth dates. So I put my birth date and compare it to all of these other folks. So don't do that. Okay, these guys are my children.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

They're my children. They can be, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Yes. But yeah, I I I I love my staff. We have a great, great staff, and they are they're just you know, I I try to do everything we can to protect them.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

And it's cool to see y'all in restaurants together. I realize you're working when you're in restaurants together, but I mean you're obviously in working because you're in your uniforms and all of that, but it is fun to see them all together and they're always having fun and they're always together and they're they're not sitting there on their phones, they're always talking to each other, which I think that's the biggest sign of of real community. It's when people put their dang phone down and they actually talk to each other.

SPEAKER_01 32:02

We we we enjoy each other's company and so that's right. And that's one of the things that we wanted to make sure that our our folks know that you know there there are some f people that they won't go out with their staff or and and the deputy chief and I, we just like no. We actually will say at 12 o'clock what we have for lunch, and then we'll go get the staff where we're going for lunch. And I think we're gonna come up with a a restaurant name. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Oh, that's good. Yes, we should.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

So you want to go what you want to do for lunch? I don't know. So perfect. That's where we're going. That's where we're going. That's where we're going.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

That's right. Is there anything I haven't asked you or something you'd like to talk about?

SPEAKER_01 32:37

No, I mean, I just I just um I've had the opportunity to, you know, raise four children in the Swamo community. Four grandchildren. Uh three of them live in South Asheville, but our youngest grandchild was one month old today.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Oh, have fun.

Closing Thanks And Outro

SPEAKER_01 32:51

She was born on Easter Sunday, and so she she lives in Swannanoa. And so it's just one of those that So you've got family close. The the the memory of what I grew up with is gonna be a different memory for her. So I guess gotta make sure that that history that that that I I was able to look at and grow up with, that she gets that same feeling. So, because it's gonna be a lot different when she starts remembering. But it's uh I I like I say I I love that community. I tell people all the time I live in the best community that's right in the state of North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

That's right. That's right. Well, I think that's a great thing to end on, and I appreciate you coming in and um being here, and I appreciate your friendship. Thanks for joining us on Exploring the Valley. Until next time, keep celebrating the pride of our community and discovering the magic of the mountains. In the meantime, you're free to move about the valley.