Newton

Photos courtesy Gordon Anderson with appreciation for permission to use in this post:

Fire doesn’t strike in my home town very often, at least structure fires don’t.  When they do occur, it’s an event so in-frequent that it leaves a lasting memory.  I can remember a fire that I watched when I was very young.  I remember my mom loading us in the car and we drove the few blocks to watch the fire department battle the flames.

My dad was on the department back then.  Maybe mom went to keep an eye out for him and see if he was okay, more than to watch the struggle. Now I am a member of the department. I think my wife feels that same way even though she doesn’t make her way to watch – she just worries from a distance.

A memory that stands out is the last time our town experienced the loss of a home to fire.  Almost 4 years ago, the slumber of many a firefighter was interrupted to answer the call.  A home in our sleepy little community was burning, its occupant alerted to the dangerous situation by his cat.  Built just after the turn of the century - a museum of memories and possessions handed down for years - was on fire.

Before discovery, the fire had been slowly and methodically working itself into an inferno.  Luckily the live-in cat filled the role of protector in time to allow the occupant to escape - by safely jumping off the roof – after his first attempt to exit failed because of the smoke and heat that met him in the stairwell.  Once on the ground he was able to get to a cell phone and call 9-1-1 and start the response.

A structure fire in our town results in two of our neighboring departments being summoned at the same time as our firefighters are paged.  It's better to cancel them if they are not needed, versus waiting for them to arrive if they are not called early enough.

Fire attack began in earnest and soon the visible fire inside was extinguished.  It was realized that the fire had made its way through the walls into the attic and with no fire breaks to check its progress it was going to be a job.  A second alarm was transmitted, bringing more firefighters from another neighboring community, and then a bit later a special call for a ladder truck was made.

Racing against time, crews rotated into the upstairs rooms to pull down the lathe and plaster in order to reach the remaining fire.  With a significant head start and aided by the type of construction, the fire was winning.

When the roof was about to burn through, it was time to concede the second floor and pull everyone from inside.  Hand lines and the pipe on the ladder truck continued the battle from outside.  Eventually the tide turned and mop-up in the attic was possible.

Daylight came, and when the smoke lessened it was a beautiful morning.  Clear and bright - except for the mood surrounding the block where firefighters were beginning to take up tools and hose, preparing to head back to their stations and back to the routine of the weekday.

Thankfully, life was not lost, but lives would indeed be altered.  A home was rendered un-livable and though many items were saved from the home, many others were destroyed.

Structure fires in our little town don’t happen very often, and we are extremely grateful for that.  But when they do, we know what to expect:  The pagers will alert, the firefighters will come – from wherever they are stationed, and a battle will be waged.  Sometimes the fire wins, other times the firefighters win and maybe the occasional “draw” will be declared.

This specific incident is different from other fires our department has responded to because the address and the names are unique.  My memory of this incident recalls the escape of the occupant, the efforts of the firefighters, the care from the EMT’s, the concern for the homeowner from the neighbors - I hope those memories are always the same, for all of our calls.

I live in the middle of Newton, on Main Street. Right next to us is a hay field. A hay field on Main Street? It’s not that uncommon for rural Cache Valley. There are several areas inside the town limits where hay or grain is raised every year. They are becoming fewer as the years pass because of children growing up and wanting to build and live in Newton. The family owned ground inside the town limits is the logical place to plant those homes, but some interior fields still exist.

The gentleman who lives next to us is a relic. He's 94 or 95 years old this year (an estimate, but pretty close) and still gets out and takes care of his hay fields that surround his home. He's a very private person. He has a sister who is in a care facility in Logan and I don't know of any other family living.

I remember a day a long time back when one of our cows got its head under the corral fence. He alerted my mother to the problem - dad was at work - and my mother didn't feel she was up to the task. She asked him for help and he came back with a saw and cut out a section of the fence to free the cow’s head.

Last year we were fixing the corral in an area that borders his property and had some conversations with him. He offered me some grass hay from around his barns, and we helped him cut down part of a tree.

I know that he likes to watch baseball, and back in the day when a thriving competition existed between all of the small communities (carried on today by the Blue Sox and other local teams), I believe he was involved on the teams Newton sponsored.

On his property is the finest replica of an old farm barn that I have seen in Cache County. I know of others in other communities, but because it's in such good shape for its age, and because it was in the background watching over the childhood memories of my backyard, it is my favorite.

In a way, it's a representation of the man who owns it - strong and silent, surviving through the ages, holding years and years of memories inside. Since I was a youngster I had wondered what was inside, but never had the courage to ask to look inside it.

That changed last year, when we were helping him with his tree and he agreed to show me the barn. Mostly it wasn't anything spectacular, just the kinds of things you would expect in an old farm barn. There were some ancient tractors inside, but that wasn't news because I have seen them year after year when he cuts and rakes the hay around his home and barns.

The one treasure that I didn't know about was an old 1916 Hudson farm truck that he reports still runs, and he occasionally starts it up to make sure of that.

Another spring has come and almost gone, and it's hay cutting time all around the valley, including the lot just next to us in Newton. Every day and into the night there are tractors criss-crossing Newton to the fields that surround us. It's a parade of all makes and models of farm equipment.

I watch these tractors and trucks driving by all day, but seldom is there a time when I stop and watch one of these farm implements at work. What is really special is the day that my neighbor brings out his hay cutting tractor.

The second photo attached was taken just yesterday by my wife. A larger photo would be better, but I hope you can get a feel for the history at work in this little field next to our house. I have watched him use this same tractor and hay knife setup since I was knee high, and still love to pause and watch when he cuts his hay once or twice a summer.

If you take a look at the area where a steering wheel would be - and notice that it doesn't have a steering wheel, then you'll get a sense of the age of this little tractor. What it does have is a set of reins. They attach to levers on the sides of the frame and operate the steering mechanism. A museum piece in operation, I love it!

Lately I have been wishing that I had taken the time to find out about things that my dad and grandparents could have told me about their lives. Except for the few things that we have recorded or remember, those stories are gone from this earth. I hope I can avoid that mistake by taking time to learn and record the memories of friends and family that are still with us.