Photo: Photography on the NetTruck 105 and Engine 105 at Crystal City, Virginia

Operations Chief Scott McKay, a veteran of the Pentagon attack on Sept. 11, 2001 who also led a team of firefighters during the Hurricane Katrina recovery along the Gulf Coast, retired in January 2009. In his farewell message, he wrote: "I wanted to express my gratitude and admiration to all of you. Working alongside some of the finest people I have ever met, this has been one hell of a ride. This fire department has come a long way since I joined in 1980. The level of professionalism at all levels of the organization is what makes this a great place to work."
Photo: Falls Church Volunteer Fire Dept. web site
On Aug. 23, 1987, an underground transformer exploded in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn in Rosslyn, ``sending a billowing tower of flames and black smoke high into the air,'' The Washington Post reported. Firefighters expressed concern about exposure to the chemical PCB used in the transformers at the hotel at 1850 Fort Myer Dr.

Nicknamed the ``The Monte Carlo of America,'' the settlement featured all the ingredients for a memorable night on the town - saloons, gambling houses, bordellos, vice dens and a race track.
On July 14, 1902, flames swept a row of card parlors, as The Washington Post reported:
``Fire that originated in a policy shop last night wiped out every gambling house in Jackson City, at the Virginia end of the Long Bridge. (It) was not much of a fire when it started - a bucketful of water would have quenched it - but the habitues were so absorbed at the roulette wheel and faro table that they refused to put cut the blaze.''
District of Columbia firefighters doused the flames, the shops were repaired - and the games returned.
Fire also visited Jackson City on Nov. 30, 1893, and the next day's Washington Post said:
``Monte Carlo, the notorious resort at Jackson City, is in ashes. About 11:30 o'clock last night fire broke out in one of the row of frame buildings occupied by the free and easy, and before the flames could be checked almost the entire row was destroyed. The fire started in James Wells' one-story building on the west side of the road.''
The final fire broke out in 1904 when a band of vigilantes - ``The Good Citizens League'' - cleared out the undesirable elements and set much of Jackson City alight, according to the Arlington County Historical Society.

About 2oo U.S. Army horses were saved from a stable fire at Fort Myer on Oct. 24, 1925. The blaze was ``started by a short circuit in the electric wiring in Battery A stables'' and ``destroyed the stable and because of lack of water threatened to spread to surrounding buildings housing artillery equipment,'' according to the next day's Washington Post.
Photo: http://www.acfd3.com/Clarendon was the scene of a general alarm fire in September 1924.
``Fire yesterday afternoon in the home of Miss A.L. McCoy, 307 Popular avenue, Clarendon, caused a loss of $3,000,'' The Washington Post reported on Sept. 13 of that year.
``Fire companies irom Cherrydale, Ballston, Arlington and Clarendon found the roof in flames and seeing several frame houses close by in danger, a second alarm was sounded, bringing out all the apparatus in Arlington County,'' the newspaper said.
Oct. 23, 1916
Photo: Fox TV web site
Photos: Courtesy of Larry Patterson
These are images of a high-rise apartment fire at 2111 Jefferson Davis Highway in Crystal City in February 1979 as photographed by Larry Patterson, who served as a fire department volunteer.
Firefighters said the blaze looked like a ``towering inferno'' and had the intensity of a ``blowtorch.''
Lt. John Walker, of Truck 79, suffered severe respiratory injuries that ultimately led to his retirement. Patterson said Walker may be the firefighter on the hoseline in the top photo. Several other firefighters suffered lesser injuries.
``We were fighting a losing battle,'' said Assistant Fire Chief John Spink, quoted by The Washington Post.
For 90 minutes, crews struggled against the flames.
CLICK on newspaper images to read Washington Post report
Retired Fire Capt. Howard Piansky was one of the first firefighters to arrive at the blaze and provided this account of the incident:
``I was the wagon driver for 5A and we were of course first in ... The engine pulled up with nothing showing and the crew composed of Captain Rahner and firefighters Piansky, Tabscott and Cooper, with McPherson and Orgel on Rescue 5. McPherson came running into the lobby after the engine company and reported fire showing.
``Hooking up to the standpipe, the crew proceeded towards the apartment on fire when the evacuation alarm sounded, bringing scores of people out into the heavy, down-to-the-knees smoke. (That) caused us to abandon extingushment and make numerous rescues. Several crew members were injured ... and a flashover in the hallway had a least one medic thrown down the stairs.''
Terrorists are threatening a new attack on the nation's capital in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes along the Afghan border, according to news reports.
Photo: www.acfd3.com
Photo: www.acfd3.com
Photo: www.steamlocomotive.com
Photos: Channel 7The evening before, many of the same firefighters attended a two-alarm blaze that gutted a townhouse at 1180 North Vermont Street near Ballston.
Photo: Airport web site
Photo: Washington PostOn Sept. 18-19, 2003, Hurricane Isabel downed trees and power lines across Arlington County and the rest of the Washington metropolitan area.
Arlington County firefighters rescued a man trapped in his bed by a falling tree on Military Road. Thousands of homes and businsses went without electrical service for days.
The county issued a press release on Sept. 19 that said: ``Initial assessments include two homes destroyed; 36 homes with major storm damage, 141 with minor storm damage; and 43 cars flattened.''
The Civil Air Patrol provided an aerial assessment of the damage.
Fire Station No. 7 in Fairlington provided drinking water to residents of the Alexandria, where water supplies had been contaminated by the hurricane.
From Sun-Gazette
Photo: Collection of Capt. Randy Higgins
Old Wagon 2Arlington County Fire Station No. 2 - home of Engine 102, Medic 102 and EMS 112 - traces its roots to a volunteer fire company organized in 1904.
According to a history of the Ballston Volunteer Fire Department:
``The first registered agent of the BVFD was Mr. John Ball, a direct descendent of the John Ball who established a farm on land deeded to him by his cousin, George Washington. The farm was located near a crossroads which became known as Balls Crossroads.
``The BVFD first operated out of a garage belonging to one of the members, where the members would assemble when the bell was sounded, to pull the hand-pumped engine to a fire. The bell was located atop a pole alongside the trolley tracks at the intersection of Ballston Avenue and Fairfax Drive.
``In 1921 the permanent station was built on Ballston Avenue. When the County renamed streets and numbered houses the station address became 911 North Stuart Street.
``When Arlington County formally established the Arlington County Fire Department in 1940, the Ballston Fire Station was designated as Arlington County Fire Station No. 2.
``In 1976, the entire block where Fire Station 2 was located became the site for the new Glebe Road" Metro Rail station. At that time, only the BVFD and the Ballston Baptist Church still used the Ballston community name.
``The BVFD's negotiation with Metro and Arlington County provided for the construction of the new Fire Station 2 at 4805 Wilson Boulevard.
``In addition, the BVFD required the changing of the name of the Metro stop from Glebe Road Station to Ballston.''
Photo: http://www.scripophily.com/
Photo: www.acfd3.com
Medic Units at Court House
On Feb. 26, 1954, diners abandoned their bacon and eggs just before a natural gas leak triggered an explosion and fire at a Cherrydale restaurant.
Newspaper accounts credited Arlington County firefighter Joe Fetzer - who was eating breakfast at the Rice Bowl Restaurant at 4032 Lee Highway - with evacuating the eatery.
A plumber raised a ladder to a second floor apartment, allowing two men and a woman to escape, according to a service station attendant who witnessed the explosion.
PHOTO: Alexandria Public Library
On Jan. 2, 1929, fire swept the Doniphan Building at 725 King Street in Alexandria's Old Town. Firefighters raised ladders and rescued residents.
The Washington Post said: ``Alexandria experienced its worst fire in years yesterday afternoon in the destruction of the Fairfax apartments, a four-story building at King and Columbus streets in the heart of the business district.''
Damage was estimated at $100,000.
It's likely the Town of Potomac - a section of Arlington County later annexed by the City of Alexandria - sent mutual aid as did Jefferson District, now known as Crystal City. The District of Columbia may have sent assistance, too.
The Potomac Fire Department was organized in 1924. It merged with the Alexandria Fire Department as a result of the annexation, and today its firehouse is the quarters of Alexandria Engine 202.
On March 5, 1930, flames gutted Abingdon Plantation, birthplace of Nellie Custis, the mother of Martha Washington. ``The Jefferson District Fire Department responded to the alarm, but was unable to lend any aid owing to the lack of water,’’ a newspaper account said. The house - built in 1695 along the Four Mile Run - had been in disrepair. Today, a plaque marks the site, which is on the grounds of National Airport. 
On April 14, 1949, flames raged in the two-story Odd Fellows Hall at Wilson Boulevard and Hudson Street, the heart of Clarendon’s business district. Firefighters saved the building, which still stands today.
The Washington Post called it ``Arlington’s worst fire in five years.’’ A merchant quoted by The Post estimated damage at $50,000.
The first alarm was sounded at 9:45 a.m. Second- and third-alarms followed. Offices on the second floor of the brick and masonry structure were gutted. On the ground floor, the Baby Fair Linen Shop and Mayer gift shop sustained smoke and water damage.
Firefighters advanced a hose line into the entrance to a beauty shop on the Hudson Street side of the building and also raised Truck 1’s aerial ladder on Wilson Boulevard to advance lines to the second floor. Ground ladders were also raised.
A police line was established across from the blaze, where spectators lined the sidewalk in front of the old Ashton Theatre, which was showing the movie ``Command Decision,’’ starring Walter Pidgeon and Clark Gable.


On May 23, 2008, fire destroyed three buses parked at the Hilton Crystal City. Damage was estimated at $1.5 million. Battalion Chief Carol Saulnier of the Arlington County Fire Department attributed the cause of the fire to a diesel fuel leak, according to the Associated Press. About 150 guests were evacuated from the hotel at 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway.PHOTO: Fox 5

ARLINGTON, Va. - Remember the Pentagon.
It burned, too, dismembered by the same terrorists who brought down the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center. Circumstances, though, have rendered the Pentagon a Sept. 11 afterthought. It's the place that survived.
At the World Trade Center, 343 New York City firefighters died. At the Pentagon, every firefighter returned home. But not all came back safe and sound. The Arlington County Fire Department subsequently lost 9 percent of its force to health-related retirements.
But still.
The FDNY battalions marched into the World Trade Center and were entombed there. The Arlington crews subdued a different beast, smaller but still lethal, and in their victory they've remained largely anonymous.
Until now.
Six years on, the Arlington firefighters and their compatriots are getting the accounting they deserve.
In "Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11," authors Patrick Creed and Rick Newman detail what happen- ed after American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the nation's military command center at 530 mph, killing 189 people, including the 64 people aboard the jet.
The plane hit at 9:37 a.m. It weighed 182,000 pounds, carried a bit less than 11,000 gallons of jet fuel and plowed forward, Creed and Newman write, "like a horizontal volcanic eruption." In eight-tenths of a second, the plane disintegrated. Six- hundred-thousand bolts and rivets blew out as shrapnel. The concussion rattled fire station doors nearly a mile away.
"What the (expletive) was that?" Arlington firefighter Derek Spector exclaimed.
"That was a (expletive) explosion," firefighter Brian Roche replied.
That's how firefighters talk. The way anyone talks when they have been hit in the gut.
Honest reporting prevails
There's a lot that can go awry in a big fire and rescue operation. Competing agencies can't communicate. Turf fights erupt.
Egos intrude. Honest reporting attends to these mishaps.
One example, recounted in "Firefight": An exhausted Arlington crew was resting in the Pentagon courtyard when several District of Columbia firefighters tried to steal the crew's air packs and face pieces.
About such perfidy, only one thing could be said.
"What the (expletive)?" Arlington fire Capt. Brian Spring shouted.
A lot, too, can go wrong in reporting such a story.
Misimpressions can coalesce into convenient anecdotes. The facts can grow soggy with sentiment. The fraternal order of those who were there fends off feelers from those who were not.
"Firefight" seems to get it right, as best I can tell.
Everything gets its proper measure. Mistakes happen, but steadfastness is the enduring virtue. At one point, an ailing firefighter sneaks behind an engine to vomit, knowing that if the medics see him, he'll be yanked off the biggest job of his career.
Technical competence is esteemed. When hulking Truck 105 couldn't fit through a Pentagon tunnel, officers cut the rear tiller cab off with an electric saw. The truncated vehicle squeezed through with two inches to spare.
Good management matters. By Sept. 21, incident commander Jim Schwartz, now the Arlington County fire chief, and his colleagues could relinquish control to the FBI. Arlington's deft crisis management is taught as a case study to Harvard Business School students.
Creed and Newman appear well-suited to capturing this story.
Creed is a volunteer firefighter and Army civil affairs officer.
He's obviously got heart. At one point, after Creed deployed to Iraq, he conducted one evening interview with an Arlington firefighter by satellite phone while his base was under mortar attack.
Newman is a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, a former Pentagon correspondent and the author of another book.
Faithful account of experiences
One of their Arlington sources is Capt. Joe Lightfoot, who once ran the fire station where I've ridden as a volunteer EMT since 2002. Hanging out in Station 2's kitchen, waiting for the emergency tones, Lightfoot and I have talked about, well, whatever: Iwo Jima, say, or Hillary Rodham Clinton's latest melodrama, or Led Zeppelin's personnel dynamics. In time, we also talked about the Pentagon. In every profane and poignant particular, Lightfoot's experiences as I heard them are faithfully recounted in "Firefight." So are many others.
Detail abounds here, and 486 pages may weigh down some readers. Inevitably, the drama that's white-hot at the beginning flags a bit by Day 8 or 9. It's a big story, though, and not just on the surface. It takes space to delve into an event so complicated. It takes space, too, to plumb the heart of a man; a man, say, such as Arlington Battalion Chief Bob Cornwell.
Cornwell fought in Vietnam a generation ago. Five months before Sept. 11, he had a tumor removed. His debilitating chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was barely done when the Pentagon was hit. He easily could have checked out of the fight. Instead, he was running all over the building, weighed down by 45-plus pounds of turnout gear and air pack. When he finally was ordered to rest at the command post, he declined. He'd stay with his men, "Firefight" recounts.
"Doing good, Joey," Cornwell told Lightfoot, as the Pentagon burned and the firefighters worked. "Doing good."
Remember: Steadfastness is a virtue. "Firefight" gives it its due.
___
On May 6, 2008, a small earthquake - a ``micro-quake'' - rattled Northern Virginia. The magnitude 1.8 temblor was centered near Annandale. There were no reports of damage or injury, according to the Arlington County Office of Emergency Management. The time of the quake was 1:30 p.m. EDT. The last major earthquake centered in Virginia occurred more than a century ago - on May 31, 1897 in Giles County in the southwestern part of the state.


STATION No. 5
PHOTO: Fire Lt. Jeff Kramer via http://www.acfd3.com/
Box 7602 - April 19, 2008 - 5:37 a.m.
``Units arrived with heavy fire showing from an old balloon frame single family home with extension to the `Delta' exposure,'' according to www.acfd3.com. ``A second alarm assignment and master stream devices brought the fire under control.''
Photo: U.S. Army

Alexandria Fire Station No. 1 - Old TownEDITOR'S NOTE: The Alexandria Fire Department participates in the Northern Virginia regional response plan and regularly answers alarms in Arlington County.
Washington Examiner
The Alexandria Fire Department is critically short of staff and equipment and needs $5.5 million - which Alexandria is ill-equipped to spend - to bring it up to speed, a city-hired consultant has found.
City Manager James Hartmann hired consultant J. Gordon Routley in the wake of an August three-alarm fire at a high-rise condo building on Edsall Road in which three firefighters were hospitalized for smoke inhalation and dehydration and three more were injured.
"Alexandria's increasing population density, commercial activity, traffic and related factors are placing increasing demands on the fire department," Routhley wrote. "The fire department has innovated, reorganized and adapted to make the most efficient use of its resources. The resulting organization is very lean and its resources are stressed to meet normal day-to-day demands."
In February, the state cited the department for procedural failures, including that the first firefighters at Edsall Road fought the fire for one continuous hour instead of in 15-minute shifts as outlined in department procedures, "apparently due to staffing issues."
Routley, a fire investigation expert and former fire chief, details a laundry list of staffing, equipment and procedural issues that contributed to the injuries.
Most significantly, he noted a need for a minimum of four-person staffing on fire trucks instead of Alexandria's three-person minimum - an initiative Arlington County already has phased in. Fairfax and Prince William counties also are trying to add firefighters, but are suffering from budget woes.
Meeting the consultant's recommendation would require hiring 36 new firefighters and would cost the city more than $3 million.
Alexandria, as well as most jurisdictions in the area, is struggling to maintain its current programs in a tight budget year.
The Aug. 25, three-alarm fire at Edsall Road happened at the same time as two other multiple-alarm fires in the area, all of them sparked by thunderstorms.
The high number of incidents was one reason that the first firefighters to respond to the Edsall Road scene were not relieved by backup personnel quickly enough to avoid injury, but inadequate department communication also contributed, Routley said.
The department does not have a command vehicle - a $250,000 specialized vehicle equipped with radios, computers and meeting space.
"An environment that provides multiple radios, telephones, work stations with computer terminals, proper lighting and other enhancements is much more functional than standing at the rear of an SUV in a crowded parking lot," Routley said.
"It's a very sobering report," Vice Mayor Del Pepper said. "I had no idea that we had these needs - we knew some of these things, but certainly not the extent."
Mayor William Euille said the City Council will review the financial impact of the recommendations at April budget meetings.

Photos: Channel 5, Channel 9
On March 7, 2008, a house fire killed an elderly woman in Arlington County and injured a firefighter. According to Channel 4, firefighters ``found the victim in her bed.'' The Washington Post reported the injured firefighter ``fell through the second floor of the structure while battling the blaze.''
Battalion Chief Carol Saulnier, quoted by the Post, said firefighters were called to the 5500 block of South 4th Street at 5:30 a.m. They found two people sitting outside the house with minor injuries who told them a third person was still inside. The elderly woman's body was recovered on the first floor of the dwelling. The firefighter's injuries weren't considered life-threatening.
Old Arlington Hall
On Nov. 28, 1982, tourists visiting Arlington National Cemetery discovered the charred body of a man at the grave of President John F. Kennedy - lying three feet from the eternal flame, The New York Times said. Police determined the man was intoxicated and had been trying to light a cigarette with a rolled newspaper.
Old bell at Station No. 4

Modern fire dog
Photo: Station 28 web site
Photo: Fox 5
Photo from Station 4 web site
Photo from Station 9 web site"See you on the big one.'' - Firehouse salutation
Welcome to the ARLINGTON FIRE JOURNAL - an online history book. The fire and rescue service in Arlington County, Virginia, has a storied history, from the first volunteers to today's career Arlington County Fire Department, as well as the fire departments at Fort Myer and National Airport and the volunteers' Arlington County Fire & Rescue Association.
TOTAL FIRE & EMS RUNS FOR 2007 - 44,115
FIRST DUE ON 9/11/01: The Arlington County Fire Department was "first due" at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. Read about the response in the article entitled "ATTACK ON THE PENTAGON." Other articles recount the hiring of the nation's first female firefighter in 1974, the Air Florida crash in 1982, a tragic school bus accident in April 2005 - and much more.
The ARLINGTON FIRE JOURNAL - written and edited by Vinny Del Giudice - is dedicated to the memory of retired Battlion Chief Robert ``Cuz'' Carpenter and retired Battalion Chief James ``Jimmie'' Fought, founding members of the Arlington County Fire Department Historical Society.
E-MAIL - wb2kqg@arrl.net
VISIT OUR RELATED SITES
http://londonfirejournal.blogspot.com
http://springfieldfirejournal.blogspot.com
OFFICIAL FIRE DEPT. WEB SITE
Engine 66, staffed by federal firefighters, protected the old Arlington Hall Station of the U.S. Army until base closed in 1990.
Engine 103 and Rescue 104








Medstar service at Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001

(Photo courtesy www.acfd3.com) RESCUE 104 & 109 - ``The rescues went in service January 1997 in `single pull status' (both #4 and #9 housed a truck and a rescue staffed by a single crew - call type determined which unit the crew took to the incident). The quint units were built in 1998, and placed in service during the fall of the same year. On the same day, Quints #4 and #9 were placed in service, E104 and E109 were placed into reserve status along with T104 and T109.'' - Battalion Chief Robert Gray
THE MYSTERY OF TRUCK 71 - When Fire Station No. 1 moved to its new quarters on South Glebe Road in the early 1990s, the lettering on the station identified it as the home of both Engine 71 and Truck 71. As it turned out, a full-time Truck 71 was never placed in service, and instead a reserve ladder - AKA ``Christine'' - was briefly parked in the apparatus bay. The lettering, however, remained in place for 15 years. (The station is now home to Engine 101, Medic 101, Hazmat 101 and Battalion 111. EMS 111 moved to Station No. 9. - Thanks to Lt. Nick Salameh of Engine 101)
THE NICKEL- Retired Capt. Stan Bowen reports that the firefighters at old Station No. 5 ``helped me decide that fire and rescue work would be an exciting and noble career after my stint in the Navy.'' Back in 1965, ``The Nickel'' ran less than 300 calls annually, according to Bowen, who retired after 31+ years as a career firefighter and is also a former member of Jefferson District VFD #5. Today, Station No. 5 - Crystal City - is a busy house!
OLD TRUCK 78 - ``In the early 80's Arlington disposed of three American LaFrance tiller trucks at auction. One of the trucks sold was a combination of Truck 74's 1965 tractor and Truck 78's 1963 trailer. The rig was purchased by the Paxtonia VFD located near Harrisburg, PA. The ladder truck ran for many years as Truck 34-1 in Paxtonia before allegedly being sold to a collector in Michigan. ... Thanks to ACFD Firefighter Ralph Parsons (and Paxtonia VFD member) for the information.'' - www.acfd3.com
(If anyone knows the whereabouts of Old Truck 78, please contact Capt. Randy Higgins at Station No. 3)

Box 7560 - Pentagon
(Photo courtesy www.acfd3.com)
On Jan. 19, 2006, a three-alarm fire caused $200,000 damage at the Pentagon. The fire broke out in a kitchen on the third floor of the building and flames traveled to the roof.
FIREFIGHTERS SAVE CHURCH
Arlington County and Fairfax County firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at the Falls Church Presbyterian Church on Jan. 28, 2006 - and saved a part of our local history.
``The blaze started about 11 a.m. in an outdoor trash can and spread into the building on East Broad Street, causing fire and water damage to ceilings, the choir room and administrative offices,'' The Washington Post reported.
Arlington County ECC (Emergency Communications Center) received multiple 911 calls and Battalion 112 radioed ``heavy smoke showing'' as he arrived on the scene.
According to the web site http://www.acfd3.com/ -``Units stretched lines to the second floor and attic area and made an impressive attack on the fire. The fire originated on the exterior and entered the huge stand-up attic via the soffit vents. An aggressive interior attack by the first alarm units saved this historic building from destruction.''
In his 1972 text "Fireground Tactics," Emanuel Fried wrote: ``Fires in old churches are extremely difficult to fight and constitute unusual dangers to operating forces. Once seriously involved, a church fire generally continues until the church is destroyed.''
FIRST ALARM
Engines 106, 428, 418, 102 Truck 106, Tower 104, Rescue 418, Medic 106, Battalions 112, 404, EMS 112, FM 114
SECOND ALARM
Engines 108, 103, 410, 413, Tower 401, Medic 418, 102, Light and Air 103, Battalion 111. The volunteers of Canteen 106 also assisted.
Court hearing
Retired Battalion Chief James ``Jimmie'' Fought of the Arlington County Fire Department, a founder of the Arlington County Fire Department Historical Society, died at his home in Arlington, Virginia, on Dec. 16, 2005. He was 91.
The chief was a member of a firefighting family. His father served as a sergeant with the District of Columbia Fire Department, and his late son served as a captain in the Arlington County Fire Department.
Fought's career as a firefighter started as a volunteer in the 1930s with the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department and later the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department.
The county hired Fought as a full-time paid firefighter in 1943 and he advanced through the ranks to become one of the county's first battalion chiefs in 1956.
He spent his career ``on the road'' as he liked to say, supervising fire and rescue operations.
``The fire won't wait for you!'' the quintessential chief would tell his firefighters.
Major Fires
Fought helped supervise firefighting operations at a general-alarm fire in the basement of the Pentagon on July 2, 1959. That fire was listed as among the nation's worst in a book published by the National Fire Protection Association in 1976 to commemorate the bicentennial. A number of firefighters were injured at the 1959 Pentagon fire.
He also supervised the daring rope rescue of a 12-year-old boy who fell into a deep well at a construction site in Rosslyn on June 11, 1959.
Earlier as a fire captain, Fought was in charge of the county's old ``Squad 5’’ that responded to a pair of disasters in Washington on Jan. 15, 1953 - ``Black Thursday'' - the day a runaway Pennsylvania Railroad train plowed into the concourse at Union Station, and a later unrelated explosion at the Standard Tire and Battery Store in Northeast Washington that injured a number of D.C. firemen.
He was also among Arlington firefighters sent to the district for the riots in April 1968.
Active Retirement
Fought, a member of the International Association of Firefighters Local 2800 in Arlington, retired in 1972.
He remained active in firefighting circles until his death and co-founded the Arlington County Fire Department Historical Society with the late Robert ``Cuz'' Carpenter, also a retired battalion chief, in the 1990s.
The chief helped with the compilation of the historical society's ``Red Book,'' a history of the fire and rescue service in Arlington County. He also contributed to the ``Arlington Fire Journal’’ newsletter.
Fought was also an active member of ``The Chowder Club'' and ``The Lunch Bunch'' - social clubs for retired members of the fire department.