Saturday, January 08, 2000
Long family tradition ends with fire chief's retirement
BY DAVID ECK
Enquirer Contributor
FRANKLIN — When Franklin Fire Chief Hugh DePew officially retires later this month, he will end a longstanding tradition of having a DePew on the city's fire department.
Before Hugh there was his brother, Wilburn, who was also a Franklin fire chief and is now a City Council member. Their brother, Clyde, was on the department for several years. And so was the brothers' uncle, John DePew, who started it all.
As boys in the 1940s, the DePews would ride to Franklin fires with their Uncle John, a full-time firefighter at Patterson Air Force Base, now Wright-Patterson.
“I think that's what got us interested in being firefighters, actually,” said Hugh DePew, whose last day on the job was Friday. “At one time, there were three of us brothers on here.”
Hugh became a volunteer firefighter in 1964 and was hired on full time in 1982. He succeeded Wilburn as chief in 1992.
Though his retirement isn't until Jan. 28, Chief DePew finished his duties Friday. Capt. James Marcum will be interim chief while the city's civil service commission tests applicants for the chief's job, said Franklin City Manager James Lukas. A timetable for naming a new chief has not yet been set.
Looking back on a firefighting career that spanned 35 years, Chief DePew, 62, recalled some of Franklin's larger fires, including those at Conover Health Center, the First Baptist Church and what is now Graphic Packaging.
But one tragic night sticks out: a house fire on Olive Road in the early 1970s that killed eight people, including six children under the age of 12. It remains one of the deadliest fires in Warren County history.
“The fire was in the living room and kitchen area,” Chief DePew said. “The children were in an upstairs bedroom. I think I was one of the three people in the front door.”
Though firefighters quickly found the two adults on the first floor, they didn't know about the children until Chief DePew went upstairs and found the bodies.
“I respect him,” said Franklin Councilman James Mears, also a former Franklin firefighter. “He was a firefighter's fire chief. He came up through the ranks.”
As chief, he helped develop a good working relationship with area fire departments, and worked on the specifications of new Franklin fire equipment, including a heavy rescue truck and the department's new aerial ladder, Mr. Mears said. The chief also lobbied city officials for more full-time firefighters, obtaining two new positions several years ago.
But the chief said he's now ready to spend more time on the golf course, and also plans a visit to his children in Tennessee.
“It'll be nice to be able to do what I please,” he said. “This year I felt that it's time to go do something else ... while I'm still in shape to do it.”
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