Humble Beginnings

On October 15, 1961, residents of North Zulch gathered to form their volunteer fire department.  Officers were immediately elected: Joe Marks, Chairman; A.C. Bethke, Secretary-Treasurer; Henry Wilson, Donations Chairman; Carl H. Boenigk, Publicity; George Dalton Rush, Fundraising Chairman. Their first goal was clear: acquire a fire truck. The Normangee Fire Department planned to sell its 1946 Ford truck, and North Zulch set its sights on purchasing it for $1,000.  

On November 4, 1961, the Normangee VFD brought the 1946 truck to North Zulch for a demonstration. Residents lined the road, a quarter mile south of town, on FM 39 to see the equipment in action. The demonstration was more than technical—it was symbolic. The sight of water spraying from hoses reassured families that fire could be fought effectively with the right tools. 

The truck was equipped with a reconditioned motor, hoses, ladders, and a 650-gallon water tank. Normangee VFD also donated a town alarm siren, and later, the telephone company agreed to install fire phones in local businesses to ensure someone would always be available to answer and sound the town alarm. The siren was sounded daily at noon, except Sundays, to test readiness and reassure the community.  

By January 1962, the department had secured enough funds to purchase the truck and to buy Dud Keefer’s dirt-floor garage for $600, thereby providing the community with its first fire station. The department answered its first alarm on March 29, 1962. By April 1962, a dedicated fire telephone, phone number EX9-2121, had been installed at three businesses, with backup at the home of telephone operator Mrs. Myrtle Lang. 

Between 1966 and 1971, the VFD was primarily dormant, confronted with typical midlife challenges: aging equipment, parts shortages, volunteer attrition, and funding pressures.  

In September 1972, the community met and reorganized the department. While the 1946 truck was still barely operable, the reorganized department acquired its first factory-new fire truck—a 1972 Dodge one-ton — thanks to Jack Crocker’s connections at Stanley Motors. Volunteers Crocker, Leonard Folsom, and Parmer Donaho equipped the truck with lights, a CB radio, and a water tank. Though the pump engine required a rope start, the truck represented a significant leap forward in firefighting capability. 

With new leadership, a reorganized department, and a dependable 1972 Dodge at their side, the North Zulch volunteers entered the 1970s with a sense of momentum they had not felt in years. What followed was a remarkable decade—one defined not just by better equipment, but by a newfound confidence in what the department could build, protect, and inspire. 

As North Zulch grew, so did the fire department’s role within the community. Fundraisers became cultural events, bold decisions reshaped the department’s future, and ordinary citizens stepped forward to shoulder extraordinary responsibility.

The 1970s also marked a golden era of fundraising through concerts: April 3, 1975 – country music star Ernest Tubb performed in the new North Zulch school gym. Tickets cost $5 per family. The concert was a major success, drawing attendees from across the region. Tubb said he’d stay until the last autograph was signed—and he meant it. His bus pulled out of the school parking lot at 2:00 am.  March 30, 1976 – Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys performed in a benefit concert, paired with a barbecue dinner. Family tickets were $8, or $3.50 per adult and $1.50 for children.  Proceeds went toward equipment purchases and building payments. These events tied North Zulch to the broader world of country music while reinforcing the fire department as a cultural hub.  

The tradition of celebrity and community shows continued. On May 5, 1979, the North Zulch Fire Department hosted a country music show that featured Donna Douglas (well known for her role as Elly May in The Beverly Hillbillies), Billy Western, and Tim Herring. Advance tickets were available at North Zulch High School and Tip Top Records. Tickets were priced at $2 and $4 at the door—demonstrating the department’s ongoing reliance on community entertainment to fund its operations.

March 20, 1975, stands as the most defining moment in the North Zulch Volunteer Fire Department’s history. On this date, twenty men made a decision that would forever exemplify the courage, commitment, risk, and community spirit that built rural Texas. Those men—W.O. Kimmey, Leonard Folsom, A.C. Bethke, Lloyd Carter, Bill Horton, Joe Marks, Clifton Marks, Jim Gilhaus, Medford Stroud, Carl Hollis, Bob Earnest, F.B. “Boots” King, W.E. Probst, Parmer Donaho, James E. May, Joe Wayne Keefer, Rev. Paul Eaton, J.C. Crocker, Ronnie Moffatt, and Melvin Wells—signed their names to a five year $8,000 bank loan, personally guaranteeing repayment without any property collateral—only their names, their word, and their unwavering commitment to their neighbors. The debt was not only repaid, but because of outstanding community support, it was retired two years early, with payments in June 1976 of $1,342.24, in June 1977 of $4,400.85, and on April 28, 1978, of $2,256.91. 

This extraordinary act of faith and community service represents more than a financial transaction; it embodies the Texas tradition of neighbors helping neighbors, where individual sacrifice serves the collective good. The twenty men who signed that guarantee understood they were risking their personal financial security for the benefit of their entire community. These names represent more than individuals; they represent families, businesses, and community leaders who understood that building a fire station meant building a safer future for everyone in North Zulch. The community’s commitment to financial support became a significant cornerstone of the fire department’s legacy.

Parmer Donaho, with a background in construction, was selected to get bids for the new station.  Ultimately, local builder J. R. Loy, who also built the 1975 NZISD gym, offered the best price and was awarded the contract to demolish the old, dirt-floor tin garage and construct a new fire station.  

On March 1, 1976, with the assistance of George Sirmon, the NZVFD received its official Texas charter as a registered nonprofit corporation. Soon after the IRS recognized the department as a 501(c)3 organization, a designation that was revoked in 2010 due to a lack of administrative action when the IRS began requiring Form 990-N postcard filing. The 501(c)3 designation was reinstated in 2018. 

On November 13, 1976, the fire department held a musical to benefit the Madison County Hospital.  The turnout was good, and $542.51 was raised and donated toward the $850,000 goal.  Famed John Henry Faulk was one of many who provided entertainment.  A Texas-born humorist, storyteller, writer, and radio/television personality, Faulk became nationally known both for his folksy wit and for his role in a landmark legal case during the McCarthy era. In addition to his radio and writing career, Faulk made regular appearances on the popular television series Hee Haw, where his warm humor and storytelling about North Zulch reached a wide audience.   

In June 1977, new officers were announced:  Fire Chief Jack Crocker, Treasurer Alton Bethke, and Secretary Bill Horton were reelected.  Elected to new positions were Fire Marshall Joe Wayne Keefer, Assistant Chief Roger Swinner, and reporter Parmer Donaho.  1977 fundraising initiatives included hosting a community talent show, organizing a 4-H hog show where firemen secured buyers to ensure every child’s animal was purchased, and producing the “Old Opry,” a musical program featuring bluegrass, gospel, and country-and-western music. Domino and 42 tournaments also contributed to the year’s fundraising success.

By the late 1970s, the North Zulch Volunteer Fire Department had settled into a steady rhythm of service, guided by dedicated officers and supported by a community that had grown alongside it. The names elected in 1977—many of whom had shaped the department’s earliest struggles and greatest triumphs—continued to anchor its identity as North Zulch moved into the decades ahead.

During this same time, North Zulch’s lack of a reliable public water system hindered firefighting and broader community growth. Residents often had to tap into a neighbor’s well or drill expensive private wells, which weren’t feasible on the small townsite lots. This limited development made firefighting more difficult. The fire department was determined to solve this issue.  In 1972, Founding member Parmer Donaho reached out to an acquaintance for help: Senator Bill “Bull” Moore.  With this help, the town eventually secured a grant to establish a community water and sewer system.  H.B. 1606, Regular Session, authored by State Legislator Latham Boone III, creating the North Zulch Municipal Utility District, was signed by Governor Dolph Briscoe on April 25, 1973.

NZMUD comprises 894 acres. The Texas Water Rights Commission appointed the first five Directors as recommended by the community, as follows: John T. Andrus, Lloyd E. Carter, Rev. Paul Eaton, A.A. Folsom & James B. Gilhaus. NZMUD easements were obtained from landowners by the NZVFD firemen in a “spider web” of water lines spreading from the town. Although debates arose over voting rights for rural residents living outside the boundaries, the project succeeded in providing affordable water access and a sewer system to the area. This not only improved fire protection but also encouraged new families to settle in North Zulch. 

Maintaining energy, funding, and volunteer commitment over the years proved to be difficult. Events sometimes became overwhelming—musicals ran way past midnight, and some fundraisers risked exhausting community support. To resolve the issue, the department diversified fundraising with fish fries, barbecues, fishing tournaments, and concerts, each drawing new supporters. Volunteers of all ages, including women and schoolchildren, were welcomed into the effort. When the annual fish fry was held, teenagers eagerly delivered free plates to the elderly in the community. The community’s involvement spread the workload and built intergenerational pride in the department’s mission. 

What began as a group of neighbors with no money and no equipment evolved into a lasting institution because each challenge was met with creativity, resilience, and cooperation. They turned an old dirt floor and a tin building into a firehouse, skepticism into support, and a lack of funds into concerts that brought Nashville stars to a small Texas town. Mr Donaho later reflected on how every struggle and every hard-won solution had shaped the North Zulch Volunteer Fire Department into more than a fire crew—it had become the community’s heartbeat, proof that even the toughest challenges can be overcome when neighbors stand together.

Since that time, the department has expanded the original station, added apparatus, and starting in 2016 undertook a multi-year fundraising effort to build a new fire station. The first phase of that building project was completed Fall 2024, with a 60 x 90 apparatus bay that allowed us to move all of our trucks indoors and out of the weather. Thanks to legislative efforts to clear a backlog of years of grant funding requests, the 89th Texas legislature in 2025 appropriated $192 million dollars to Texas departments via the Texas Forest Service's Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program, which was first established in 2001 by House Bill 2604 by the 77th Texas Legislature.  Our department was a beneficiary of that grant program in 2004 with Tanker 1 (now Tender 1) a 2004 Ford Chassis with Klein firefighting tanker body, and in 2025 with Tender 2, a 2025 Freightliner chassis with a Ledwell Tank/pump combination.    

We currently have over 20 active members and 9 Auxiliary members who volunteer their time and talents to the community of North Zulch, Texas