ROYAL CITY - Lloyd Sparks joined Grant County Fire Districts Nos. 10-11 in 1959. Other than a short stint in the military, he has been a volunteer with the fire district ever since.

"Jay Cunningham was the fire chief," Sparks recalled. "He got the job because he had once been with the Yakima Fire Department."

"Right out of high school, Casey Tolman asked me to join the fire department," Sparks added. "I guess I always had an interest in fire fighting."

Sparks recalled an accident on the west end of the Royal Slope back in 1983. A farm tractor had tipped over and pinned the operator under it.

"It took at least an hour and a half to get an ambulance there from Othello," he said. "We got our own ambulance right after that. It was an old Cadillac ambulance.

"Back then all you had to have to drive the ambulance or be on the ambulance crew was a first aid card and be a member of the fire department. That soon changed to having an advanced first aid card and, shortly later, you had to be an EMT."

"The first new fire truck we got was a 1962 Ford pumper," Sparks added. "That was a big deal back then. We later got a new brush-fire truck. Over the years most of the trucks came to us experienced (used)."

Sparks hates bad head-on accidents.

"They are the worst calls," he said.

One of Sparks's more interesting calls occurred one Sunday afternoon about 17 years ago.

"We made it to the Othello hospital okay, but there was a bare wire on the ambulance that took weeks to find. When it would short out, the engine would just barely run. It took us about two hours to get home from Othello that day."

Sparks believes the fire district and the ambulance are pretty well up to the standard they should be. The equipment required for the job is available.

"We just need more people," he said.

Lloyd has one request of the community. He cannot find pictures of the group that made up the fire department the first year of its existence.

"I would really appreciate it if anyone has that picture so we can get a copy of it," he said.