FIREFIGHTERS RECOGNIZED FOR EFFORTS AT 84 LUMBER

It's nice to be appreciated.

Firefighters don't do what they do for the thanks, but it's good to hear it anyway.

84 Lumber Company knows that, so they've invited representatives from Centerville Fire/Rescue and the six departments that provided mutual aid to a ceremony at 1 p.m. today at the local 84 Lumber store on U.S. 40 west of Centerville.

Six days ago the Centerville firefighters and their county colleagues -- about 40 in all -- were at the store in the predawn hours, battling to save what they could from a roaring fire.

It was a hard and long battle. The firefighters lost it in the middle. The building was destroyed. But outlying sheds, stacked with lumber and other construction supplies, were saved from the intense heat.

"They did an outstanding job in preventing further damage to other parts of the yard," 84 Lumber president Maggie Hardy Magerko said in a news release.

The loss was $1 million when the fire was finally out. But 84 Lumber was up and operating out of a trailer at the local store site by Friday.

At the ceremony today, 84 Lumber officials are showing off drawings and plans for a new 23,850 square foot store building.

But the main thing is to thank the local people who helped make the quick recovery possible: firefighters from Centerville Fire/Rescue and the departments that provided mutual aid -- Abington, Webster, Williamsburg, Greens Fork, Milton and Cambridge City.

"We just want them to know how much we appreciated their quick response and what they did," Jeff Kemick said. He is 84 Lumber's vice president for marketing.

The company will also single out Pastor Lyle Chester and the Centerville Church of the Nazarene, "for all they did in assisting store employees and firemen in their clean-up effort," Magerko said.

The church is directly across the road from the 84 Lumber site.

Representatives of the fire departments and the church received special invitations to the ceremony. They expected to only look modest under a barrage of flattering words.

But 84 Lumber planned a little surprise -- a check for $10,000 for the Centerville Fire/Rescue and checks for $5,000 to each of the other fire departments and to the Nazarene church.

It's nice to be appreciated.