It is with sadness we report the passing of Malcom Carrick this week.

Malcom Carrick joined the Reisterstown Volunteer Fire Company as a riding member on January 9, 1946. He was the longest living member of our company and we will sadly miss him.

A short recollection from one of our “senior” members:

Through general discussion, he would talk about conditions that caused him to join the fire company. He turned 16 the first day of September 1945. WWII was just ending but the boys had not yet returned from the war. There was a need and a request sent to Franklin High School for any boys 16 or older to join the fire company in order to staff the equipment. The high school then was beside what is now our station. At that time the fire house was up town just behind Dunkin Donuts. When the alarm sounded, he and others would run up town to the fire house. The Old Packard and the Diamond T were the red engines of that time. His recollection of fires that he participated in were mostly field, woods and barn fires. There were many farms in and around Reisterstown at that time. I don’t recall him speaking about any house fires although there may have been some.

It was known during that time and up into around 1955 or 1956 that emergency call went direct to the telephone switch board up town. The switch board operator would take the call, blow the siren. First person in (no dial phones then) would lift the receiver and the operator would come on and give nature of call and location. Also the Police dispatched the ambulance up until 1959 or 1960. Our ambulance radio call # was 283 and we used the 10-7, 10-8 as in service or out of service, etc.