About us
What Do We Do?
Smith County Rescue provides volunteer emergency services in the areas of Vehicle Extrication, Technical Rope Rescue, Water Rescue, and Search & Rescue to the residents of our county as well as those passing through. We also provide mutual aid to other counties when requested and have provided disaster response both home and abroad throughout our history. In addition to emergency responses, we often help with certain community related events. Being volunteer, we have no personnel that are paid or required to man stations. When a call comes in, our volunteers respond from home, work or wherever they might be to pick up the required equipment needed to help those possibly in need. We have operated in this volunteer capacity for over 50 years.
Officers:
Michael Clayborne, President
Misty Western – Vice President
Doug Russell – Secretary
Steve Spencer – Treasurer
Roy Masters – Sgt At Arms
Richie Bausch – Chief
Chris Dallas – Captain
Chris Fields – Captain
Brian Smith – Lieutenant
Owen Donnell – Lieutenant
Smith County Rescue Squad
History of the Smith County Rescue Squad
In the fall of 1966 there was a drowning in the Cumberland River near Carthage. No one in Smith County had grappling hooks to drag the river bottom. A funeral home in Lebanon and a funeral home in Donelson had boats and hooks with which to drag for drowning victims…
Standing on the banks of the Cumberland River in the cool morning breeze a group of men who operated their Citizens Band radios on channel 11 and who were members of the Smith County C.B. Radio Club, which was organized in 1964 and met at the former Upper Cumberland meeting room on North Main Street in Carthage (where the Carthage Courier is now located), decided something needed to be done. Later the squad began meeting in the back room of the “old cheese plant” located on Jefferson Avenue that also housed the Smith County Ambulance Service. In approximately 1990 the squad built a building on the same property to store it growing equipment inventory. Then in 2005 the squad did a 4,000 square foot addition to that building which included two additional bays along with a day room & conference room.
On October 4, 1966 the Smith County C. B. Rescue Squad was incorporated under the laws of the State of Tennessee and years later on October 23, 1973 as a non-profit organization and twelve men from the radio club comprised the first group of rescue personnel. Some of the members chose not to participate in the squad.
Those 12 men were Harold Petty, Hollis Petty, Ed Stallings, Jacky Carver, Ben Herman Thomas, James Preston, Farmer Carter, Haskell Enoch, Draper Jenkins, Grant Castleberry, Fred “Catsox” Hesson and William Gregory.
There were about 45 members of the C.B. club at that time and several of the 60 licensed C.B.’ers at that time were business like Joe’s Gulf Service, M & M T. V. Repair, Waggoner Oil Co., Ernest Price Paving Co., and business like Sanderson Funeral Home, Smith County Bank, Bill Law and James Clemons who in 1964 were with Kemp Office and Equipment Co. the South Carthage and Carthage Police Departments also had C.B.’s as well as the Smith Utility District.
In the 60’s there were not many, what was then called shortwave radios, except the highway patrol and the sheriff’s office who only had one deputy. Eventually C.B. radios were installed in the fire trucks in Carthage and South Carthage and when Jim Wheeler was elected Sheriff he had a C. B. in his Sheriff’s car.
The only way to call everyone out was by C. B. Radio and the first vehicle of the newly formed rescue squad was a 1958 Oldsmobile ambulance which was donated in 1967 by Dixie Coach Co. in Lebanon and it was converted by the members and the Petty brothers built four sets of grappling hooks.
In 1968 the Smith County School System received new school buses and then Superintendent, B. Clark Meadows with the approval of the school board, donated a 1959 Ford school bus to the squad.
Then in 1972 Sunbeam Bread Co. Smith County salesman L. B. Franklin was able to obtain an old Sunbeam Bread Truck for the squad which needed a motor and Smith County Motor Co. allowed two mechanics, Fred Smith and Duard Carver to install a rebuilt motor which was donated by a company in Nashville which was managed by the son of Johnny Hiett of Carthage. Then Robert Wyatt, on his own time at night, repainted the unit with squad members doing the sanding and preparation of the body.
Later Jerry McFarland of Lebanon became Adjutant General over surplus property for the State of Tennessee and by then the Squad had become a part of the State of Tennessee.
Civil Defense program and the name had been changed to Smith County Civil Defense Rescue Squad. Because of this change the squad was eligible for surplus vehicles.
In 1973 through a Federal Highway Safety grant and because Smith County had an interstate in the borders, the squad obtained a “Jaws of Life” to extricate entrapped victims in auto accidents. Thus was the beginning of the extrication unit which was called the “Tac” Truck”.
Later through grants, a hazardous material unit was established and with each new grant members had to be trained and certified for their particular field.
Through the years many men were squad chiefs including Hollis Petty, James Preston, Jacky Carver, Jackie Wilburn and the two longest serving before the retirement of Chief Sonny Carter who has served in that position from 1994 until 2023, were Charles Woodard of Elmwood and Ed Stallings of Carthage.
The Squad still known as the “Rescue Squad” is officially now part of the Smith County Emergency Management Agency.
The group is now supported by a yearly county donation and the annual road block as well as occasional grants from the Community Development Block Grant, Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation and Middle Tennessee Natural Gas.
The major events covered by the squad was the June 1969 flood at Red Boiling Springs, the 1975 Carthage flood and the 1983 flood at Pleasant Shade which took the lives of two women, the super Tuesday tornado outbreak in Macon County on February 5th & 6th 2008 and the May 2010 Smith County flood.
And to think it all started because of a drowning and the dedication of twelve men. The only charter member of the rescue squad still living is Jacky Carver Sr.
As current members of the Smith County Rescue Squad, we want to emphasis the dedication and vision of these founding members. What they set in motion on that fall day in 1966 has went on to make a difference in the lives of so many people over the years when they were in need of help. Also a debt of gratitude to all those members that followed in their footsteps since then to ensure their dream of helping others have continued.