Winona, Endicott firefighting volunteers honor former Chief Virgil Jordan

Retired Winona volunteer firefighter and fire chief Virgil Jordan misses the people he helped through the years but doesn’t miss fighting fires.

Jordan, who will be 85 in August, officially retired a few weeks ago with a reception at the Endicott Fire Station. He was presented a plaque honoring his 40 years of service to the fire district as chief. He actually served on the department for 60 years since he volunteered after moving to Winona in 1954.

“I drove the Winona fire truck,” he said. “I lived closest to the fire station, so I was the only one in Winona able to drive the truck out.”

The first truck he drove was a former Army truck, Jordan said.

“I’ve been out to many fires over the years,” he said.

When Jordan began his career, he had a red phone designated as the fire alarm.

A fire call on the red phone sent Virgil heading for the station while wife Betty Jordan pushed a button to activate the fire alarm in the station. The family had the phone for a few years.

“The girls were warned not to touch that phone,” Betty said about her daughters.

Virgil said of all the fires he’s battled, he’s only been truly frightened once.

He said it was a big fire in the the “scab rock” area in the 1960s. He found himself surrounded by smoke in the dark and was essentially lost until a fellow firefighter directed him to safety.

“It was rough territory, and I couldn’t see,” he said. “I couldn’t see where the rocks were and there were big holes,” he said.

Another volunteer firefighter stood on a stand on the front of the fire truck and directed Jordan on how to avoid hitting rocks and holes.

“I was sitting here praying,” his wife Betty commented.

Because most of the firefighters lived outside of Winona, Jordan said he took the truck to fires alone, joining his crew at the scene.

He said he fought a lot of house fires, most of them total losses, and CRP fires which were difficult to extinguish, and in all those fires neither he nor his crew sustained any injuries.

“I always tried to be mindful of my crew,” he said. “The driver protects people on the truck.”

“I can’t say I enjoyed fighting fires, but it was the neighborly thing to do,” he said. “I felt the need to do it. Lots of people called me first and then I called the fire department.”

Jordan also said he’s thankful for the cooperative agreements with other fire districts such as Benge, LaCrosse, Dusty and St. John.

Jordan said he couldn’t have put in all the years of fighting fires without Betty.

“She always made sandwiches and brought coffee to us,” he said. “She took care of the guys.”

Jordan said he feels sorry for the firefighters he sees in reports of the Carlton Complex fire that has burned more than 200,000 acres in north central Washington.

“I don’t know much about timber fires, but I do know they’re hard to put out,” he said.