SHIRLEY — As little boys, Andy and Danny Ebbert would often play in their playpen or ride their tricycles through the Shirley Volunteer Fire Department.
One night when their mom ran a pair of boots and a coat over to her husband, Marty Ebbert, who was fighting a big factory fire, the boys pressed their faces against the windows from inside the car, transfixed, watching their dad in action.
When they each turned 18, the boys followed in their dad’s footsteps, volunteering for the same department.
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Two years ago, shortly after turning 18, Andy’s daughter Emily Ebbert followed suit, making the third consecutive generation of Ebberts to volunteer at the rural fire department.
Each of them has spent their entire lives in Shirley.
They all live within a half mile of the fire department, which sits on the main drag through town.
The family will soon have served a cumulative 100 years at the department. Marty has served 43 years, Andy has served 28; his brother Danny has served 25; and Emily has served two, for a grand total of 98 years.
Andy Ebbert is quick to point out that theirs is not the only family with strong ties to the department.
“We have several families that have had several generations serve, not necessarily at the same time, but in a small community families typically pass on their zeal and enthusiasm to serve,” he said.
The Willis family has two brothers and a cousin at the department, and their fathers and great uncle previously served, Ebbert said. The Florea family has an uncle and a nephew serving, and the nephew’s father and grandfather previously served.
Firefighting runs in their blood.
“We were put here to serve people, and that’s one of the best ways you can do it,” said Marty Ebbert, 69, who joined the department at the age of 26.
While he never guessed his young sons would follow in his footsteps, he’s proud to count both sons and now a granddaughter among his fellow crew members.
His oldest son, Andy, 46, is now the department’s chief. His younger son Danny, 43, is first lieutenant. Marty Ebbert is the pump master.
“I just kind of follow along wherever I’m needed,” Emily Ebbert said with a smile.
The Shirley department consists of 25 volunteers, most of whom work full-time jobs, and are on call to help their community when duty calls, assuming they’re in town. There’s always enough volunteers around to help when needed.
Some, like Marty Ebbert, who is retired, are around more than others. He previously worked 30 years at Guide Lamp, a General Motors factory in Anderson, then served as Shirley’s town maintenance supervisor for another 20.
Andy and Danny Ebbert both work full time for the Fishers Fire Department, where they alternate 24-hour shifts.
“Scheduling family holidays and other get-togethers can be really difficult,” said their mother, Pam Ebbert, who has proudly watched her husband, sons and granddaughter serve the Shirley department over the years.
Around 1980, when her boys were very young, she started the Shirley Volunteer Fire Department’s women’s auxiliary, organizing bake sales and car washes to raise funds to buy the department new equipment.
She’s the first person Emily Ebbert came to when she decided to apply to join the department.
“I knew if she wasn’t mad at me, that my mom wouldn’t be mad at me,” said Emily Ebbert, smiling at the memory.
After graduating from Eastern Hancock High School in 2018, she started classes at Ball State University, where she commutes from her childhood home.
She’s pursuing a degree in behavioral analysis, working with autistic children, and hopes to pursue a master’s degree and become a behavioral technician after graduating from Ball State next fall.
Emily Ebbert caught the firefighting bug at 16, when taking part in the department’s cadet program. “We did a lot of mock training, and I had a lot of fun with that group,” she recalled.
After joining the department, it took her no time to feel like part of the family. She’s spent a considerable amount of time at the department throughout her life, and already felt connected to the crew.
“I enjoy the group we have,” she said. “I have too many ‘uncles’ to count.”
Her dad said the firefighters are just like family.
“We work together in some of the harshest of times. Whether it be traumatic loss, harsh conditions, or exhaustion, these things you share in service to the community bring you together like no other bond,” Andy Ebbert said.
“We work together enough to anticipate the needs of the situation by a look or a certain head nod. We rely and trust each other with critical decisions on an emergency scene, sharing and listening to post-incident emotion, working fundraisers, and investing our time and efforts to do what we believe to be necessary to serve our community. We may argue like siblings, but we also work together like a team,” he said.
The department goes on an average of 25 calls a month, most of which are EMT runs. They get roughly five to six fire runs a month.
“Fifty to seventy percent of our runs are mutual aid runs, assisting other departments,” Andy Ebbert said.
Working in a small town, the likelihood of getting called to help someone you know is exceptionally high, he said.
“This makes it all too real and difficult to go away from without being affected emotionally. Most firefighters are quiet about their triumphs, and critical of themselves in their perceived failures,” the chief said, but he still loves the job.
“What draws me is that the job is something different every day,” he said. “Oftentimes, you’re helping somebody out in their worst time.”
His brother Danny loves giving back to his tight-knit, rural hometown. “I like it because it’s off the beaten path. It’s quiet and laid back,” he said.
Marty Ebbert pointed out that while the community is small, it’s an independent town and a great place to live. The volunteer fire department was founded in 1890, he said, nearly two decades before the town’s water system was integrated in 1908.
The town’s fire department used a hose cart until 1925, the year it bought its first Model T fire truck.
“That was right after the whole town nearly burned down,” said Danny Ebbert, who grew up hearing stories about the fire that nearly destroyed the town.
There was a fire in an apartment over a restaurant, and it spread to the adjoining buildings, he said.
“It burned down almost all the downtown,” chimed in his brother.
It was another major fire that prompted his dad to join the fire department in 1977.
“There was a fire on 300 South that had three trucks at it, and he went out there to help out because they needed extra help,” recalled Andy.
Marty Ebbert was recruited to join the department, and a few years later, his wife, Pam, started the auxiliary.
“We’d take them hot chocolate in the middle of the night, helped with festivals and parades, and raised money to buy new equipment,” she said.
One of the most memorable nights was the time the auxiliary members headed out to help the firefighters at an overnight fire, in the winter of 1980 or so, when the temperature was far below zero.
“Their jackets were soaking wet and frozen solid, and we had to take a hammer to crack the ice. Then we’d slide our hands in to get their jackets off,” Pam Ebbert recalled.
“We’d set the coats in the corner and watch them just melt onto the floor.”
The fire department has been housed in its current location at 212 Main St. since 1976. The department later expanded into the adjacent town hall, when the latter was relocated less than a quarter mile down the street.
Today, the fire department is home to seven firefighting rigs as well as a relaxing space with couches and a TV, where volunteers and their families can spend time when they’re not on runs.
It’s a second home to the Ebbert family, who often see more of each other on duty than they do at each other’s homes
Andy and Danny, the brothers who once pressed their faces against the window to watch their dad fight fires in Shirley, are proud to now be volunteering alongside their father, raising their own children in the same idyllic small town.
“This isn’t necessarily a job. It’s a passion,” Andy said.
“That is something that lives within most committed and tenured firefighters — serving your neighbors because you feel a sense of duty. Not because it’s your job, but because you feel you need to help.”
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The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and State Farm Agent Brooke Palmer are
teaming up with the Greenfield Fire Department to support Fire Prevention Week, an annual
public awareness campaign that promotes critical home fire safety messages. NFPA has been
the official sponsor of the campaign for more than 90 years.
The campaign works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to
keep themselves and those around them safe. Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 4-11. The kits
contain educational fire prevention materials about Kitchen Fires for homeowners and children.
State Farm agents know first-hand the trauma a family faces following a devastating house fire,
and that’s one reason why they are taking a proactive approach to working with local fire
departments.
According to NFPA, cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries in the
United States. Almost half (44%) of reported home fires started in the kitchen. Two-thirds (66%)
of home cooking fires start with the ignition of food or other cooking materials.
“A cooking fire can grow quickly. I have seen many homes damaged and people injured by fires
that could easily have been prevented,” Agent Brooke Palmer said in a news release.
Safety tips to prevent cooking fires
• Never leave cooking food unattended. Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling or
broiling. If you have to leave, even for a short time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the
home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you’re cooking.
• You have to be alert when cooking. You won’t be alert if you are sleepy, have taken
medicine or drugs, or consumed alcohol that makes you drowsy.
• Always keep an oven mitt and pan lid nearby when you’re cooking. If a small grease fire
starts, slide the lid over the pan to smother the flame. Turn off the burner, and leave the
pan covered until it is completely cool.
• Have a “kid-free zone” of at least 3 feet around the stove and areas where hot food or
drink is prepared or carried.
For more general information about Fire Prevention Week and cooking fire prevention, visit
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