The Carolina Choo-Choo man, Joe Fuller, of Clinton, has issued a call for bottled water, to replenish supplies that were given to firefighters at the Aug. 27 Uptown Clinton fire.
The donated water will be stored at Broad Street United Methodist Church in Clinton, and can be donated there. A donation point also is available at Firmin Ford in Laurens.
Fuller takes bottled water, on the trailer that hauls his train for youngsters, to natural disaster areas in North and South Carolina. His most recent trip was along I-40 near Asheville in a flood-ravaged area.
His “closest call” with a natural disaster was in 2015, coming back from visiting his brother in Tabor City, N.C., when flood waters trapped him and the truck at Nichols, in eastern South Carolina.
The tiny town was kind of forgotten for awhile in the response to massive flooding that struck throughout South Carolina. Houses are still vacant there to this day, Fuller said.
Emergency crews eventually rescued Fuller and others, but his truck’s motor and transmission remained submerged for two weeks in flood waters.
That’s when he traded with Firmin for a replacement truck to maintain his organization, Ride Trains for Fun of SC, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit that offers choo-choo rides at schools, carnivals and other youth events. He’s even ridden some “big kids” in pre-football game events at Presbyterian College.
Now, Fuller says his entire stock of water stored at Broad Street UMC was used for the Clinton and many neighboring firefighters who battled the Musgrove Street blaze. It needs to be restocked in case of another fire or natural emergency anywhere in South Carolina.
He’s glad that the water was used as needed, but he’s worried about the next need that comes up - here or elsewhere.
Fuller wants it known that he’s not asking for families to buy many, many cases of 16 oz water bottles. Just one per family - from every family in Laurens County - would provide a good stockpile.
“Unless people just WANT TO buy more cases,” Fuller said.
Disasters, like the one Clinton experienced on Aug. 27, are unexpected, so having stockpiled supplies is the best way to respond quickly. Authorities have said, during the Clinton fire, they were overwhelmed by the amount of bottled water, Gatorade and other supplies that the public brought to the fire scene, to meet the needs of the embattled firefighters. The blaze was fought for hours during a Tuesday afternoon with the late-day temperature at 90 degrees.
And, even though the weather seems more like fall now, in September, there’s a reality on the horizon.
Just ahead is the most active time for hurricane season (just remember Hugo, Sept. 10-25, 1989).
Info about the youth train: Ride Trains for Fun of SC, Joe Fuller - engineer/conductor, 864-923-1444, e-mail: fullerj500@gmail.com
