Today, Wayne Poole is the second oldest firefighter on Elk City Fire Department’s roster. He hails from a family lineage that has given a lot to the fire department. The Poole surname is almost synonymous with the ECFD. He learned young to sacrifice not only life and limb for the safety of others but also time with his own family for community safety.
“I never thought I would be one of the old guys,” Poole laughed, noting how quickly time passes.
When the planes flew into the Twin Towers on September 11, Poole was new to the department.
The entire country was shocked, almost traumatized.
But the reality of what the tragedy meant was different for Poole and others doing crucial first responder jobs.
Without pause, he would march into certain death to save strangers in Elk City and the surrounding community. He wants no accolades for that — it’s the job he signed up for.
With so much time passed from that harrowing day, Poole and only a few other members were even adults on September 11, 2001. But climbing up in honor of that day was essential to the ECFD — even those who were babies.
“We, as in firemen, are brothers throughout the country and world,” Poole said. “It is a worldwide thing. Sure, it isn’t biological, but it is different. It is a family that we chose. And our families understand that.”
To support that, Poole’s 20-year-old son Saxon took the name of a fallen firefighter and climbed with him and seven other ECFD crew on Saturday.
The OKC 9/11 Memorial Climb was held in a downtown Oklahoma City building, making it possible to climb 110 stories. This was done with full gear, wearing up to 75 pounds.
Also on the climb were Dalton Stevens, Jason Crews, Chris Nidey, Keenan Clark, Derek Ellis, Jimmie Nidey, Brian Pierce, Andrew Walcott, Macie Walcott, JoAnn Walcott, and Andrew Walcott’s nephew Hunter.
Poole said the climb was significant for numerous reasons.
“It was important because I remember that day and the chaos around it,” he recounted. “I was already in the department at the time. This is true for many of us, but we would have gone in there if it wasn’t so far away. You knew these guys we honored this weekend were in there alone, and we would have helped them like they would have helped us. There’s a brotherhood. Then, to have these younger guys want to do this means a lot. We teach the past to learn for the future, but we never forget what was given up. They are young, just like some people who died that day. It is important to remember what you could give up. Having my son with me and him choosing to give up his time to this made it that much better. He is in college at OSU and in rugby. He could have done other things with his weekend. But it also reminded me again that I am one of the old guys now. Seeing him and the young guys in our department step up and do this shows leadership.”
