Great Leland Fire Story

This story was written by Sherborn Firefighter Allan N. Stevens, from the publication "A Sherborn Boy's Stories". 

The spring of 1946 was the year of great forest fires from Maine to Florida. It seems the winter and spring were dry and the winds of March and April were strong. During the month of April, a large fire raged over 15,000 acres of upper Cape Cod forestland. At this time a large woods fire started in Holliston and was making its way Fisk Street/Mill Street and the Leland Farm. The Sherborn Fire Chief, Lester Klein, responded to the scene with his three trucks and firefighters including us boys and soon realized this fire was much larger and faster moving than the ordinary brush fire typically encountered. He requested help from a State fire truck, Department of Conservation and Recreation, operating in the neighborhood and also any orchard spraying equipment that could respond. I think Lester’s wife, Barbara or Mrs. Leland must have called around.

He positioned the three Sherborn trucks and the state truck between the fire and the Leland homestead. About this time a spray rig from Scudder Orchards arrived driven by 14-year-old Rusty Kennett. Rusty didn’t have a driver license, but the Scudder people knew he could drive the truck, so they sent him along. Legalities could be sorted out after the fire was put out.

Lester said “you boys”, Raymie and Bob Edson, Gordan Henderson, Jeff Taylor, John Gray and me, yes, The Boys of Main Street, “go with Rusty down Mill Street to the intersection of Fisk Street and Gravel Woods Road on the right.” At the town line Mill Street becomes Fisk Street Holliston so it’s hard to tell exactly where we were. “Take up a position there and run your hose down the gravel road and try to keep the fire from advancing any further toward the Leland Property.” We arrived at the location with the spray truck which was a WWII army truck. The spray rig water tank held about six hundred gallons with about 1one hundred and fifty feet of hose attached to the gasoline engine pressure pump. Rusty started the pump motor and the rest of us pulled the hose down the dirt road as far as we could go. We could hear the fire coming and it was huge. This was no brush fire. This fire was burning all the underbrush and torching whole trees. The smoke was getting dense, but we wet down the surrounding area and help our ground. Soon the fire was upon us. The smoke was dense and the heat and noise was like nothing we had ever experienced. We soon realized we needed to get out of the way, so we said, “o.k. everybody back to the truck” and we ran for our lives. When we got back to the truck, we realized Jeff wasn’t with us. He had been manning the nozzle and perhaps didn’t hear us. So we all ran back down the roads calling him. Soon he responded but said he couldn’t see so we told him to hold onto the hose and we would pull him back. We did and soon he emerged from the smoke with the fire right behind him. We all then dashed for the truck again and not knowing what else to do we dove under it for safety. 

The fire roared up the edge of Fisk Street/Mill Street and jumped over the road and the truck without hesitation and continued roaring through the woods on the other side of the road on its wat toward the Millis and Holliston town line. In a few minutes, when we felt it was safe, we emerged from under the truck, and in typical style we thought it was funny and stood around laughing. Glad to be alive, I think. We then realized Rusty was still in the cab.  He was beet red and not moving so we opened the door and lifted him out onto the ground. We were very concerned, but didn’t know what was wrong. Soon, However, he started to come around and then we realized the fire had sucked all the oxygen out of the truck cab and Rusty was essentially dying from suffocation. Fourteens’ a good age and he recovered rapidly. Again, another laughing matter.

We returned to Leland farm and reported in to Lester. When we told him what happened he was visibly shaken. He realized he almost lost about one third of the male population of Sherborn High School and one WWII veteran. He then asked us, however, to take a place on the perimeter with the other trucks to guard the Leland house and barn. Rusty drove us to the designated spot and shortly we could see the fire coming our way. This time, however, the fire was much more subdued because at some point Mr. Leland had cleared the underbrush away and the fire was easily handled. With all the trucks pouring water on it we managed to keep it away from the buildings and the Leland homestead survived unscathed. Everyone felt good about the outcome, however, it was very nearly a tragic one. It was to be our last adventure as the boys of Main Street.

            We all stayed on the Fire Department as volunteers for a couple more years and then we were gone….