09/05/2026
Thank you Beech Grove VFD, Jasper TX for establishing such a great culture and Leonard Johnston for putting our citizens and those just passing through first. As a public servant it should be a "Service Before Self" mentality. The fire service is not always about the fires or medical responses rather is about doing right by others no matter the task.
Received this message on the BGVFD page last night and wanted to share, after receiving permission to do so from Kenny Scott.
Mr. Scott and his family are from out of state and were traveling through Jasper County when they had a flat tire and had to stop in the Beech Grove community, on the side of US Highway 190.
One of our BGVFD members, Leonard Johnston, was in the area when he saw the situation and stopped to help.
Long story short, the Scott family had already lost one tire, so their spare was in use…..no more spare tires.
Leonard recognized that the tire was something he could fix with a tire plug, so he took the tire off, took it to the station, plugged it and aired it up. He then reinstalled on the Scott’s car and they were off!
As a Fire Chief, it’s good to receive these kind of messages. Leonard had no obligation to stop and help, but he did…….because it’s the right thing to do.
We started this organization 10 years ago in Steve Wilson’s shop. We decided that night that we wanted to start a fire department in Beech Grove because the community needed it….deserved it. Before we left that first meeting, we established our Board of Directors and were well on our way.
But what we also established was a culture of being a community organization who just happens to have some fire trucks and respond to calls for help.
And we also established a culture of just doing what’s right……
Leonard did what was right yesterday, and as a result the Scott family resumed their journey after a brief delay. Good job taking care of the community, even if they were just passing through.
