PORT NECHES — Fifty-plus years of fire chief experience gathered together to reminisce, talk shop and share some laughs at the Port Neches Fire Department on Friday.

Current fire chief Paul Nelson invited three of his predecessors — retired chiefs Jim Harrington, Ken Doise and Stephen Curran — for the sit-down at the office followed by lunch elsewhere.

“All of us are old friends, we go way back,” Curran, who served as chief from 2006-2016, said.

The combined experience of the chiefs runs from the days before certain industrial safeguards were in place and the beginnings of radio systems to a regional radio system that connects three counties.

“It’s pretty special to be a part of this group,” Nelson said while seated behind his desk that was the same desk that Harrington, Doise and Curran used. “There’s 50-plus years experience all together here. I’ve heard all sorts of stories on how things were done and we’ve talked about the responses and how industry has changed. We don’t see as many incidents with industry as we did before because of safeguards.”

Harrington was on duty back in 1974 when a storm blew through the area and a lightning strike ignited a storage tank containing crude oil, according to a story that ran in Industrial Fire World. That fire spread to another tank containing more than double the amount of crude than the first tank and heavy rains made the roads to the tank farm dangerous.

Additional firefighters were brought in from other cities and the fire was eventually extinguished.

The chiefs have also experienced major incidents from dangerous fires to oil spills.

Harrington served as chief from 1965 to 1989 and Doise served from 1989 to 2004. Nelson came on board in 2016.

“I don’t miss the inside of this office,” Doise said with a laugh when asked what he misses the most of the job. “I still miss hearing the trucks run.”

Curran said he still feels the pride of being a firefighter and spoke of a recent magazine cover from the International Association of Fire Fighters, the Firefighter Quarterly, which features a dramatic image of two firefighters in waist deep water, a fire truck to the side and a blazing house fire in the back.

The photo has been widely shared on the Internet and the story behind the photo is one that will likely will be remembered for years to come.

On Aug. 29, the night the Tropical Storm Harvey began dumping rain, there was a house fire on Kylewood Court in Port Arthur. One of Port Arthur Fire Department’s trucks had “drowned” trying to get to the scene so the Port Neches Fire Department jumped in to help. One of PNFD’s trucks had been modified by Doise years before to move the exhaust up high. This allowed the PNFD truck to get to the scene with aid.

The photo showed PN Firefighter Zachary Watts and Port Arthur Firefighter Clint Aslin next to the old PNFD truck.

Port Neches City Manager Andre Wimer stopped by the station for a visit wit the group.

“Port Neches has been exceptionally fortunate to have had these fire chiefs,’ Wimer said. “It’s an excellent department. I couldn’t ask for better folks to serve the community.”

Besides the obvious pride there’s the friendship and trust, Harrington said.

“I miss the camaraderie we had and the good relationship we had with everyone in this part of the county,” Harrington said. “I’ve been looking forward to this reunion. It’s better than a family reunion.”