Twin brothers’ decades of service shape Savannah Volunteer Fire Department

By Matthew Yates

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    SYLVA, North Carolina (WLOS) — It’s no secret that there have been many changes in Western North Carolina over the past few decades. Lloyd Green would agree.

“It’s changed a bunch, that’s for sure,” he said.

Green, who has spent almost his life in Jackson County, hasn’t observed the changes by himself. Every step of the way, his brother Floyd has been there. As one can quickly tell, not only are they brothers, they’re twins.

Together, Floyd and Lloyd helped start Savannah Volunteer Fire Department.

“We organized back in 1978,” Lloyd recalled.

At the time, they made the best out of what they had to serve the area.

“The building was actually built in ’81 or ’82, I think,” Lloyd said with a laugh as he and Floyd thought back to those early days. “We had some trucks before this building was even built. We operated out of a service station down the road here.”

The brothers began with about 30 calls a year.

“Now, we’re over 400 calls a year,” Floyd said.

As the number of calls grew, so did the department’s services. While it may be a fire department, Savannah Volunteer crews respond to vehicle accidents, medical emergencies and just about anything someone might need.

“We’ve done everything, including get snakes out of a house and stuff like that,” Lloyd said laughing again. “You never know what you’re going to get.”

Floyd agreed.

“Getting cats out of trees, little bit of everything,” he said.

The brothers try to have a good time on the job.

“It’s a lot of fun. We get the job done, but we have fun, too, you know, a lot of joking, cutting up,” Floyd said.

But Lloyd is quick to throw out a reminder.

“We can be serious when we need to be, though,” he said.

It’s a good balance, especially when they’re on scene and folks do a double take at seeing the brothers, which is a fairly common occurrence.

“Nothing unusual, we’re used to it,” Lloyd said.

These days, Floyd is the department’s chief, but Lloyd is right there with him serving as the assistant chief. But Floyd said his title hasn’t changed anything.

“I’m the chief, but I’m just one of the crew. It’s teamwork, you know, it takes everybody,” he said.

The brothers turned 70 this month, and, while they still love what they do, Floyd said they see the need for new generations to find the fire service.

“We need for young people to get involved in the fire department because we’re right now 70 years old, and there’s a lot of things, we can’t do anymore. We need more people to come out and get involved.”

Just like the brothers did years ago.

“It makes you feel good to help somebody,” Floyd said of why they’ve kept up with it.

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