Fire Chief Bill Wilkins looks through some old fire department logs from the Defiance Fire Department’s archives.
Two historical record books from the archives of the Defiance Fire Department.
Fire Chief Bill Wilkins looks through some old fire department logs from the Defiance Fire Department’s archives.
Two historical record books from the archives of the Defiance Fire Department.
The Defiance Fire Department celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and the city is invited to the party.
On Friday, Perry Street between Second and Third streets, in front of the fire station will be closed for the celebration.
According to Capt. Kenton McQuillin, the firefighters’ union will provide ice cream for the event.
“The open house for the public will be from 1-4 p.m. on the Aug. 19 and the Local 918 will provide ice cream cones at the station,” McQuillin said. “We will also have a fire safety trailer from Napoleon here for the kids to go through and learn about fire safety. And Sparky, the fire dog will be here.”
During that time, tours of the fire station will be given and the fire trucks from the past as well as current ones will be available for everyone to go through.
Fire Chief Bill Wilkins recently spoke to The Crescent-News about the history of the department and the celebration.
“The department was officially established on Aug. 19, 1872, when Defiance’s elected officials approved an ordinance to organize the community’s first fire company, Liberty Company No. 1, under the direction of Chief Engineer John F. Deatrick Sr. and a handful of dedicated volunteers,” said Wilkins. “Obviously there were fire department groups prior to that year, but that’s when the elected officials actually established it by ordinance.”
Wilkins presented record books dating back to the 1880s with the establishment of the department.
“I have record books and journals kept by previous chiefs from 1887, 1890s, up through the 1900s,” noted Wilkins. “There are some journals here with what took place on fire responses for the year, up through the 1890s from different chiefs. From the 1950s there is an old document that kind of gives an outline of the department and this would have been done in 1950. It gives the overview. At that time Chief Harvey Hughes was in charge.
“On April 1, 1874, two years after formally formed, Chief Deatrick provided an inventory of items from the department at the time,” Wilkins added. “Thirty cents for three brooms; up to $4,500 for an engine house and the lot where the building stood; a hook and ladder wagon, $700 value; Jupiter hose cart, $250; 20 sections of 2.5-inch leather hose which was valued at $1,340; six signal lanterns valued at $30; a fire bell and hangings, $400 value; and numerous small tools; making a total value of the fire department equipment at that time all in good order of $13,645.60. Kind of gives you an idea of what the department consisted of. During that time, there were eight fires and fire alarms during the year. The amount of property loss was $400 with $320 of insurance paid.”
Fast forward to today and the number of runs has drastically increased with many differences.
“The average work week now is 56 hours,” Wilkins said. “We have 26-full time on the team, and each one is on 24 hours and off 48 hours. And last year we made 3,139 runs — the most ever — and most of them were EMS. In regard to dollar values for the equipment, an engine costs somewhere around $600,000, an aerial will cost over $1 million, it doesn’t take very long to go past what they looked at. A monitor here for EMS is going to cost $20,000 and above. It’s a totally different era of money, cost and expenses. At that time there was limited expense for wages versus wages today.”
The intent of the celebration is to look at the history and tradition.
“We want to remember those who came before us — what they did before us to establish and get a department started that is respected and goes above and beyond for the community to this day,” indicated Wilkins. “We want to be the same as what they were by getting the department started years ago. Look at what they did back then compared to what we work with today. Number one, you have a department that was established to protect the citizens and community, and that’s the way it is today. And then you have 150 years of tradition that is carried forward by each generation of firefighters to the next. If I look at that challenge that I throw out to the staff it would be to carry on that tradition and to continue what the generations before you did.”
Wilkins also said that the unsung heroes are too easily forgotten — family members of firefighters.
“Part of the celebration is to honor the spouses and children who give up a lot because the spouse goes away at a holiday meal to a fire or an emergency call and leaves the family home,” Wilkins said. “The spouse keeps the meal hot for them to come back. All of those sacrifices made by the family need to be remembered and honored. They are the unsung heroes.”
Accordingly, Wilkins said that this time gives the department an opportunity to reassess its past, look at the present and also plan for the future.
“We will have photos from the past, we have a hose cart that was used in the 1850s that will be there — that hose cart was pulled by hand,” Wilkins said, indicating some of the sacrifices earlier firefighters made with brute force. “We’ll have the old Defiance fire truck here and show the evolution of equipment up to the current equipment we have. And around 4:30 p.m. we have invited all past members of the department and spouses and family members for a memorial service and dinner. Past city officials are being asked to attend. The fire service tradition has always been bagpipes affiliated, so we have a piper coming in. There’s a meet and greet from 4:30-5 p.m. and around 5 p.m. the program with introductions and memorial service starts for those that have passed away through its inception.”
Wilkins said that memorial service includes ringing a bell, and the piper will play “Amazing Grace” at the end. After the private memorial service the group will transition to a formal sit down dinner and then a tour of the station for those who haven’t been there for awhile.
“One thing that came out of this was getting the history,” reiterated Wilkins. “And part of that history is that there was one chief from 1918-31, John Schumann, who died in the line of duty at a fire and we were never really aware of that until this research. He died on Jan 20, 1931, at 903 Latty St. He came out of the structure with a hose line, dragging the hose out of the smoke-filled structure, and fell and passed away. We will be adding his name to the memorial out here in front.
“Tradition in the fire service has always been there and our goal is not to forget the sacrifices that those who came before us have made,” said Wilkins. “They had very little personal protection equipment, no breathing protection at that time.”
He added that “what those individuals sacrificed in themselves” they passed along to “each generation.”
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