A Look-See at Some of the History of the
Fletcher Volunteer Fire Department
Although there has been at least some type of fire brigade in Fletcher since circa 1852, the organization of the Fletcher Volunteer Fire Department came about in 1950 when it became an extension of the village council. Some of the men involved were council members Wilbur (“Willie”) Ankerman and William Suber (Howard Suber’s father), along with Jim Bradley and Sam Niswonger (Bob Niswonger’s father). Willie Ankerman became the first fire chief, and held the realm until his death, upon which Marion Derr took the helm, with Howard Suber serving as assistant chief.
Prior to the official organization, Howard Suber recalls what he believes to be the village’s first motorized fire vehicle – a Model “A” Ford with an open cab that sported a three-cylinder, chain driven midship pump driven off the drive shaft. “It was relatively slow on the road, but it had a rear flat step and I can recall that it was often ‘pushed’ to fires to get there more quickly” by another car, which wasn’t a problem with the prominent front bumpers of the time.
The fire department at that time was located in the first small building west of the Town Hall. It was also where the village council met. There were two jail cells in the north end of the building and it was heated with a coal stove. Before there were sirens, there was a bell on top of the building similar to a church bell to summon the firemen to a fire call.
Once it got to the fire, the Model “A” was a very efficient pumper, and worked well for drafting water out of creeks or cisterns. One such cistern made of slabs of limestone was located near present-day 305 S. Walnut on the west side of the street. Prior to the pumper, they used to open up the cistern to expose the ladder descending into it, allowing its use for bucket brigades where citizens lined up to hand buckets down the line for fires in the village.
However, the Model “A” was not conducive to fire hydrants, which came about as a result of the installation of the village water system beginning in 1936. Complete with water tower, the water system’s hydrants supplied water in larger volume and higher pressure. To solve the hydrant dilemma, the Model “A” was sold and a red 1940 Chevrolet “Howe” truck featuring a 500 gal./min. Waterous pump was purchased during WW II. They could not get a new chassis due to the war, so they had to settle for a used one.
The main problem with this truck was that to engage the pump, you had to shift it from “Drive” to “Pump”, so while fighting a grass fire, you had to drive forward and then stop to pump, then stop pumping to go forward, then stop going forward to pump, then . . . . . well, you get the picture. The same principle is used with our large Engines 1 and 3 today, however we have the advantage of smaller, specialized pieces of equipment with which to fight grass fires that pump “on the go” using small engines to drive the pumps.
After the department was organized, the village purchased a Ford truck with a Barton or Sutphen centrifugal pump on the front end. Howard Suber remembers that you had to engage the pump at an idle and shift it just right or it would jam and you couldn’t get it disengaged. Because it sat out front, it also had to be covered in cold weather to keep it from freezing up. During this period, in 1955 Wayne Hardman joined the force after coming home from the armed service. He must have liked it – he stayed on for 32 years. Or maybe it was the connections he had – Chief Wilbur Ankerman was his father-in-law!
The first project of the department once it was organized in 1950 was to enlarge the old Town Hall, a cement block building 28 x 32 feet. The village council approved and the costs were paid from revenue received from the townships for fire protection. Firemen provided free labor. Some time later, as the department acquired more trucks and equipment, they were housed in the building located at the northwest corner of Main and Walnut that belonged to the village as it does today. That building had previously been a broom factory. It used to be divided by a wall, which around 1964 was torn out to open it up. That was the year Chief Lynn Bierly joined the ranks, serving until the last part of 2002. He remembers there used to be a stage in the southwest corner of the south part of the building where they would put on different shows of talent or what-not.
The fire chief answered to the mayor and the village council. All of the business of the fire department went through the village council until the department became a private incorporated organization in the early 1970’s.
If someone wanted to be a member of the fire department back then, he had to be unanimously chosen by the other members – one blackball was all it took to keep a person from joining the ranks. A ladies auxiliary, made up mostly of the firemen’s wives, was organized in 1957 and was very active up until a few years ago, assisting with refreshments and food on fire scenes as well as fundraising functions. Until about 1964, all the firemen wore long rubber coats, boots and helmets that served as their turnout gear.
It is also told that in the late 50’s or early 60’s, Chief Jim Bradley would be resourceful if two tanker trucks were not enough to meet the water needs of a particular fire. He had a tank hoisted up at his farm which he could quickly drop into his farm truck and haul water with it.
Before there were electronic pagers worn by every fireman to alert him of a fire, a phone tree system existed in conjunction with the fire siren on top of the firehouse to quickly summon the firemen. Those in the village could hear the siren and respond. Those out on the farms relied on the phone tree, in which one person would call the next person on the list, and on down the line to notify the firemen to respond. Many times wives had to chase down their husband firefighters out in the field where they were working and alert them.
Before 9-1-1 or dispatching from the Sheriff’s Department came to be, a person needing the fire department to respond would call the local fire phone number. This number would ring five fire phones in the village – two at Suber’s (funeral home and hardware store), and one each at Dick and Emma Mae Pearson’s, Marion Derr’s, and Ankerman’s filling station (now Hart’s Automotive Sales). Someone was always within earshot of the fire phones. Once the call was received, the person answering the fire phone could get the information, then pull up a button on the fire phone located under the phone cradle, then flip a switch elsewhere on the wall to activate the fire siren. Both the button on the phone and the wall switch had to be activated to prevent false alarms.
Things have changed much since the days of the fire phone. For a time, the Miami County Sheriff’s Department dispatched the fire calls through the use of radio pagers similar to what are used today. That was taken over by the Miami County Communications Center when the new 9-1-1 emergency telephone system was implemented countywide in 1991. All emergency telephone calls using the 9-1-1 number are answered at this center, where a sophisticated computer aided dispatch (CAD) system shows the dispatcher where the call is coming from (except for cell phones at this time) and what police, fire, or EMS organization has jurisdiction. With the new dispatch center came a new 800 MHz radio system that was put into service countywide, a system that is still used and will be used in the foreseeable future.
In the mid-1990’s, the fire equipment was outgrowing the current space in the firehouse. With no room to expand, Chief Rod Howell initiated plans to build a new firehouse somewhere in the community. Planning progressed, however was stopped in its tracks in November of 1996 when a tragic farm accident took the life of Chief Howell. After a long period of reflection and adjustment, an opportunity to purchase some property with existing buildings suitable for housing fire trucks arose. The planning process was again on track, albeit a different track under the charge of Chief Lynn Bierly.
In 2000, the trucks were moved from downtown Fletcher to the new facility south of the village at 6605 S.R. 589, the former home of Morrow Trucking. An open house was held on July 22, 2000. The truck barn had one bay that was finished and was large enough to store the trucks in until the other four unfinished bays of the barn could be renovated. A second driveway, a concrete floor, overhead doors, restrooms, a large kitchen, a septic system, electric service, plumbing, and other improvements were completed over the next year or two with the support of the community through a tax levy. The firemen designed and completed much of the work.
After a short, temporary stay in the old firehouse in the village, the Fletcher – Brown Township Emergency Services squads will soon be relocated into a new building being constructed next to the firehouse. The new building will have three bays, a meeting room, and a kitchenette area. The organization currently operates two emergency squad vehicles.
Currently, the Fletcher Volunteer Fire Department operates two engines, one tanker, one four-wheel-drive mini-pumper, and a four-wheel-drive grass truck. We just recently took over the operation of a pickup truck and air trailer, which is owned by the Miami County Fire Chiefs Association and was formerly operated by the Troy Emergency Crew until their recent disbandment. This unit has a bank of air bottles used to fill self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles at the scene of large fires or hazardous situations. Any department in the county or even outside of the county may request its response to an emergency scene.
The Fletcher Volunteer Fire Department serves its fire district consisting of nearly 80 square miles, including the Village of Fletcher, Brown Township, Springcreek Township, the northern areas of Lostcreek Township, the southern areas of Green Township (Shelby County), and the south-eastern areas of Orange Township (Shelby County). We also respond to many mutual aid calls to the surrounding fire districts, and we rely on the same mutual aid response from those districts when we need them.
There are many more people, multiple events, and pieces of equipment that have not been mentioned in this synopsis, but it does not mean they have been forgotten or unappreciated. The truth is, it takes a community to support and maintain a successful volunteer fire department, and we are fortunate to have such a supportive base to be able to make the department what it is today. Our rich history shows that this has always been the case.
THANKS to Howard Suber, Wayne Hardman, and Lynn Bierly for their memories!
Compiled by Ken DeWeese
