History: History of Eau Claire Co. Volunteer Fire Department ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Nance Sampson 26 March 1999 ==================================================================== Township Fire Department Protects Large Rural Area The Township Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. was organized in 1954 with one small pumper purchased from the Eau Claire County Volunteer Fire Department of Fall Creek. Fourteen years later the department has expanded to include five townships and it has 15 trucks. The first organizational meeting of the department was held at the Eau Claire County Courthouse on Dec. 13, 1954. On Jan. 21, 1955 the first board of directors was elected. It included Henry Graff, president; Charles Milward, secretary; Arthur Donaldson, treasurer, and Robert Rossman and Herman Dahl, board members. The department was incorporated and bylaws were drawn up on the same day. A meeting for all townships was held in Union Township on Jan. 24, 1956, to plan for regular central monthly meetings. Since Feb. 22, 1956 a joint meeting has been held for all townships each month at the central station south of the Crossroads in the Town of Washington. The first fire chief was Dave Olson, who was assisted by Kenneth Frietag. There were 85 members of the department. Now the department has 250 members, with Richard Dielke, as chief, and Lawrence Bushendorf and Truman Voss, assistant chiefs. The department is organized so that each township has a number. All trucks, equipment and residences have numbers beginning with the township number. Seymour Township is No. 1. Its first monthly meeting was held on April 30, 1955. Chief Dave Olson presided at the first meeting and present deputy chief is Ronald Salter. Washington Township, No. 2, held its first monthly meeting Jan. 23, 1957 with Deputy Chief Truman Voss presiding. The present deputy chief is Marshall Horlacher. Union Township is No. 3. The first meeting was held June 4, 1955 with Assistant Fire Chief Kenneth Frietag presiding. Now the deputy chief is Charles Stolp, Jr. Township No. 4 is Pleasant Valley, where the first meeting was held Nov. 5, 1956. The deputy chief then, Garth Ryder, is still serving. In Brunswick Township, No. 5, the first meeting was held in March, 1960. Deputy Chief Martin Helwig is still presiding. The first township auxiliary was organized in June 1957 with the purpose of raising money to help finance special equipment and help the firemen. The ladies also serve refreshments for the firefighters at big fires. The Town of Washington auxiliary was the first to organize. Mrs. Ray Lorberter was the first president and Mrs. Rueben Peterson is the present one. Union Township came next. The name of the first president was not recorded, but Mrs. LaMoine Meyers is the present one. The Seymour auxiliary was organized on May 12, 1958 with Mrs. Alfred Smith as president. Mrs. Charles Glassbrenner is the present president. Pleasant Valley was organized on May 27, 1958 with Mrs. Garth Ryder as head. Now the president is Mrs. Harold Pabst. Finally the Brunswick auxiliary was formed in June of 1960. Brunswick has joint meetings of the firemen and auxiliary. Mrs. Robert Myren is the secretary. The department still has the old mascot No. 1 pumper it began with, plus six pumpers, five tankers, two brush buggies, and an aerial ladder truck. A full compliment of trucks was acquired by 1961 and the sixth pumper was received by the Union department on Feb. 6 of this year (1968). All of the trucks are equipped with two-way radios which keep them in contact with the central station at all times. Many of the men have two-way radios in their private cars as well as fire monitors in their homes. All the trucks are equipped with a regular compliment of fire fighting equipment, plus an inventory of nine Scott air paks, three smoke ejector fans, four resuscitators, five portable light plants, and two mobile generators. The central station also has a stationary generator to keep the switchboard and two-way radios in operating condition in case of a power failure. --Taken from the Eau Claire Leader / The Daily Telegram, Progress Edition, 1968