HISTORY OF THE
1947 TO
2007
ANSWERING THE ALARM
FOR
SIXTY 
YEARS
The first known action by anyone was taken in the
year 1898, by a group of Township residents.
They met at the home of Adam Braun and organized a
volunteer fire department.
They built a two wheel cart and mounted a fifty
gallon cylinder tank to the cart.
The cart was equipped with a hand pump, buckets, and
fifty foot of hose no bigger than a modern garden hose.
The new fire cart was housed in the rear of Kreiling’s Saloon.
This was the beginnings of the current Fairfield
Township Fire Department.
The next recorded history is in 1922 when a group of
residents known as the Rosedale Improvement Association procured ten fire
extinguishers.
They were installed in every third house in the
subdivision.
This system served until 1945 when the need for more
adequate fire protection could no longer be ignored.
This was due to a fire in October of 1944 on
The
Volunteers paid an initiation fee of $10 to the
association and served without pay.
With donated material and men from the association
working together, the first fire station was built on the corner of
In 1946 the volunteers had a fire house for their
newly acquired truck. The truck was a
1930 Model A Ford, which was refurbished by Fred
Mullins and Ralph Kearney.
It carried 1500 gallons of water. Many times the volunteers themselves paid for
the oil and gas for the truck.
Ralph Kearney
was appointed Chief of the Department.
Fred Mullins and Garth Day were appointed Assistant
Chief of the Department.
In June of 1947 it became apparent that this small
organization could not provide adequate protection for the entire township.
A meeting was called by Harold Linz to discuss the
possibility of passing a bond issue to fund a township fire department.
The trustees being John McGreevy, Carl Schiering, and A.B.
McCormick agreed to place the issue on the ballot that November.
The bond issued passed by an overwhelming majority.
In 1948 a 500 gallon International Fire Truck was
purchased by the township and housed in a new fire house built on
Figure 1 - 1947 International Pumper
This fire house is still in use today.
The trustees appointed Fred Mullins as the first Fire
Chief of the township.
The township has only had seven fire chiefs since
1948.
Fred Mullins served for 8 years as Chief.
He was followed in order by Robert Sroufe, David Downie, Harold Niemoller,
William Hieb, James Wargo
and finally David Downie (son of formerly listed Chief by same name).
In August of
2006, David Downie after serving as Volunteer Fire Chief for 20 years was hired
as the first full time Fire Chief in
The firemen’s association survived the township
taking over the operation of the fire department.
It continued for many years as a sort of social
organization within the fire department.
The association hired new firemen, voted for their
choice of fire chief as needed and raised money to purchase items for the
department that the township did not have the money purchase.
These were funded through dances, raffles, and other
forms of fund raising.
Firemen applied for acceptance to the department to
the association and the association voted to hire or refuse the application.
Three no votes were needed to turn a candidate down
for the department.
The association also held several social events
throughout the year for the members.
The Christmas party was a favorite among the member’s
children, as Santa Claus arrived on the back of the fire truck with a present
for all the children.
Halloween was another fun time for the membership.
The members dressed in costume and competed in games.
A spring
picnic was held at a near by park with all the usual food and games.
With changes in society and the lack of interest by
the membership, the association eventually became out dated and brought about
its end.
The township took over the purchase of all equipment
and the hiring of all personnel.
Even though the association did not last, for many
years it was the backbone of the fire department.
This is true not only in
There are still some associations working today at
some of the smaller departments who do not have the funds they need to run
their departments.
In 1951 the township trustees realized the need for
additional equipment.
A 500 gallon GMC pumper was
purchased and housed at Symmes Corner in what now is
This became known as fire house #2, with fire house #1
being on
Figure 2 - Company #1 (1950's)
Life Squads were far and few in between. For the most part only cities in
In 1953,
Life Squad Service, in the beginning was manned by
fire department personnel who had completed an American Red Cross First Aid
Course.
Over the course of time requirements by the State of
In the 1970’s a state Emergency Medical Technician
class was required.
Later different levels of training were developed to
take care of the ever growing need for Emergency Medical needs in the field.
In August 2000 Paramedic Service became a reality in
the township.
Today the fire department runs two equipped Medic
Squads and a separate Paramedic Unit that responds in the evening when the
department depends mostly on volunteers.
Also in 1953, the township purchased a 1000 gallon
tanker which was housed at Symmes Corner.
A 900 gallon International tanker was donated to the
township, which they housed at the Tylersville Road
Fire House.
In 1954
With the township losing a fire house to the newly
incorporated
Figure 3 - Company #1 (1955)
Thus, in
1954 fire house #3 was built on
It was equipped with the 900 gallon International
tanker.
Figure 4 - Company #3 (1950's)
From the start of the township fire department,
firemen were notified of fires by a roof siren being set off at each fire
house.
The township contracted a telephone system from
Cincinnati Bell Telephone.
Fire phones, as they began to be referred as, were placed
in a member’s home.
Usually it was required that the house could be
counted on to answer the phone most of the time. That is why several phones
were placed.
In addition each fire house had a fire phone.
The houses with phones had a door bell type button
installed next to the phone.
This button activated the roof sirens at the fire
houses.
The sirens were old World War Two Air Raid Sirens
donated through Civil Defense.
When the first fireman arrived at the fire house he
would call the fire phone and he would be supplied with the address and nature
of the call.
In turn he would then write the address on a chalk
board in the fire house for all other arriving members to see the location of
the call.
The chalk board was needed because in the early days
of volunteer firefighting only a couple firemen could ride on the truck.
Most of the firemen drove their personal car to the
fires.
In the event the alarm was for a Life Squad the
person answering the call would call members of the department that were Life Squad
qualified to fill the call.
At the very least two members had to make the call.
In the event
no one was around to take the call, the Butler County Sheriff’s Deputies drove
station wagons with ambulance cots in the rear.
The only service they could provide was what we call
load and go.
No emergency medical attention was applied to the
patient.
In 1959 a fire levy was passed and the township
purchased a new Cadillac Ambulance equipped with all the modern first aid gear
to date.
As times changed so did the need for a better method
of notifying members of fires and life squad calls.
In the mid 1970’s the township purchased a radio
system which replaced the need for roof sirens.
Radio desk base stations were installed in the homes
that had the fire phones.
Each fireman was given a radio receiver (Plectron) that they kept at home.
When a call was received tones were sent out over the
radio and voice notification was given whether the call was a fire or a call
for the life squad.
In the first few months of operation the roof siren
still sounded when a fire call was sent out
The chalk board continued use for a short time until
all members became familiar with the new system.
In the mid to late 1980’s the plectrons
were phased out and replaced with personal pagers that each member carried.
The fire phone system eventually became obsolete and
the Butler County Sheriff took over the responsibility of dispatching the fire
department.
Today the members are required to take shifts manning
the fire station so response time is held to a minimum.
At night, on large fires, some volunteers still
respond from their homes to get back up engines or squads for the runs as
needed.
In 1956 a new GMC front mount pumper
was purchased by the township for use at fire house #3 on
The need for additional fire equipment was deemed
necessary as more houses were built in this area of the township.
In 1964 the membership decided it was time to bring
the fire department more up to date.
The members approached the township trustees with the
idea of purchasing a new modern pumper to meet the
needs of a growing community.
However, the township was not in a financial position
to purchase such a truck.
The members were determined to get a new truck, so
the membership got together and decided to give up their run pay to purchase
the new pumper.
The trustees agreed and a 1964 F.W.D. Pumper was purchased.
The truck was a demonstrator that had become
available at a good price.
This was a huge step forward for firefighting in the
township.
Figure 5 - Company #3 (1960's)
With no where to house the new truck an additional
truck bay was added to the Tylersville Road Fire
House.
The addition was built by members of the department.
In the early days of the department, if not for the
members doing the work, a lot of what you see today would not exist.
Over the years members of
the department donated goods and services to the betterment of the department.
Most of the mechanical work done on the trucks and
squad was preformed by members of the department.
They changed the oil as needed and many times paid
for the repairs out of their own pocket.
Back then all the members had a stake in the township
and the need to bond together to provide the best possible service for all the
citizens.
The members’ wives were also involved with the
operation of the department.
They had formed the ladies auxiliary which held fund
raisers for the fire department and a lot of time provided much needed food and
refreshment to the firemen on large fires.
Without the support of the wives a lot of the social
and community functions carried out the fire department, would not have ever
happened.
As you can see early volunteer fire departments were
in essence a family function.
As a volunteer, many nights firemen were out all
night helping people with flooded basements, downed trees, or any number of
other community needs.
Not to mention the nights you would be at a fire all
night.
Many employers back then understood the need for
volunteer departments and would excuse employees from work for the day if they
had been out all night.
Not many employers if any today would be supportive
to employees that were also volunteer firefighters.
Even the public view has changed.
There used to be a waiting list to get on the
department and then even a long wait once you were on to get on the life squad
schedule.
Volunteer firefighters in this area of the country
are becoming far and few in between.
It will be a sad state when no one will volunteer to
help their neighbor or community without being paid for their services.
Thus I take my hat off to the members of the
department in 1964 who gave up their pay so the township could purchase a much
needed, new pumper for the community.
Figure 6 - Fire House #2 (1960's)
The fire Department did not have any major changes
after purchasing the 1964 FWD Pumper for several
years to come.
In the mid
1970’s the fire department purchased a new style of life squad.
The department started running out of a van style
ambulance.
Within a year or so, a second van squad was purchased
and for the first time the township now had a life squad at each of its
stations.
Figure 7 - Van Style Ambulance
Department members now had to take state mandated
Emergency Medical Technician Training.
This required classroom and practical training at a
local hospital.
With this training the fire department was better prepared
to serve the community’s medical emergencies.
In 1978 several members of the department attended
paramedic training in
This was done with hopes the township would make the
switch to a paramedic unit, but this was not to be realized for at least 20
more years.
This is an example of the hope that members of the
department had.
They were
always looking to improve the service the department could provide and in doing
so has kept this fire department on the leading edge of the fire service.
There were many members, with various skills brought
to the department.
Many times when there was no way to purchase needed
materials, these members would make the needed item.
For example, in those days farms were still plentiful
in the township and surrounding area.
One of the members made a nozzle out of a 2 ½ inch
coupling and a three foot piece of cast iron pipe.
This was used to put out bales of hay on fire.
It was not the easiest nozzle to handle but it sure
did the job.
This is another example of how the members came
together to make this a better fire department.
This was the volunteer spirit which had always been
strong in
In early 70’s the fire department held raffles and
raised funds to build an addition to the fire house on
The new addition included a large day room or common
area, equipped kitchen, a second restroom, and three offices for fire
department use.
One of the offices was eventually given to the
township police department for use by their officers.
This area became a spot for members to gather and
socialize.
Christmas parties, association meetings, meals, and
many other functions took place in the new day room of fire house #1.
In 1977, while hosting part of the
The fire departments’ best front line pumper (1964 FWD) was parked on
The driver did everything right and no one ever
suspected this could happen.
The truck was parked on a steep grade, the brake was
set, and the wheels were chocked.
During the exercise the chock broke and the parking
brake could not hold the weight of the truck.
Before anyone could react the truck rolled down
The truck sustained considerable damage. The house
was actually knocked off the foundation.
The only saving grace was the truck drove over a
cistern and the lid collapsed stopping the truck from going through the house.
Even though badly damaged the truck started and
pulled away from the house under its own power.
The truck was driven back to fire house #1 and taken
out of service.
It was a frightening moment for the firemen.
The township was now protected by two old obsolete
trucks.
The FWD was going to need major overhauling to get
back in service.
The truck
was sent to the Seagrave Fire Company in
The truck came back with a new look.
Members rewired the emergency lights, installed a new
electronic siren, split the 2½ inch hose bed so dual supply lines could be laid
at a fire scene.
(This was before 5’ hose became widely used)
This truck or engine as we now call them was back in
service and was the front line pumper at fire house
#1.
Figure 8 - FWD Pumper
(Photo 1980)
In that same year the fire department saw the need
for a new pumper.
The township trustee were approached and presented
with the facts and figures of purchasing a new truck.
Remember the last truck was purchased in 1964; prices
had gone up quite a bit.
Specifications for the new truck were drawn up and
the township trustees agreed to accept bids for the purchase of a new fire
engine.
The bids were reviewed and a bid from the Emergency
One Fire Engine Company was accepted.
The new truck was delivered in 1978 and housed at the
fire house on
The biggest difference in the truck was the color.
The truck was painted a bright green.
A study had shown that this green color was easier to
see.
Many fire departments in the country changed the
color of their trucks from the traditional fire red to this new bright green
color.
Here in
Recently
The new truck was of a new design. Most of the body
of the truck was made from aluminum.
This was not used widely at this time in vehicle
construction.
The truck made its first response to an explosion at
the Egner Trucking Company on
1977 was indeed a busy year for the fire department.
The trustees had been meeting in an old school house
on
The trustees decided that a new administration
building was necessary for a growing community.
Plans for the building were presented to the board of
trustees. The plans included a new police station, township offices, meeting
hall, and a new fire station.
The new station would have drive through bays, a
kitchen, and a day room.
When the new administration/fire house was completed,
the old fire house on
The new fire house at
This move brought more changes to the fire
department.
Figure 9 - FWD Pumper
(Photo 1977)
Figure 10 - International Grass Truck
Fire headquarters was established at the
The new fire house on
From this point forward you hardly ever heard anyone refer
them as fire houses, in the new generation they became known as stations.
With a headquarters established for the first time,
better record keeping became available.
With the police out of the Tylersville
station it gave the department much needed space.
The large office was turned into storage/supply room;
the other offices were for the Chief’s and officer’s use.
The 70’s brought about much change in the turnout
gear that firefighters were wearing.
The first major change was in helmet construction.
Most departments were using aluminum helmets and had
been for years.
Many firemen were hurt because the helmet conducted
electricity.
The heavy rubber coats only gave minimal protection
against fire and/or chemical exposure.
Through the advances of science plastic was being
used in a larger market than ever before.
It did not take long for fire equipment companies to
realize the advantages of plastic.
Of course not everyone was convinced in the
beginning.
Like all new products the old timers were set in their
ways and it would take a few years to win them over.
In 1974 a new low profile helmet was produced, it was
OSHA compliant and lightweight.
This helmet was the 770 Philadelphian, produced for
its name sake, The Philadelphia Fire Department.
The Cairns Company produced this helmet.
It is only fitting that the helmet was custom made
for a department that the founding father of firefighting in
The other change in turnout gear was a new style
coat.
The first was a coat made of a cotton material, and
referred as “duck coats”.
In the mid 1970’s DuPont developed a new fire
resistant material known as Nomex.
This material became widely used in fire turnout
gear.
Most turnouts today have their roots to this
discovery in the 70’s.
Another important item in the firefighters gear came
into use by this department around 1976.
This being the S.C.B.A., or self contained breathing
apparatus.
Surprisingly enough the firefighters did not have anything
to wear to protect their lungs except a couple old mine style gas masks.
This did not give you clean air to breath, only
filtered.
The first two S.C.B.A. units were carried in a large
suitcase type device.
These were later mounted in the jump seats on the
1964 FWD.
Though commonly used today in the fire service, these
breathing devises were not easily available to most departments.
The early S.C.B.A. units were expensive and cost
prohibitive to smaller departments.
In 1984 the department set bids for a new fire
engine.
Nothing like we had ever had before.
This new truck would have all the best that fire
engines were offering at the time.
The members knew they wanted a Sutphen Pumper, just from everything we knew about them they were
the best constructed fire engines around.
Plans were drawn up and the township trustees
advertised for bids.
Several bids were received, but everyone knew the
only truck in consideration was the Sutphen.
When this engine arrived it was almost a celebration
of sorts.
Figure 11 - 1984 Sutphen Pumper
To the members at fire station #2 this was a dream
come true.
The engine had diesel, automatic transmission, a deck
gun, 5’ supply line, and so much more.
A fire engine had not brought as much excitement
since the firemen purchased the truck in 1964.
In 1986 the members at fire station #2 on Tylersville decided it was time for a change at their
station.
Ideas were kicked around and it was decided to do a major
overhaul of the truck bays.
While the fire chief was at the trustees meeting
approaching them with the idea, members at station #2 had already begun
demolishing the interior of the bays.
By the time the chief returned most of the interior wall
separating the two bays laid in a pile of rubble on the station floor.
The remodel kept evolving as construction continued.
Eventually the ceiling was removed and the new
ceiling was raised higher which allowed for better lighting in the truck bays.
The floors were torn up and a new concrete floor was
poured.
The station was repainted, rewired, new bay doors,
and all the work was performed by the members of fire station #2.
This station stands today showing what can happen
when the traditional volunteer spirit is brought out.
This rivaled the earlier members giving up pay so the
township could have a new pumper.
In 1986 while returning from an auto accident William
Gray was at the wheel and Darrell Murrell was riding in the officer’s seat.
On
The engine went off the south side of the road into a
ravine.
The force of the impact threw Darrell into the dash
breaking one of his legs.
Bill who was at the wheel was killed in the accident.
This became the darkest day in the history of the
Fairfield Township Fire Department.
Never before had a firefighter been
killed in the line of duty.
Mr. William Gray was buried with full honors.
A memorial stands today in his honor at fire station
#2.
It contains his helmet, coat, boots, and pager.
As well as the bell off the 1947 International pumper.
In 1997 the township trustees sent out for bids to
purchase a new pumper.
The fire department drew up specifications and bids
were received on the new pumper.
The township purchased a new Sutphen pumper.
This truck like others in the past carried all the
latest technology and best design of modern fire engines.
This truck was placed in service at Station #2 on
Today, this truck is the first out engine from
Station #2.
Figure 12 - 1997 Sutphen
The fire department saw a need for a new fire station
and headquarters building.
The township Trustees were approached and presented
with the idea of a new fire station and headquarters building.
The township set aside land beside the present
township Administration building.
In 2000, a new fire station was built, which houses
fire station #1 and the fire department headquarters.
The building was like nothing the fire department had
ever seen before.
It contained offices for the fire department
administration, training room, sleeping quarters, drive thru bays, and room for
future expansion.
Today this station is home to the Fire Chief,
Assistant Fire Chief, Station officers, and more.
This building was a dream come true for the members
of the department.
1994 brought about political events which forced the
trustees to seek changing the status of the township into a
Recent changes in state law made it possible for a
township to change from a township form of government into a city form of
government.
The board of trustees filed the necessary paperwork
with
The trustees sought this change in an attempt to
protect our borders from annexation.
But the change was challenged in court and the
township was forced to return to township status, but not before getting the
approval from the cities surrounding us.
In order to return to township status a portion of
township land was incorporated into the City of
When the department started hiring part time
firefighter/paramedics for daytime coverage
it became apparent that the department needed to have leadership in place to
provide firefighter assignments,
supervise employees, and provide structure for the department.
It was decided that the position of Assistant Fire
Chief would become a full time position.
Assistant
Chief Paul McKendry was the first full time employee of the Fire Department. He
was hired on
Paul was a volunteer Assistant Fire Chief for
In 2002, the fire department sought to purchase a
ladder or tower fire truck.
This truck like all others was put out for bids by
the board of trustees.
The department purchased a 2002 Sutphen 75’ Tower.
This truck was designated Quint 11 and housed at
station #1 on
Figure 13 - 2002 Sutphen Quint
The Fairfield Township Fire Department has seen many
changes from the first formation in 1947.
This fire department has always been innovative and
progressive.
On
Now with a full time fire chief at the helm the
township can count on a professional and community oriented fire department for
many years to come.
In 2007, the fire department will be celebrating 60
years of service to the citizens of
This brings with it a sense of pride with it.
This is one of the oldest volunteer fire departments
in the county, if not the oldest.
Volunteer departments are very different from Career
fire departments.
Career department consist of full time paid
employees.
Volunteer departments consist of your neighbors, your
friends; people all coming together to provide a necessary service to the
community.
When the alarm sounds volunteers drop what they are
doing and become firefighters.
Volunteers come from many different backgrounds.
It can be a mix of white
collar, blue collar, self employed, or just about any type of job or employment.
But when the alarm sounds
they all come together for a common cause, as old as the
Volunteer fire departments
date back to Benjamin Franklin at the founding of our country.
Helping their neighbors is
the volunteer spirit.
It has been said, why do
firefighters run into a burning building when everyone else is running out, the
reason is to help your fellow man.
Volunteers have a connection
to the community they serve and the residents who are their friends and
neighbors.
Even as the fire department
here in
the current members and past members can take pride in the service this
department has provided over the last 60 years.
This is dedicated to all the men and women who have
served
The
The information in this report was compiled by
Edward E. Sparks Jr.
With complete cooperation of
David M. Downie
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