History

CAMPBELLSVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT 1914-2014

August 21, 2014 dawned over Campbellsville as another day of hope and promise. Just as they had done on numerous occasions, members of the Campbellsville Fire Department prepared themselves for another service project. Service had been a part of the Department’s modus operandi from its beginning. This day they would be helping the Campbellsville University Band complete its Ice Bucket Challenge, a project carried on across the nation to raise research money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. However, the day would turn into one of the darkest and most challenging days for the Campbellsville Fire Department which was just two months short of its 100-year history of service to Campbellsville.

Public records list October, 1914 as the beginning of the Campbellsville Fire Department. History is less clear about how the community fought fires prior to that date. Most likely, if the building was in the downtown area of Campbellsville, bucket brigades formed from nearby Buckhorn Creek or community water wells and passed buckets to and fro in a desperate effort to save whatever structure was ablaze. Homes, outbuildings, businesses, farm buildings beyond the reach of any such brigade burned to the ground.

We know fires occurred in the heart of Campbellsville, some quite devastating, as they were recorded through personal diaries, court records, photographs, and newspapers both locally and from other communities. For example, Dr. Samuel T. Chandler’s journal noted on November 10, 1850, “a considerable fire in town,” or in February 27, 1861, “I had of mine three houses burned on Wednesday the 27th of February at about 10 o’clock, 1000 lbs of tobacco, wheat fan, 1 plow &c.” Or, in a deposition taken during a Taylor County case, we know the county allegedly had an arsonist. One resident being deposed that “the report in the neighborhood” was that Mary Gill has burned 2 or 3 houses. I don’t think she’s entitled to credit under oath. I heard my brother say that they thought she burnt up Abraham Underwood’s house.”

Some prominent people contributed to Campbellsville’s fire history as well. During one of his raids through Kentucky John Hunt Morgan’s troops dragged out Union stores from a local tobacco factory and burned them on Campbellsville’s Main Street, burned the Green River Bridge and stockade, and destroyed Pleasant Hill Church. And, in December, 1864, General Hylan B. Lyon and Confederate troops burned the Taylor County Court House and Clerk’s Office. Fortunately, before setting the fires General Lyon allowed local women to remove the court records to a brick building on Main Street known then as Davis and Asper property.

Post-Civil War fires continued to be a menace to Campbellsville and Taylor County. In March, 1872, Henry Dearen lost his distillery and 480 barrels of whiskey, property amounting to about $30,000. In October, 1886, John R. Robinson’s law office, the saloon of Borders & Jones, and the bakery of Wenne and Miles burned in Campbellsville. Spurlington lost its depot, post office, Fred Spurling’s store, and 24,000 staves and heading to fire in September, 1900. In October, 1910, a fire on College Street took Sam Shipp & Son’s stable along with seven horses, five mules, $600 worth of hay, about two carloads of buggies belonging to Buchanan-Lyon Company, one of Campbellsville’s largest retailers, along with various other equipment items. The fire prompted the local newspaper, The News-Journal, to editorialize, “This fire shows very plainly the need of water works.”

Despite the plea, nothing happened, and fire continued to plague the community. One of the most disastrous in the early twentieth century occurred early Saturday morning, March 18, 1911, when two blocks of downtown Campbellsville went up in flames. The estimated loss amounted to $50,000, a loss that included one hotel demolished and another greatly damaged. A wind from the north drove the flames, and according to the newspaper’s account, the Mayor, U. P. Walling, and a group of citizens prevented the total loss of the south side of Main Street. Apparently the fire whistle had blown warning of the fire, but the public thought it was the regular 5 o’clock whistle. Consequently, efforts to fight the fire got a slow start. Again, the newspaper pointed out the need for a water system to help prevent such occurrences, but the water system and the fire department remained several years in the future.

Within three years two devastating fires struck Campbellsville’s businesses and Main Street both within two weeks of one another. The first totally destroyed the Archibald Wheel Company along with about 15,000 wheel spokes, its main product. Two weeks later a fire began in a frame building on Main Street creating $30,000 worth of damage to buildings and contents. In reporting on the fire, The News-Journal said, “There was enough money lost in this fire and the Archibald Wheel Co. fire several days since to erect a water works.”

Ironically, on the same front page reporting the 1914 fire, the newspaper included an article stating that the first 8 inch pipes for the water works plant had begun to be laid on Monday, July 21, the day before the disastrous fire on Tuesday.

THE BEGINNINGS

In the absence of city council minutes and a complete set of local newspapers prior to 1910, it is difficult to determine how the public discussion fared regarding the needs for a water system and a fire department. The earliest published notice discovered so far came in an August, 1881 item copied from the Campbellsville Times-Journal by the Lebanon, Kentucky newspaper, The Lebanon Weekly Standard.

After reporting that William Henry Campbell’s house burned in Taylor County, then the burning of the “Leet building,” or the Leet Hotel which sat where the present-day Merchant’s Hotel building is located, the Times-Journal reporter commented, “Gentlemen, we are going to burn up yet. We need a fire engine-Lebanon has one.”

Not only did the newspaper begin the push for a fire department, it used one of the classic arguments for stepping up – we’re not developing like the neighboring communities.

Finally, in July 1913, the City Council introduced an ordinance to establish a franchise for building, maintaining, and operating a system of water works and an electric light plant for 20 years. Within the ordinance the city agreed to rent from the franchisee “for the purpose of fire protection” 24 fire hydrants at fifty dollars each per year for 20 years. To pay for the annual rental the city levied a tax to be used solely for that purpose. Engineer Howard K. Bell, Lexington, was chosen to develop the water system on the strength of his recent completion of a water system in Springfield.

A year later a City Council committee researched prices on fire hose, ladder, and other items. The board voted on August, 29, 1914 to purchase 1,500 feet of 2 1⁄2 inch Double Jacket from the 1/2 Eureka Fire Hose Company of Columbus, Ohio hose at the cost of 90¢ per foot and 2 hose reels or carts each capable of carrying 500 feet of hose. Total cost for the new equipment amounted to $1,500. The newspaper reported that the hose and reels arrived in October just three weeks before the City Council formed the fire department.

On October 26, 1914, at a called meeting, Mayor J[ohn] H[ugh] Chandler and the City Council composed of Dr. Edwin Lee Gowdy, Richard Ferguson Hord, John Nelson Turner, John Walter Hoskins, Dr. Otter Robinson Reesor, and Walter Smoot Cloyd voted to organize a Campbellsville Fire Department. The Council named former mayor and businessman Ulysses P. Walling as Chief, local miller Corydon F. Mantz as Assistant Chief, along with Mayor Chandler as Lieutenant, and it provided a list of names from which the initial volunteer fire fighters were to be selected. The Council agreed to firemen $1 for each fire attended. In addition to U. P. Walling as Chief and C. F. Mantz and J. Hugh Chandler as his assistants, and their titles included: Firemen: Couplers – Fred Hamilton, W. I. Meader; Truck 1 nozzlemen – C. F. Mantz, Ben Hord, H. T. Parrott, M. O. Prescott, Oscar Hartfield; Truck 2 nozzlemen – J. Hugh Chandler, Garland Shipp, Grover Pitman, Will Ed Tucker, Merlin Wood. The first firemen paid for fighting fires listed in the January 11, 1915 minutes included U. P. Walling, C. F. Mantz, Fred Hamilton, Ben Hord, Henry Parrott, Oscar Hartfield, Garland Shipp, Grover Pittman, W. Tucker, Montfort Prescott, and J. H. Chandler.

Despite having spent approximately $1,500 in equipping the fire department, the city had fallen short financially in being able to purchase a hook and ladder wagon and uniforms for the fire fighters. The Council divided itself into three committees to solicit businessmen and property owners for the additional funds. By early November, 1914, only $117.50 had been raised of the $375 needed.

Establishing a fire department not only provided needed fire protection for the city, it provided an additional benefit-lower insurance rates-and the committees used this benefit as part of their appeals. They created the following subscription paper that included donors and amounts:

“In accordance with the suggestions from the State Fire Insurance Board, to the effect that by the purchase of a hook and ladder wagon, in addition to the equipment already secured by the city of Campbellsville, the existing rates of insurance will be reduced in the neighborhood of 25 per cent, we agree to give the amounts opposite our name to aid the city in the purchase of said wagon in order to secure the benefit of the reduction:”

The eventual total list of donors remains unknown.

The hook and ladder wagon finally arrived in October, 1915, with its attendant ladders, fire extinguishers, lanterns and axes, or as The News-Journal called it, “a complete fire fighting apparatus.” The Council paid $35.29 freight for the wagon’s shipment.

The Sanborn Map Company of New York had been producing fire insurance maps for communities since 1867. The color-coded maps provided significant information about each community including identifying structural materials of frame, brick, stone, or metal. Sanborn mapped Campbellsville in the pre-fire department years of 1888, 1895, 1901, and 1908.

In March, 1915, the Sanborn Map Company representative, C. W. Cutler, arrived in Campbellsville to make a survey of the community preparatory to publishing a new fire insurance map of the city. Cutler took about 30 days to complete the work that eventually produced the largest map ever made of Campbellsville. Details on the map described the Campbellsville Fire Department as a Volunteer Company of 12 men who were paid for actual services rendered. Equipment included 2 hose carts, carrying 500 feet of 7 ½ inch hose each with 500 feet 25 feet hose kept in reserve. The telephone and whistle on the power plant sounded the fire alarm.

At the time the fire department was housed in a building on Central Avenue seen in the adjoining map. More current residents may remember the building housing the Topper Restaurant. Currently the site holds a new building constructed by the First Methodist Church for its Children’s Wing.

Having sufficient water is one thing. Having fire fighting equipment that can throw the water onto taller buildings is another. Consequently, the entire town and fire department rejoiced on Monday afternoon, November 2, 1914, when the men, equipment, and water system were tested. According to the newspaper of that week, “The fire hose was tested from one of the plugs on Main street Monday afternoon. While there was but little water in the tank, a large, strong stream of water issued forth, necessitating four or five men to hold the hose. The stream would reach over any building on the street and the performance delighted everyone who saw it.”

Furthermore, the new Fire Department needed a way of announcing a fire. As noted previously, prior to the creation of the Fire Department citizens were called to the fire by whistles from local industry. However, the City Council decided the city needed a more central source for announcing a fire. In 1918 the Council finally agreed to purchase one Double Head Type Federal Siren direct current 220 volts 2. H. P. at a price of $325 from the Federal Sign System of Chicago, Illinois. For an additional $40 the Council secured one remote control device to operate on the above current complete with two momentary contact push button switches. While it is unclear where the Council decided to locate the newly purchased siren, the Council had rented a meeting room in a building at the corner of Main and Depot. It seems likely that they had the siren placed at that location. Then, in 1921, the Council voted to move the fire alarm from whatever location the Council had chosen to the Joe Willock building where it remained until May, 1925, when the Council voted to place a new siren on the Taylor County Courthouse. There it remained at least through 1965 when the Council decided to remove the siren to the new city hall and to replace the 40-year-old 5 horsepower model with a larger one for insurance purposes.

THE 1920s

The next major step for the Fire Department equipment came in 1921 when the Fire Department secured its first motorized fire truck.

Purchased from the Oberchain-Boyer Company of Logansport, Indiana, the combination chemical and hose truck was mounted on a Ford Model T one ton chassis and cost $2,750.

The new vehicle contained two 35 gallon chemical tanks that allowed one to be used and the other to be filled while fighting fires. According to the reports, the chemical apparatus reduced the damage to property caused by additional water. An additional auxiliary tank came affixed to the vehicle along with 1,000 feet of hose, ladders, axes, and lights to help fight the blaze. In addition, sirens and electric bells on the unit helped to notify citizens of the fire and the approaching vehicle. By the purchase, the city expected to be recategorized from an eighth class city to a seventh class, thereby reducing fire insurance rates by approximately 20 percent.

The new truck brought the City Council a new problem – storage. To resolve the issue, the Council appointed a committee which arranged with Jim Tom Gowdy to store the truck in his newly constructed garage at the rate of $10 a month. While the building no longer exists, it sat on the site of the present Justice Center, in a location approximately behind the former Howell/Coyle Drug Store.

With the purchase of the new truck, the Council appointed R. H. Hord and H. T. Parrott to “sell the old fire wagon for as much as could be gotten.” Eventually J. W. Ashbrook purchased the old fire wagon for $25.

As the Fire Department established itself and demonstrated its ability to fight fires, other demands arose. First, the public began to request fire plugs be placed in more areas of the city, requests that the City Council tried to honor. Next, having turned to a chemical truck in addition to water as a firefighting apparatus, the chemical solutions sometimes splashed onto firefighters causing burns that needed treatment. For example, as the Fire Department was preparing to attend a fire at Burr H. Gilpin’s in October, 1921, a two-gallon container of muriatic acid broke and spilled onto Fireman J. C. Hutchison’s right leg causing burns. He was treated immediately and sent home, but the accident demonstrated a new aspect of firefighting.

Further, the expectations of reduced fire insurance rates brought state inspections of the fire fighters, the equipment, and the general infrastructure in Campbellsville. In September, 1921, The News-Journal recorded the first visit from the State Fire Marshal. During his visit he set off a fake alarm to test both the firefighter’s response time and their skills. He also attended the City Council meeting and explained the needed changes the City should make if it expected insurance rate reduction. Among his recommendations were that three additional plugs must be placed on Main Street, the fire truck must be located closer to Main Street and a night watchman should be hired.

Fires in adjoining communities that stretched resources of those communities brought a request for additional help. With its new chemical and hose truck Campbellsville received its first call for help from Columbia in the fall of 1921. Although the fire destroyed the Columbia Bank building and several other businesses, the Campbellsville firemen were able to help save adjoining buildings in spite of their having been called almost an hour after the fire had begun and after a 45-minute drive to Columbia.

Reflecting the service that became a part of the local firemen, Tyler Parrott, Henry T. Parrott, Benjamin Hord, J. C. Hutchison, Brack Sanders, and Guy Weatherford left Campbellsville with the fire truck, joined by R. J. Lyon who drove his car. In response to the help these men provided, the Columbia News wrote:

“The gratitude of the people of Columbia is due the Campbellsville Fire Department, who arrived here in forty-five minutes after being notified. The town offered to compensate them for coming with their apparatus, but they most generously declined—more than willing to come. Mr. R. J. Lyon of Campbellsville, a representative of Buchanan Lyon Co., left his home and was here as quickly as a car would bring him, offering room in the Buchanan Lyon Company’s building. Bob is a native of Columbia and has a big open heart for all the people in this place.”

The trip to Columbia was the first call of many to which the Campbellsville Fire Department would respond over the years when called by communities like Bardstown, Greensburg, Hodgenville, Lebanon, and Liberty.

Finally, the Fire Department had a new problem with local residents. Whether various individuals were excited about the new truck or they just wanted to follow the fire, the City Council had to address the issue of residents jumping on the fire truck headed to a fire. As a result, the Council passed a motion that firemen report or have arrested anyone at any time who was not a regular fireman for interfering with or hindering by riding the fire truck to the fire.

Unfortunately, 1915 was not the last time the Council had to address similar problems. In less than six months after purchasing a new American LaFrance truck in 1932, the Council needed to pass an ordinance making it “unlawful for any person to drive an automobile, or other motor vehicle, or horse-drawn carriage or vehicle of any kind, on, over or through any street of the City of Campbellsville, Kentucky, at or within TWENTY-FIVE feet of any water hose or the water plugs to which said hose are attached while said hose are on any street, or being placed upon any street or removed therefrom for the purpose of extinguishing any burning building or structure or other burning object.” The ordinance further prohibited anyone from not just driving within 25 feet of any hose in use, it also prohibited the public from driving over any hose in use for fighting a fire, from obstructing the street so as to interfere with the fire engine reaching the place to fight the fire, or from interfering anywhere within two blocks of any burning building, structure, or object. Then, in June 1939, the Council passed an ordinance that prohibited anyone except regular firemen from riding on the fire truck. That ordinance was immediately followed by another ordinance prohibiting vehicles from following, preceding, or hindering the free passage of the fire truck.

Apparently, none of the precautions worked as is evidenced by a July 1953 news article. In that article, Fire Chief George R. Buckner reported that the fire engine had been able to arrive at a fire without incident, but the firemen had been blocked by a traffic jam formed from those that had followed the fire truck. The similar topic arose in a March 1962 editorial in The News-Journal titled, “Drivers Not Observing Fire Truck Ordinance.” According to the editorial, drivers recently had been trying to follow fire trucks and cars of fire department members and had hampered fire department operations by blocking alleyways and streets adjacent to the fires. The editorial writer noted that the statutes were written in the public interest and to “protect people from themselves,” and the public failure to observe the regulations greatly hampered the fire department’s efficient operations. In at least one instance, a driver was arrested and fined $25.50 for hitting a fire truck with his automobile while the fire truck was on the scene of a fire.

As noted earlier, the State Fire Marshal visited Campbellsville in 1921 to inspect buildings and the fire department. These inspections became part of a broader effort at fire prevention.

In addition to inspections by the State Fire Marshal and insurance companies, the Campbellsville Fire Department joined a national education effort, Fire Prevention Week, to heighten the way that fire departments and the public thought about fire safety. Fire Prevention Week had begun in 1911 through the efforts of the Fire Marshal’s Association of North America and their desire to commemorate the great Chicago Fire of October 1871 and the Peshtigo Fire the same month that burned 16 Wisconsin towns and killed 1,152 people.

President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation in 1920. Beginning in 1922, the nation, states, cities, and local fire departments started observing National Fire Prevention Week during the week in which October 9 falls. Although in the early years the Campbellsville Fire Department participated in Fire Prevention Week through news releases and local inspections, by 1950 the department expanded its fire prevention to the public.

The department began by distributing free booklets, posters, and charts that offered children and adults ways to avoid fire hazards. Other educational efforts included programs on fire prevention to local service clubs, promoting Fire Prevention Week through regular articles in the local newspaper, instituting additional fire training for firefighters through courses sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Education and, later, the State Fire Marshal’s office, continued inspections of local schools, businesses, and factories for potential fire hazards, and visits to local schools to heighten student awareness of fire prevention and fire safety. The week also became a time to show off the Fire Department equipment through parades and through an Open House at the Fire Department headquarters.

Along with the broader public education efforts of the Fire Department, it began instituting its own training in the 1930s. By September 1960, Fire Chief George Buckner reported to the Campbellsville Kiwanis that his 21 volunteer firemen and two full-time drivers were required to attend an annual fire fighting school yearly that included 20 hours of fire training, a practice that continues to the present.

THE 1930s

In January 1930 City Council meetings, the Council voted to appoint Ben H. Hord as the Fire Chief. Further, the Mayor appointed Councilmen Richard Marshall and Henry Edrington as a committee to secure a new storage place for the city grader and the fire truck, and he requested that the Fire Committee of Sam Hord and Henry Edrington provide a full report of the conditions of the Fire Department. The Fire Committee reported back to the Council that the present fire truck would not carry the required amount of hose and other equipment. Consequently, they recommended the city purchase a new truck.

According to the Committee, various citizens had already promised to donate the first payment for the new truck. The Mayor thereby asked the Fire Committee to begin raising the money needed for the new truck. However, the Council did not secure bids for the truck until April 1932.

When the bids came in and were reviewed, the Council accepted the bid from American LaFrance and Foamite Company for a 500-gallon triple combination pumping truck. The Council later secured 500 feet of fire hose and necessary couplings from the Eureka Fire Company of Atlanta, Georgia.

However, the new equipment purchase brought an unexpected turn. On Tuesday morning, August 30, 1932, Mayor S. B. Hackley received a call from the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Freight Department in Louisville. The L&N reported that the newly purchased American LaFrance fire truck had arrived safely in Louisville, but the car in which it was shipped was too large to go through the railroad tunnel at Spurlington. Consequently, L&N requested permission of the City Council to unload the truck at Lebanon, and then drive it to Campbellsville on its own power.

According to The News-Journal’s reporting of the event, “Mayor Hackley told the party making the inquiry that the truck did not belong to the city until it had been delivered and tested and accepted, and he was, therefore, without authority to give any instructions as to its delivery.” The L&N employee told the Mayor that L&N would get in touch with American LaFrance and get back with the Mayor.

Various stories revolve around the delivery of the newly acquired American LaFrance truck. According to one story, L&N actually shipped the truck to Lebanon and on to Spurlington, only to discover that the railroad car holding the truck would not go through the tunnel. As a result, they had to back the train into Lebanon and wait to figure out how to resolve the situation.

Regardless of the true story, the truck was, indeed, finally delivered by L&N.

Two other major developments impacted the Fire Department during this decade: a new City Hall provided a location for the Department, and fire training.

In September 1938, the City purchased the Coakley building on the corner of Central Avenue and First Street from Ira Vaughn for $4,000 with plans to use it as a municipal building housing the City Hall, the police and fire department, and for storage of the fire engine. The City used the building until 1960 when it moved all offices and departments to a new building on the present Broadway site.

As early as 1936, The News-Journal had been editorializing about the Fire Department and its lack of training. While the newspaper recognized the valiant efforts of the Fire Chief and volunteers, it pointed out that the lack of training and the lack of public funding to support the training presented a significant challenge to public safety.

Finally, a fire at Campbellsville College in April 1939 provided the impetus for changes. The newspaper noted that the firemen had done their best in containing the college fire, but “lack of adequate equipment, and negligence of the city in seeing that this equipment was in the best condition,” as some of the hose used was “old and full of holes,” and “the lack of suitable fireplugs near the college buildings” contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. Through an editorial, the paper insisted that the City make a survey of fireplugs, establish a part-time fire department with someone at the fire station at all times, and begin regular practice runs to all parts of the community to develop familiarity with the location of plugs and their surroundings.

The City responded by reorganizing the department, and with donations from citizens, began purchasing new hose, overhauling the fire truck, and instituting training for the volunteers. As part of the training, the department blew a false alarm necessitating the firemen to respond with equipment and prepare to fight a fire at a specific location.

When the First United Methodist Church caught fire in January 1940, the training’s success demonstrated itself. The News-Journal lauded the Fire Chief and the firemen for their “efficiency” that saved the building.

THE 1940s

With the advent of World War II, the Fire Department began running short of firefighters. Consequently, the department made a public plea for additional volunteers. As a result of that plea, the department filled its need, and one of the new recruits was Francis Tone Penick, the first black member of the Campbellsville Fire Department. Tone remained a member until his death in 1971.

Having gone through the Depression and World War II using the equipment purchased in 1932, the Fire Department faced the need for updated equipment. An opportunity arose to buy an International F5 truck from Army surplus in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. Installed with a 500-gallon-per-minute pump and having been driven only 900 miles, the City Council authorized the Mayor to enter into a contract in January 1947 for the truck at a cost of $3,925. Despite the purchase, the city retained the old truck in the event it would be needed for emergency and in the event adjoining towns requested assistance.

New fire hose did not come with the truck, so the Council purchased 900 feet of 2 ½-inch hose Southland Double Jacket at $1.27 per foot and 200 feet of 1 ½-inch hose at 89¢ per foot along with a nozzle and double ferrule adapter. In addition, the Council bought five fireman raincoats from the Eureka Fire Hose Company at the price of $11.75 each, and they agreed to pay Bill McGlockin $100 to paint the new truck. In personnel matters, the Council appointed Lucius Clark as Assistant Fire Chief at a salary of $12.50 per month.

As part of the broader city effort to reduce fires, the city adopted the 1948 edition of the Standards of Safety approved by the Fire Prevention and Rates Section of Kentucky’s Division of Insurance. The Chief of the Campbellsville Fire Department was one of the City officers assigned to enforce the provisions of the Standard of Safety related to the construction, re-construction, alteration, and maintenance of buildings within the City of Campbellsville. The City continued to adopt the Standards as they were revised over the years, and enforcement of the revised standards continued to be part of the Fire Chief’s responsibilities. Essentially the Standards were developed to reduce fire losses. For example, Taylor County suffered fire losses in 1951 of $8.55 per capita. In 1952, the fire loss totaled $98,029 for a per capita loss of $6.76. The following year of 1953, the loss was even higher at $10.38. By 1954, the per capita loss had been reduced to $7.79, but it was still substantially higher than the $4.54 per capita loss statewide.

Additional city ordinances addressed fire hazards in an effort to reduce both the severity and frequency of fires. Among them was a leaf burning ordinance. The ordinance not only addressed the fire hazard of burning leaves in a settled area, it attempted to reduce the public cost such potential fires produced. For example, in 1956, a fire truck run for even the smallest of grass fires cost the city a minimum of $50.

THE 1950s

The 1950s saw significant changes in fire fighting for Campbellsville and Taylor County that included a new truck purchase, the establishment of the Taylor County Volunteer Fire Department, a city annexation that more than doubled the city population to approximately 8,500, and the beginnings of a new municipal building that would house the Fire Department along with all city services.

George Richard Buckner remained Fire Chief throughout the decade beginning at a salary of $40/month, and Lucius Clark continued as Assistant Fire Chief at $25/month. By 1955, the Council equipment. raised Buckner’s salary to $75/month with the added requirement that he maintain the hose and

The Council also continued its regular replacement and maintenance of fire hoses along with necessary equipment for firemen, such as raincoats and boots. Further, it placed a radio in the Fire Chief’s car and on the fire truck. In addition, the City began a policy of offering some protection for voluntary firemen by taking out an insurance policy covering all voluntary firemen with benefits of $20/week. The Council also adopted an ordinance accepting the revised standards of the National adopted by the Council in 1948. Board of Fire Underwriters building codes, construction, etc. The new standards superseded those

Firemen continued their required training both locally and at locations outside of Campbellsville. By the middle of the decade 21 firefighters were involved in 20 hours of training per year.

The City’s major equipment purchase for the decade was an International Truck L-160 purchased from Parrott Service, a local International truck dealer, at the price of $1,760.40. A recent industrial fire at a Campbellsville cooperage demonstrated the limited capacity of an older International it had purchased from army surplus. Consequently, the city traded in the older truck. However, to save money, the city sent the new truck to Louisville, Ky where the pumper and bed from the old truck were transferred to the new chassis at an estimated cost of $500.

Two further significant events developed during the decade. First came the creation of the Campbellsville Fire Department Auxiliary in which wives of the firefighters organized to support the department and to help raise needed funds for equipment.

Next, with the help of the Campbellsville Fire Department county residents organized the Taylor County Volunteer Fire Department in 1955. Because of the limits imposed by insurance regulations prohibiting the Campbellsville Fire Department from traveling beyond city limits, county residents had either watched their homes and businesses burn or they had continued to fight fires with bucket brigades. Numerous stories exist of the city firemen being able to see the fire but unable to help because of the limits. However, with the organization of the county fire department, the city firefighters assisted in raising memberships and money for equipment, in training the new volunteers, and the city provided limited financial – $20/month in 1957 – and other aid as the new department struggled to purchase equipment and get its bearing. By April, 1956, the newly formed county department purchased an F-800 Ford chassis from McCubbin Motors Company and the 500 gallon pump and equipment to be installed on the truck from the Midwest Fire & Safety Company of Indianapolis, Indiana at a total cost of $14,000.

Following a policy the city had begun at least 20 years prior, the City Council annexed a large developed section of the city into the city limits. The annexation increased city population to 8,500. While the population increase helped satisfy arguments for economic development, the increased area and people placed new demands on the Campbellsville Fire Department.

In 1957, Chief Buckner reported to the City Council that the city faced higher insurance rates of approximately 33 per cent if the city did not make changes to the fire department as required by the Kentucky Inspection Bureau. Specified changes included: (1) A fire engine pumping capacity of at least 2,000 gallons per minute-equal to about three modern fire engines; (2) A fire department with men on duty at all times in a fire proof building with room for all equipment, and an assembly room and two apartments upstairs; (3) The employment of an engineer to draw a plan for water mains, fire hydrants and other facilities to insure future construction in compliance with minimum standards; (4) Other miscellaneous requirements dealing with modern fire protection practices.

To address the problems, the City Council began hiring additional fire department personnel. First, it hired Ira Smith as a fireman at an initial salary of $245 per month. Smith’s salary was later raised to $265 per month with a clothing allowance of $100 per year when he was named an Engineer with additional duties of emergency calls at all hours, repairing parking meters, and such other duties that may be designated at no additional compensation. Later, Jimmy and Barbara Cox were employed as Radio Operators at a salary of $100 per month and living quarters in City Hall Apartment, while Jimmy was also assigned as Night Duty Fireman. In May, 1959, the Council hired two additional firemen, George Crabtree and D. C. Miller, each at a salary of $132.50.

In addition, the Council began looking for possible sites on which to construct a new Municipal Building that would house the Fire Department and all other City offices. The search came to fruition in May, 1958, when the City Council purchased the old City Jail at auction for the price of $8,100. The old Jail had become available after the County Fiscal Court built a new jail adjacent to the courthouse, thereby abandoning the c. 1900 building. By October, 1959, the city had taken the old jail down and contracted with the R. E. Lloyd Construction Co. of Louisville to erect a new Municipal Building that would house all city services, including the Fire Department.

Finally, the Fire Department began another tradition in its history of community service projects – collecting for the WHAS Crusade for Children. In succeeding years, the Boy Scouts, the Jaycees, churches, and other civic organizations aided the volunteer firefighters and their wives in collecting thousands of dollars to be used for the treatment of crippled children. A significant portion of the money has been returned to be used in Taylor County in the guise of grants to schools for programs and transportation resources. From the first collection of $2,003 in 1959, the firefighters’ annual roadblocks and door-to-door collections have grown to more than $25,000 per year for the Crusade.

THE 1960s

This decade brought additional services and equipment for the Fire Department as well as a change in location.

First, the Department purchased a new six cylinder International truck chassis with cab from R. C. VanCleave and Son, the International truck dealer at the time, for $3,950. To complete the truck for fire fighting purposes, the City Council contracted with the Peter Pirsch and Son Co. of Kenosha, Wisconsin to furnish the 750 gallon per minute pumper and other fire fighting equipment needed on the truck. Total cost of the truck and pumper came to $19,500, and $19,000 from the sale of the old City Hall Building helped pay part of the purchase price. In 1966, the Department added a cab-over Ford pumper at a cost of $32,000 purchased from the Oren Roanoke Company of Roanoke, Virginia. At the time, it was the largest truck ever purchased by the Fire Department with a 1,000 gallon per minute capacity, a ladder truck with a spare 50 foot ladder and the ability to carry 1,200 feet of 2 1⁄2 inch hose and 400 feet of 1 1⁄2 inch hose. With this latter purchase, the Department had four trucks available for fighting fires within the city limits.

In terms of additional equipment and service, the Fire Department made significant strides toward the rescue service in 1963 when it purchased, in conjunction with the Taylor County Fire Department, a 1958 model, 6-cylinder Chevrolet truck that they outfitted with rescue equipment and painted white with a large red cross on each side and the lettering “Rescue Squad Campbellsville – Taylor County Volunteer Fire Department.” Lack of funds at the time prevented the purchase of a resuscitator, but the department equipped the truck with oxygen mask, cutting torch, drag hooks, and a “Push or Pull Porto-Power” machine to be used in freeing individuals trapped in overturned or wrecked vehicles. As a further complement to the rescue operations, the Department secured a power plant gasoline generator capable of generating 5,000 watts for lighting at the scene of a fire.

The department added a further rescue service when it formed the Sea-ville Divers. In the beginning, the Divers organized specifically to aid in the search for drowning victims. Over the years, the squad’s duties and personnel grew and a name change to the Taylor County Rescue Squad the increased training and responsibilities. Eventually, the squad morphed into what is now the Campbellsville-Taylor County Rescue Squad.

With the completion of the new $100,000 Municipal Building, in June, 1960, the Fire Department moved from its old quarters on the corner of First Street and Central Avenue to its quarters in the new Municipal Building on what was then Second Street. The Fire Department continued additions to its professional staff when it hired Carl Dobson and Jimmy Cox as full time Firemen at a salary of $275/month for a period of 90 days then be raised to $290/month along with a $100/year clothing allowance. The city accepted the recommendation made by the Kentucky Inspection Bureau to purchase Radio Monitors for the Fire Department for alerting firemen to report to the scene of fires, and the city purchased DuMount Radios and erected a radio tower for the Fire Department at the cost of $4,357.86. The city also advertised for bids for a new fire alarm and for overhauling Fire Engine #2. This decade also saw the beginnings of what has become a local tradition of the Fire Department Open House and Pancake Breakfast. Providing an “all you can eat” meal of hot pancakes, sausage and coffee, the first breakfast cost 50 cents. While the price has changed over the years, the tradition continues each spring with all funds going to the Fire Department to help pay for needed equipment.

In 1962, legislation approved by both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly transferred Campbellsville from a fifth to a third class city. The new third class status brought some changes in the operation of the city that included adding six additional councilmen and, most significantly for the Fire Department, putting it on a professional basis. Additional changes included a request by the Kentucky Inspection Bureau that the city establish a Fire Prevention Bureau and a Fire Inspector to maintain its Fire Insurance Rating. After establishing the criteria for such a position and taking applications, the City Council appointed William Peters as the first Fire Inspector for the City of Campbellsville at a salary of $265 per month and a $100 per year clothing allowance. To secure the professional status of firemen, the City Council created a Policeman’s and Fireman’s Pension Fund. The City also passed an ordinance establishing Fire Limits for the City of Campbellsville. The Fire Chief’s salary was increased from $75 per month to $100 in 1963.

By early 1963, the Campbellsville Fire Department included three paid employees-Jimmy Cox, Carl Dobson, and Bill Peters-plus 22 additional volunteer firemen. George R. Buckner was City Fire Chief, and Walter Bowen was County Fire Chief. All 22 volunteer firemen had radio receivers or monitors in their homes and could be notified from the fire station as to the location of fires making it convenient for the firefighters to go directly to the scene with the exception of those who had to go to the station to pick up the trucks.

Changes in regulations, insurance demands, and added equipment such as the rescue truck brought increased need for training. In addition to the usual hours of fire training, volunteer firemen began taking Red Cross instruction in first aid and becoming qualified first aid instructors themselves.

As a result of the fire fighting and emergency service experiences of World War II and the increasing tension on the world stage, communities began looking to coordinate police, fire, and other emergency services. The effort reached Campbellsville and the Campbellsville Fire Department in the 1960s with a request to adopt the Civil Defense Program.

The Department also increased its staff by hiring Howard Dobson as a fireman at a salary of $300 per month, the salary amount to be raised to $325 per month after a three month trial period. In addition, the Council employed Milton Buckner at a starting salary of $300 per month to bring the number up to the requirements of the Kentucky Inspection Bureau.

Near the end of the decade, the City Council briefly discussed the possibility of the City accepting and operating the Taylor County Fire Dept. equipment, but no action was taken.

THE 1970s

In October, 1973, the Department purchased for approximately $13,650 a mini-pumper attack truck from Custom Fire Apparatus of Indianapolis. A demonstrator truck equipped with four-wheel drive, flotation tires, a short wheelbase, and a 265-gallon tank and a 300-gallon per minute pump, the truck was designed to fight small grass fires and small fires in narrow streets and alleys.

As is well documented, the Department and the City Council had continued making equipment purchases and updating building codes to keep the City in line with governmental and insurance regulations. However, all of the purchases and training could not fully prepare the City nor the Fire Department for a new threat that arrived in this decade: The bomb threat.

Over the years the Fire Department had handled false alarms. The City had passed ordinances making false alarms illegal, and improved telephone systems allowing phone calls to be traced to perpetrators. While the same might be done to those alleging bomb threats to businesses and schools, it did not relieve the need to verify the claim. Further, to provide for the safety of both the Fire Department personnel responding to the threat and those being threatened, the Department needed new and increased training and equipment.

THE 1980s

The 1980s began with the purchase of a new pumper and a ladder truck.

In November, 1981, a salesman for ACME Fire Apparatus of Nashville brought an American LaFrance truck into Campbellsville for a demonstration. According to fire officials, the city needed a ladder truck to accommodate taller structures built in the community. The truck being demonstrated had a 1,500 gallon-per-minute pumping capacity and a 75-foot aerial ladder. However, because of the cost the City Council limited its purchase to a new pumper truck with accessories such as hose, air packs, and other necessary tools at a cost of approximately $220,000.

Within two weeks 30 volunteer firemen from both the Campbellsville and the Taylor County Fire Departments signed a note for $30,000 at Citizens Bank to purchase a used truck with a 100-foot aerial ladder from the Elkhart, IN Fire Department. The truck was 49 feet long with a 500 gallon-per-minute nozzle at the top of the ladder, and it included seven other ground ladders ranging in size from 14 feet to 50 feet.

In addition to added equipment, the decade brought important changes for the firemen as the City abolished the old retirement system and added the present retirees to the City, and it placed the firemen under the “Hazardous Position Coverage” of the County Employee’s Retirement System. Local training began showing its impact as firemen began competing in the Firefighters’ Olympics and winning regional and state awards for their skills.

In addition, Campbellsville Mayor Robert Miller received an appointment to the Governor’s Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education Board, and Fire Chief Jimmy Cox was named a Vice President of the State Firefighters’ Association, an appointment that in the next decade will bring him to be named President of the Association.

Beyond the personal and collective recognitions, the Campbellsville Fire Department received a special recognition when, in July, 1984, it became a regional contact as part of a pilot program. Then Gov. Martha Lane Collins’ Governor’s Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education selected Campbellsville to be one of 12 fire departments across the state on a pilot program for collecting data on fires. As part of the project the Department was provided with an IBM DC XT computer to keep figures on the number of house and car fires annually in Taylor County as well as the dollar amount of property damage and the number of lives lost due to fires. Information stored in the computer could be sent to the state fire marshal’s office weekly rather than periodically.

THE 1990s

The 1990s brought additional equipment purchases. For example, in June, 1992 the City Council added to the Fire Department’s equipment by agreeing to purchase a fire truck from Kovatch Mobile Equipment for $171,967. The Department continued its success in Fire Olympics competition both in regional and state challenges. Community outreach continued through the Crusade for Children in mid-year and through the Toys for Kids collection at Christmas time.

Larger fires with more complicating factors brought newer training and increased personnel. For example, industries presented new hazards that included power fork lifts with propane tanks that provided new explosive devices. Increased use of plastics, chemicals, and synthetics in building materials and production created additional personal hazards in smoke and toxic gases as well as producing hotter fires, or fires of greater temperatures. If they had not experienced such challenges previously, firemen encountered all of these elements when they battled a major fire at Cox Interior in December, 1997. Many firemen reported that they had never seen a fire burn any hotter than that particular fire, providing another reminder of the threats faced by firemen working in the increased industrialized society.

Increased staffing allowed the department to schedule two firemen on duty during the night and three during the day, and the department secured its first full-time administrative assistant.

2000 TO PRESENT

In-house improvements, grants for replacement equipment, and broader outreach signaled the changes in the 21st century. Initially, the department streamlined its record-keeping by building the city’s first client server network. In addition, it installed an exhaust ventilation system throughout the entire city fire station. The department established a ten-year renewal rotation with all of its fire trucks. With grants the department replaced all the SCBAS in the department, purchased the first PASS Devices that allowed improved communication between fire fighters on the scene, installed sprinklers and a fire alarm system throughout the fire station, the police station, and city hall, secured a live fire simulator to be used at schools and industry for fire extinguisher training with a Fleetwood trailer provided for storage, purchased a 56 foot trailer that could simulate kitchen and bedroom fires with flames and smoke simulation and could double as a command post during a disaster.

Funds provided by WalMart and Clarcor allowed the department to secure the city’s first Thermal Imaging Camera. Partnering with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and EveryReady Battery Company, the department established an ongoing smoke detector battery replacement program.

The department worked to obtain a former AT&T radio tower site for use by the police, city, and fire radios. In addition, by Executive Order the Mayor established the Campbellsville Fire and Rescue joining the established Rescue Squad with the Campbellsville Fire Department. Finally, as of the current writing, the City Council had approved purchase of a 1,000 gallon demonstration pumper truck with a 1,750 gallon per minute capacity from Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc. of Holden, Louisiana. The truck is expected in-house before the end of 2015.

As we can see from this 100 year history, firefighting was, and remains, a dangerous business. But, even in dangerous businesses light moments show through to relieve the challenges. One such instance from the Campbellsville Fire Department history occurred in March, 1958. Firemen were called to a building from which smoke apparently rolled. As The News-Journal reported in an article titled “Firemen Not Needed”:

Smoke rolling from a meat house on Popular [sic] Street here yesterday was because of a fire, but the city’s firemen found out they were not necessarily needed. Meat in the house was just being smoked when a passerby noticed the sight and turned in the alarm.

The following week Ralph Speck’s column, “Rambling With Ralph,” carried the story forward:

A small article on the front page of last week’s News-Journal told of the fire department answering an alarm that turned out to be nothing more than a lady smoking some hams in her meat house however only part of the story was told here while the lady wasn’t having the least bit of trouble from the fire she did encounter quite a bit of trouble from the firemen . . . seems as though she practically had to resort to the use of a shotgun to protect her hams from our fearless but hungry fire I don’t know how successful she was in her efforts fighters. . I over heard a couple of our more valiant firemen, George Crabtree and Adolphus McKinley, discussing the flavor of the ham… I believe they decided it needed a little more smoking

Over the 100 years of commitment by volunteer firemen, paid firemen, city officials, and citizens to develop the Campbellsville Fire Department into an efficient and aggressive public service, nothing could prepare any of them for the events of August, 2014. Four firemen were injured. One died from the accident, the sole death recorded by the Campbellsville Fire Department in its 100 years of service.

The event brought national media attention to the Campbellsville Fire Department, but it also reminded Campbellsville and the nation of the daily risks faced by all first responders, volunteer or professional. As Alexander Townsend said in a speech before the Charitable Fire Society in Boston in 1809, “Volunteers in the service of beneficiaries are the glory of civilized life.”

May this book be a permanent salute and enduring reminder of the Campbellsville Volunteer Fire Department and its members, past and present, for whom the highest duty has been, and remains, the call to serve.

Joseph Y. DeSpain