Slightly Off the Mark: fire department

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No "Touch the Truck" at Albion F.D. Block Party

A correction to the events scheduled for this coming Saturday's Albion Fire Department block party: There will NOT be a "touch the truck" opportunity during the event, although everything else will be the same. We apologize for that, but hope to still see everyone there.

A Fire Department Block Party, and the Block Isn't Even On Fire

Music. Beer. Buff firemen. Well, some are buff, and we'd prefer to be called firefighters, 'cause it's the 21st Century.

Yes, the Albion Volunteer Fire Department is hosting its first block party, an event which, typically, involves having a party on a block. In this case it's the Noble County Courthouse Square, which is indeed a block. If you want to be specific, it's around the area of Main and York Streets, which--come to think of it--I can see from my part time job.

But I can't have beer on my part time job. Still, I'm betting there will be other beverages there, and besides, most of the people reading this don' t have my job. This is on a Saturday (September 12th), so there'll be plenty of parking in the courthouse square area, too. But if you plan to visit the beer tent, bring a designated parker.

This is where I usually post a link to the Facebook event page, but I can't get it to work properly because FB is dumb. Okay, I probably pushed the wrong button, but the AFD's page is here:

https://www.facebook.com/albionfd

The money raised goes toward, among other things, tools, fitness equipment, and training props. The fitness equipment part is pretty self-explanatory. Let me explain: When we started out in 1888, most members of the department had physical work that kept them in shape. There were butchers, bakers, candlestick makers ...

Well, our first fire chief was among other things a baker, and butchers would make sense--I don't know if we had any candlestick makers. Here is what I eventually determined is the first known photo of the Albion Volunteer Fire Department:

I had this photo for a few years before I realized the little frame building under construction on the right is, in fact, Albion's first firehouse. It took me awhile after that to figure out that the men marching in the white belts are some of the town's first volunteer firefighters, which dates this photo to late 1887. The women behind them? Probably the Ladies Auxiliary, or whatever it was called back then. Their job was to follow along and, if one of the men chickened out and tried to run from the fire, shame them into going on.

It's possible I'm making that last part up.

Back then I would probably have been a candlestick maker, working on my feet all day, walking from place to place, drilling with the fire guys to hand pump the engine, and having earwax problems. I don't know. Wouldn't candlestick makers have wax issues?

Now we need fitness equipment. These are the days of typing on keyboards, riding trucks instead of pulling engines, and drinking beer instead of well water. (We can't actually go to a fire if we've been drinking, which is the main reason why I never took up drinking.)

But when those fires break out, we still have to put on a zillion pounds of equipment and go running toward the flames.

Speaking of beer, there are also those training props we need to pay for. We used to find buildings due to be demolished, and train there on every aspect of firefighting, until it was time to let the place burn down completely. These days it's a lot harder to find a building we can legally beat up for training. The State of Indiana does help out on training resources, but there's the need for us to build our own doors and windows to force, roofs to ventilate, and 150 pound mannequins to haul around.

Should various government entities pay for our training needs? Sure, but in some cases they can't, and in others they won't. Besides, now we can have a block party.

So come over, have a beer, listen to music by Sweetwater All Stars Band, and bring the kids! Not for the beer. For them there'll be a "touch a truck", the fire prevention trailer, and no beer. Enjoy the local cuisine, which is a Greece word that originated in Turkey, meaning food. Oh, and if you wander over to the AFD's booth (let's fill that boot! With money. Duh.), you can buy a beverage Koozie to remember us buy. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but my dispatcher Koozies are getting ragged.

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Remember: The one thing we’ll never let burn is books.

Ladder Truck vs. Courthouse: A Look at Ladder 99

The Albion Fire Department has had a ladder truck for a couple of years (and I took these photos last summer, so I'm way behind), so I thought I'd give you the lowdown on it. These photos were taken when the truck was called to the Noble County Courthouse, to help remove some debris from a gutter--and it made for great training.

(We did have a hook and ladder wagon when we first formed in 1887, but that was because hauling apparatus to the scene by hand meant you had to have your hose, pump, and ladders/tools divided up to make lighter loads.)

We got a great deal on a used truck: A brand new apparatus of this type runs a million dollars or more. AFD Ladder 99 is a quint: In addition to the aerial ladder and associated equipment, it carries a fire pump, a water tank, and a supply of hose.

Some firefighters hate quints, which basically combine a fire engine with a ladder truck. As a result, they say, there's not enough room for the full amount of equipment one of those alone would usually carry. The advantage is that some of the most critical ladder company operations need to be done right away, and how that truck is positioned is critical--in other words, there are advantages to it being first on the scene.

But even if all the seats are filled, how do you accomplish both fire attack and ventilation/rescue operations at the same time? It's a question I'm addressing in a novel-in-progress, and the argument will continue.

Why is it called Ladder 99 if we only have one? Each fire department in Noble County has a different number. Back in the day it was planned to be in alphabetical order, with Albion being Base 10, but we didn't adapt it for many years and so the Kendallville Fire Department took that number. As a result Albion eventually took the last number, so our first out engine is Engine 91, the water tankers are 94 and 95, and so on. It was the same with individual members, which is why I was Fire 914 for many years.

The aerial ladder is 105 feet, which means we can reach the main floors of the courthouse, and a stream of water from the tip of the ladder could easily reach the clock tower. Here's hoping that never becomes necessary. Fire department ladder trucks are often called on to help with such things as hanging town decorations and, oh, keeping the recently renovated courthouse from getting water damage.

I stopped being an active firefighter just before Ladder 99 came along, so I've only climbed up and down an aerial a few times. There's no easy way to do it. But when it's position isn't too steep, it's a little like climbing downhill on a steep bridge. Do they make steep bridges? I hope not.

Outriggers are set on heavy metal plates to stabilize the truck when the aerial is up. You don't want to overturn your truck. You really don't.

Ladders? Oh yeah, we got ladders. Sometimes, due to power lines, trees, setbacks, or other factors, you can't get the aerial where you want it, and that's where the ground ladders come in. A ladder company isn't just a truck: It's the truck, the equipment it carries, and the trained manpower onboard that work together to accomplish the job. If a truck shows up with empty compartments and no passengers, it's ... a truck.

Quints are becoming more common around the area. Remember that if you see them at a scene where the aerial ladder isn't raised, that doesn't mean the rest of the equipment isn't in use.

You can find out all about that original hook and ladder, and the first century of the AFD's history, in Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: a Century Or So With the Albion Fire Department.