History of the Illinois Valley Rural Fire Protection District

The history of any organization is more than just a recitation of dates and facts. This is especially true of a fire department. If dates and facts told the story, then the history of the Illinois Valley Fire would read, "Initially formed by farmers in June, 1954, and still in existence today, just with more equipment and a few more men and women." However, the events that drove the creation of an organization and that organization's reaction to events and the passing of time are both legacy and history. The character of an organization is obvious to all of us in the present, but the events and challenges of the past are what shape that character. A fire department is shaped from within; new firefighters (rookies) are trained by the veterans of the department, not only in fire fighting technique, but also in the honorably discharging of the duties they are entrusted with. The welfare and character of the Department is an unbroken chain passed from chief to chief, beginning with the first, Fire Chief, and currently entrusted to Chief Harry Rich. The past and the present are inexorably linked and by examining the past, we can better appreciate the present and anticipate the future. The history of the Illinois Valley Fire is one that goes from pails to pumpers.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The Illinois Valley was, in the early twentieth century, typical of most towns of that era. The buildings in the city's business district were mostly cheaply built frame structures, haphazardly constructed, and situated in the downtown area of Cave Junction. The existence of building code enforcement was some time off and construction was unregulated. Fire protection was not organized, but the citizens participated in an informal "bucket brigades," since a fire in one part of town could quickly spread and endanger other areas. Realizing the possibility of damage from a conflagration, the citizens assembled to provide for fire protection to the city, and surrounding communities essentially the Illinois Valley Fire was born. The community purchase the first hose reel with hose a hose reel, fire hose, and other fire fighting equipment was to be provided for the sum of $1,000.00. The fire equipment arrived and the construction of what was to be the city's first fire station in 1953. A site on Caves Hwy was chosen for the construction of the 24' x 12' building that was to house the fire fighting equipment. Now that the equipment was in place it was time to formally organize a group to use it. This task fell to the citizens to organize a volunteer company. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when the city's fire bell arrived. The bell was to be used as a signaling device to summon the volunteers to the station and alert the community in the event of a fire, soon thereafter a town hall siren was installed as the fire alert device.

THE FIRE TRUCK

Hose carts and bucket brigades were not the appropriate means of fire protection for a modern community fire department in the fifties so the Fire District rented from Coast Apparatus an early 1954 Ford gas powered pumper, the cost to rent this engine was $40.00 per month. It is unknown how long this engine was in service. In August 1956 the Department purchased a 1929 Seagraves 1000 gallon pumper. This pumper was assigned to the Cave Junction Station.

FIRE PREVENTION

The need for fire prevention was shown in the lessons taken from the great fires. Structure fire conflagrations were amplified by the lack of construction standards and fire codes and code enforcement. Fire prevention had taken a back seat to fire suppression and rescue for the early years of the department. Fire prevention was made a priority in 1956, when the department began to make a concerted effort to address the causes of fire, and the problems of code enforcement and life safety.

TRAINING

The Illinois Valley Fire from its earliest beginnings has realized the importance of training for this most hazardous job. Proper training ensures that the best interests of the citizens are being served. Even in the beginnings of the fire department, a trained fire fighter from neighboring communities was brought in to share there knowledge and expertise. The Fire Chief Abner Casleberry greatly emphasized training during his tenure. Under his guidance, the fire department completely trained most members in first aid. Additionally each of his men had certificates from the American Red Cross.

THE PRESENT

The present time of the Illinois Valley Fire District began a new era when Chief Harry Rich was sworn in December 2003. Fire fighting is a profession more steeped in tradition than any other, and this posed a problem, for to meet the problems of the future, you must sometimes throw off the shackles of the past. Chief Rich has combined the management of the department into areas of developed and long range planning to improve each of the needed goals. The department has modernized its stations and equipment. Additional manpower and training is badly needed to be more productive and more readily protect the communities of the Illinois Valley and the constituency.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This history of the Illinois Valley Fire was hard to research due to lost documents, but through pictures and some newspapers articles, we were able to establish some type of history for this Great Fire Department. The list of sources of information and person involved as historian in preparing this history was Delaine Sherman who is a great source of information.

The files of old newspaper clippings were of great assistance in this project. Files from the Illinois Valley News were among those used.