PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
Prior to 1929, fire protection for Aurora came from Kent or Ravenna. A number of local fires with high dollar losses and life threatening situations prompted interest in organizing a local fire department in Aurora. Additionally, the developing allotment bounded by Pioneer Trail, Route 82 and New Hudson Road and the accompanying amenities of the Aurora Inn and the Aurora Country Club brought new people and demands for expanded services.
A large group of citizens met and organized the Aurora Fire Department in late 1928 and early 1929. We are indebted to Mr. John McDonald for the reflection that "almost every able bodied man in town was involved in some way and considered himself to be a fireman." Fred Maskey became the first Fire Chief in 1929.
The Aurora Township assumed governmental control over the new Fire Department. Inasmuch as Aurora Village was also part of the local government scene, they assumed the financial responsibility of purchasing the latest in fire fighting equipment. The major purchase afforded by the Village was a 1928 American La France fir truck. The truck was stored in Bob Tucker’s garage at the corner of Maple Lane and Route 306. This truck is now restored and can today be seen in local parades; it belongs to the Aurora Firemen’s Association.
An unusual situation existed in that we had a Township Fire Department whose major equipment was owned by the Village. The Village paid the firemen $1.00 per year while the Township bought minor supplies and equipment.
For many years, insurance to cover individual injury was purchased by a local resident and donated to the Department. Later, when Workmen’s Compensation was enacted for Ohio, the importance of this insurance diminished bu the spirit of the conation has never been forgotten by those whose only protection from life threatening injury had been purchase by a private citizen.
The early years were relatively peaceful and uneventful; personnel; were trained, attended local drills, county meetings and the Ohio Firemen’s Association annual convention. The latter event was the high point of each year and remembered with many stories. The great depression was in full swing and slowed all activities including governmental functions. The new comers to Aurora were generally not here to stay. They were a group who were soon transferred somewhere else. This provided a rather rapid turnover of personnel in the Fire Department. During the 1940’s and 1950’s, more permanent members of the community formed. In all probability the Fire Department is one of the oldest continuing organizations in Aurora and likewise today has an extremely stable long-term membership.
A mention must be made of a man who wore many hats during his active days in Aurora. Arthur Hall was Town Marshall (police chief), the total village road crew and a fireman. He served in these jobs for over 20 years, spanning the 1940’s and 1950’s. He is fondly remembered by all.
The first Fire House (the original Station #1) was built in October 1939 at 152 S. Chillicothe Road and it faced Pioneer Trail. It cost $7,000 and brought all of the acitivities of the department under one roof and provided a home for the equipment. This was a major factor in the continuity of the Fire Service in Aurora during periods of time when it otherwise might have been suspended or terminated. New Station #1 was completed in 1983 at 65 W. Pioneer Trail with an $800,000 addition complete in 1993.
The 1950’s brought new equipment and trucks to round out a well-run department. The Chief was Art Mowl who was generally quiet and self-effacing but he got results and knew the Fire Service. The original Station #2 was constructed in 1950 at 1049 Aurora Road by volunteers and donations. New Station #2 was completed in 1997 for a cost of $650,000.
Dress uniform jackets, pants, hats and shirts were purchased during this period. The department coincidentally attended a lot of parades following the purchase of the new uniforms.
The 1960’s brought the retirement of Art Mowl and the appointment of Ed Hackbart as Chief in 1975. This period also marked great changes in equipment; especially in relation to the rescue squad the department received in 1972. The culmination of squad development is Radio Telemetry with local hospitals and sophisticated medical techniques carried out at the scene of the emergency. The department obtained this ability in 1977.
Through the years, almost from the first meetings in 1928 and 1928, the Aurora Firemen’s Association has been an important part of the operations of the department. This is a quasi-social organization and the official representation of the Fire Service personnel. The Annual Dance in the spring was well attended and had been the sole money making effort for 50 years. Annual Christmas parties for families, picnics and business meetings provide the major social activities. In addition, the Association provided refreshments at bi-monthly drills for all personnel.
The sale of dance tickets during the 40’s and 50’s was accomplished by taking several men and a fire truck up and down roads and flowing the siren to attract attention.
Picnics, now held at Sunny Lake as a family activity, were strictly stag. These affairs were held at the Village Water Works where several broken down picnic tables could be found. The baseball game was the highlight as well as the ever present poker game.
A review of the activities of the Aurora Fire Department is not complete without a mention of Harold Miller. Harold was Assistant Chief for many years and a member until his death. He was active in Aurora, in the County and in state organizations. He served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Ohio Firemen’s Association for several decades.
Most fire personnel in the early days were employed out of town. The 1950’s brought several teachers to Aurora who also joined the Fire Department. When the town siren sounded, they left their classes and took a number of their bigger, upper grade students to the fire station to respond to the fire. This provided a short holiday for the students left behind who were always eager to hear the details of every call upon the return of their instructors and classmates.
1958 brought the annexation of the Township and the Village. It was now one government for the Fire Department instead of two. The 1970 census brought "city" status to Aurora and the advent of civic service. The first three full time personnel were appointed to begin the decade of the 1970’s and they worked 5 days a week during the daytime hours.
In summary, the 1920’s showed a need for a department, the 1930’s saw its establishment as an operation unit, the 1940;s and 50’s were decades of growth and solidfication of procedures and training. The 1960’s and 1970’s saw more extensive training and the acquisition of more sophisticated equipment. The Aurora Fire Department is on the leading edge of Fire and Rescue Squad technology. It is recognized as one of the most modern and up to date departments in the county.
The future indicates more full time personnel, constantly improving equipment and continuing of in-service training for all personnel.
If you have ever wondered how firemen find out about a fire or rescue call, we can assure you it has been a steadily improving system that has taken seventy-five years to evolve.
At first, you picked up your phone and told the local operator about your emergency and she pushed a button that blew a siren. If the fireman just happened to hear it, he came running. The phone system improved but the siren remained.
One day, someone in the phone company figured out a way to ring all of the firemen’s phones at one time when they were needed. This system had its drawbacks but was far better than anything before it. The only thing you had to worry about was having someone near the phone.
In 1977, the greatest improvement was made. The Fire Department was instumental in having the 911 emergency number installed and combined with a pocketsize pager system gave us the best system yet. To improve on this system would mean putting men in the station 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This became a reality in 1983 with one full time Firefighter Paramedic on duty every 24-hour shift. Since then, additional full time personnel have been added to keep up with the ever-increasing number of EMS and fire calls. There are currently a total of 17 full time peronnel including Chief Barnes and Assistant Chief Schmader and 23 part time members. There are normally seven shift members on duty, four at Station #1 and three at Station #2. A.C. Schmader is also the department’s Fire Prevention Officer.
FIRE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL
In the seventy-five years that Aurora has had a Fire Department, there have been many men and women that have been members. They come from all walks of life. In the beginning, it was a way to help protect yourself and your family. You belonged to the Fire Department because it was your civic duty. There were very few organizations to belong to in Aurora; there was the Church, Lodge, Grange and the Fire Department.
The morale of the Fire Deparment personnel was high and was evidenced by a degree of commitments of time and effort, without claim or expectation for compensation, that is unmated by any other city operating department.
Aurora’s first Fire Chief was Fred Maskey, followed in 1932 by Art Mowl, the local Chevrolet dealer. Art retired in 1955 and in December of that year, Ed Hackbart, the owner and operator of Hackbart’s General Store, became Fire Chief. Ed retired in 1975 and Fred Barnoff was appointed Chief. In 1998, Fred Barnoff retired and A.C. Gerry Gnabah became the next Fire Chief. In 2003, Gerry retired and A.C. Dave Barnes became Chief and currently serves in that position. To date, the department has had only 7 Chiefs since 1929.
The Volunteer Chief did his work when he was called. He had one report to make out which was to account to the City Fathers the number of times the department was called out in a month. The Chief today has a full time job. He is in charge and has the complete responsibility of the operation of the Fire Department and a budget of 2.4 million dollars. The fire Chief’s job is a 24 hour a day job. His regular working day averages 10 hours plus meetings and he is on call at all times.
AURORA RESCUE SQUAD
Through its history, the Aurora Fire Department has responded to the needs of the people of Aurora in emergencies other than fires. Calls for accidental injuries and sudden illness years ago brought first aid help until an ambulance arrived.
In these early years, the training consisted of short first aid courses taught by a local doctor. The equipment consisted of bandages, splints and an oxygen kit carried on the fire equipment van.
The distances involved for out of town ambulances arrive and trasfer victims to distant hospitals resulted in delays and additional suffering for the victims and frustration for the firemen.
The rapid growth of Aurora along with the decreased availability of daytime volunteers brought about the need to start a full time department during weekday hours. This became a reality early in 1970. At about the same time, the firemen felt the community had reached a size where a Rescue Squad including emergency transportation to nearby hospitals was needed.
The original rescue vehicle was purchased in 1972 with funding partly supplied by the federal government.
The state sponsored "Emergency Victim Care" course was taken and passed by approximately 22 firemen in 1975. This was the first specially tailored course for rescue service. It included a combination of classroom work and hospital experience totaling 86 hours.
Years ago the philosophy was to transport an accident or sudden illness victim to the nearest hospital as fast as possible. The steadily improving training programs for rescue personnel have emphasized that primary treatment should be started in the field before transport. To better accomplish this, a more advanced training program for Paramedics was established at the state level. A group of four Aurora Emergency Medical Technicians attended a nine month long training program offered by Brentwood Hospital. This group was in the first state approved program for Paramedics and they graduated in 1976. The training requirements included approximately 1,000 classroom and hospital experience hours beyond the above-mentioned Emergency Victim Care course.
Paramedic training enables the rescue squad to function as the eyes, ears and hands of an Emergency Room Physician. Our squads functioned with a direct radio hook up (voice and telemetry) with all emergency rooms. The additional equipment and training enable EKG’s (Electrocardiograms) to be administered, interpreted and transmitted to the emergency room for consultation. Under the doctor’s instruction, IV’s were routinely started in the field and medications for particular heart problems and other illnesses and injuries were administered at the scene or en route to the emergency room.
Today Paramedics operate under written protocols approved by our Medical Director with very little online supervision. The protocols direct Paramedics to stabilize the patient in the field and then transport to the hospital at a more leisurely pace. At times this may mean the squad will be at the scene for 10 to 20 minutes performing life-saving and precautionary procedures before transporting the patient. The immediate field treatment results in shorter hospital stays and a greater survival rate for serious illness and injuries. A trauma system that now includes designated trauma center and aero medical helicopters was initiated for this area in 1983. |