Remember When?

85 YEARS AGO

NOVEMBER 11, 1936

ORGANIZING

FIRE DEPARTMENT

Earl Davis has been authorized by the town council to organize and promote a volunteer Fire Department. Monday night a meeting was held in the council chambers and a skeleton organization was drawn up. They are: Earl Davis Fire Chief, Roy Wright First Assistant Fire Chief, George Grandchamp Second Assistant Fire Chief. Other Assistant Fire Chiefs are: Chas. Hiner – Hose Captain, and Luce Hart – Hook and Ladder Captain.

The regular crew which volunteered included the following: Del and Bill Alvord, Art Turk, Don and Bob Saint, Irwin and Berlin Luke, Bert Macho, Ralph and Jr. Wright, Harry Dodson, Don Larson, Slim Moore, Red Goff, and Wylie Garred.

Mr. Davis advises that there are many details still to be completed and much organization practice to be done. They will hold meetings every week until everything is lined up properly. Fire drills will be perfected. The group consists mainly of the younger men of the town. It was also decided to raise a smoker fund and later have smokers and dinners. It was also decided to put on a Fireman's Ball, sell tickets to the businesspeople, and from the proceeds raised, purchase slickers, helmets and other equipment which they might need.

Earl Davis has already expended about $300 in perfecting fire equipment, chiefly 300 feet of new hose. Mr. Davis plans to build a trailer on which will be loaded a ladder, axes, hose, etc., so that the trailer can easily be attached to any nearby car and delivered any place in town necessary. They have sufficient hose to reach any place in the city limits from available hydrants, and in some places sufficient hose to attach to two hydrants from two directions and have a double stream flowing on the fire.

The organization plans to incorporate. Such incorporation gives them the benefit of certain state allowances, and also liability insurance for their volunteer organization should they suffer injury or accident while attending a fire.

This volunteer organization is a necessity in order to receive drastic insurance reductions. Mr. Davis is cooperating with the State Fire Marshall recommendations. Our water system is now rated so high in efficiency, water availability and pressure, that Thompson Falls will have an A-1 fire rating, and the people of the town can anticipate a substantial reduction in insurance as soon as the Volunteer Fire Organization is completed and meets with the approval of the underwriters. The Volunteer Fire Organization is the first requisite for fire insurance reductions regardless of water system efficiency otherwise.

Mr. Davis is doing a very important duty and all citizens should cooperate to the utmost and in the interest of safety, welfare and economy.

BIG CREW TO WORK ON WATER SYSTEM EXTENSION

The WPA through a recent grant has approved sufficient funds to completely inlay the entire Thompson Falls water system with galvanized pipe. There will hardly be a yard of the old deteriorated wooden pipe remaining from the original system as taken over last spring from J.B. McGurk.

This improvement by the WPA will be at a very fractional cost to the taxpayers and citizens. WPA foreman Harris advises that about 17 men are now working on the water pipeline extensions, but that eventually a much larger number will be employed, since he has a large list of men to be called on.

This added improvement will make the Thompson Falls water system the most efficient system in the state. Some places on the hill where they used to have only a slight pressure, hardly sufficient for domestic uses, now have tremendous pressure. In fact, the pressure in town is so great that ordinary plumbing equipment is out of the question, and extra thick and heavy material must be purchased.

We are fortunate in having this allotment of WPA funds since otherwise with money available the council would have had to wait until the bond issue had been repaid before making it.