Chapter Fifteen - Fire Losses
It will be noted that, in the Articles of Incorporation of the Sebring Firemen, the first objective cited is "the preservation and protection of property from and during such fires as may occur - -". This has always been the foremost purpose in the minds and hearts of the Firemen. All other projects have been secondary.
Aside from the professional, fully paid engineers, no fireman has received personal payment for his services. The low loss record for the past three decades may be envied by cities having far greater resources than Sebring and they testify, by far better than any words of praise, to the effectiveness the volunteers and their training.
The table below gives the number of fires and the total loss for each year.
1926 62 $5,455.00 1944 89 $6,653.95
1927 77 12,731.25 1945 123 3,785.00
1928 52 4,156.70 1946 64 5,898.00
1929 58 4,420.06 1947 84 4,098.50
1930 44 3,285.00 1948 48 2,778.33
1931 42 7,828.35 1949 97 1,333.95
1932 32 1,075.00 1950 91 4,793.00
1933 44 3,500.06 1951 89 56,054.27
1934 56 392.64 1952 not available
1935 57 4,744.05 1953 not available
1936 50 771.67 1954 not available
1937 42 175.41 1955 not available
1938 51 3,338.00 1956 145 5,363.56
1939 36 4,145.10 1957 65 6,625.00
1940 35 486.00 1958 62 9,194.15
1941 27 1,225.91 1959 not available
1942 74 2,439.33 1960 69 17,286.60
1943 82 13,636.93 1961 86 7,821.70