Chapter Two - Revamped Department
The reorganization of the Fire Department proceeded slowly and carefully. There was an excellent nucleus that was immediately available from the old organization. These men had experience and such training as was available at that time, so the hard core of the new group consisted of
P. G. Gearing Ford Heacock George Whitehouse
Spencer Jones Brandon Jones Chal Lighthiser
"Hetty" Greene Roscoe Yeager Allen Altvater
Tom Dimberline
The Council soon after, approved the employment of two full paid engineers and Eph Sidders and Harry Kline were chosen for these jobs.
In 1926, Sebring was a young and vibrant city, full of young and energetic people who saw a roseate future and were willing to work hard to make their dream pictures into realities. By choosing the initial membership with the greatest of care, the organization was in position to accept only the most suitable material as is evident by the results which were shown from the very beginning.
Immediately attracted to the revamped department were
Payne Sebring O. W. Chapman Carl Tripp
E. D. Estes K. S. Johnson A. L. Butler
E. W. Gallaher Al Kieffer Joe Lighthiser
Hayden & Laurie Williams and others
A military - chain of command - type of organization was first set up and, for the time being, this seemed to produce satisfactory results. The men took a sincere interest in the development of an efficient fire fighting unit and became proficient in the use of their equipment. But, as the fire station was still only a small, one story building with very limited space for holding meetings, the activities were confined to only those of a fire fighting group but it was a very effective one.
There were several outside factors that contributed greatly to the early success of the new fire department. The years 1925 and 1926 could be classified as "organizing years" for it was at this time that the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the B.P.O.Elks and other civic societies were formed and it was also the time when the Florida State Firemen’s Association began to function. Most of the men who formed the Fire Department were also members of one or more of the other local civic clubs and the community spirit generated in these clubs helped in recruiting the type of men who really wanted to help their city. At the same time, a certain amount of rivalry was felt that was also helpful. Some of the leaders joined the newly formed State Firemen’s Association and received greater inspiration by reason of their association with others in similar work.
Another factor that was of tremendous help, was the completion of the system of water mains to cover the major portions of the city. With adequate water supply, plus consistent training, losses were reduced and the prestige of the Department was increased. In addition to routine fire calls, there were several minor emergencies that the firemen handled with dispatch so it was only natural that the leaders of the city should call on the Fire Department to head up the disaster relief party in September 1926 when the dreadful hurricane struck the Moore Haven area.
This was an event where the teamwork that had been practiced so faithfully for the past year, really paid off. The news of the disaster reached Sebring early on Saturday night and the firemen were immediately summoned. Under the direction of the captains, one team rounded up all row boats in the community; another gathered all the outboard motors; another prepared the necessary supplies while still another attended to the miscellaneous items such as loading the train, directing the efforts of the several committees, assigning personnel, etc.
WITHIN THREE HOURS THE RELIEF TRAIN WAS LOADED AND READY TO ROLL. Aboard was a crew of firemen and selected nonmembers (such as doctors, etc.) starting on an expedition for which they were not trained except for the fact that they had reached a high degree of proficiency in teamwork. For a week, these firemen worked without sleep, without drinking water and often without food, saving lives and property in the storm torn area with such effective results that their status in Sebring was firmly established, and their ability recognized. Mr. G. T. Nelson (a Councilman) in an open letter to a local newspaper said,
"In all my experience of dealing with these Florida localities, I have never seen a volunteer fire organization that is as efficient as the one we have at the present time - -."
Not the least of the beneficial factors, was an understanding and forward-looking Council. Its members showed their confidence in the Department in many ways and the members of the Department made every possible effort to live up to that confidence. In 1926, it was decided that a new pumper was needed and, although the Council went through the necessary legal motions of advertising for bids, they specified that the Department should make the choice as to which it considered the "lowest and BEST bid". The Department, in return, made a point to never take advantage of a sympathetic Council by requesting expenditures that could not be fully justified as profit bearing items.
A very close liaison developed between the two groups as a result of the appointment of Mr. E. O. Douglas as the chairman of the Fire Department Committee of the Council. Mr. Douglas had, in his earlier experiences, been a military captain so he ordered daily inspections of the men and equipment, which he personally attended. No oil on the engine, no mud under the fenders or on the under side of the floor boards, no missing button on a fireman’s shirt, escaped his notice. He attended every fire call as an observer; he sat in the conclaves of the State Association; he visited fire houses in other cities and in every possible way, made himself familiar with the problems and their solutions, of the fire fighting fraternity. More than any other one factor, the inspiration of E. O. Douglas contributed to the excellent foundation on which the present Sebring Fire Department was built. Because of the Florida boom, Sebring was growing by leaps and bounds; the city limits were constantly being expanded, houses and business blocks were being built in amazing numbers. The Fire Department not only called attention to the fact that fire defenses must be kept abreast of this tremendous growth but it continued to keep this fact before the administration in a carefully planned program. On the Department were three excellent insurance men (Ebb Gallaher, Kenneth Johnson and Ford Heacock) who helped the Chief in preparation of studies which proved where dollars invested in apparatus and salaries, meant net profits by way of loss reductions and insurance savings. The Underwriters had made a survey of the city and when their recommendations were received, they were followed to the letter. One of the biggest problems of fire departments of all times, has been the delayed alarm and it was so with Sebring from the beginning. The first method of arousing the public, was by firing some kind of a gun. This was logical because in those pioneering days, practically every household had one or more weapons around the house and no other provision for fire alarms had been made. This method was in vogue until 1920 when arrangements were made with the ice plant to use their whistle exclusively for fire calls. A system of long and short blasts indicated the general location of the fire in town. Some confusion was experienced as the whistles of locomotives were somewhat similar and usually came from the same section of town as the ice plant; so a siren was purchased and mounted on the fire house. Here, other difficulties arose. Someone had to be notified of the fire and he lost time getting to the station and a siren was not so adaptable to coding. To overcome the loss of time, a switch was installed at the telephone office.But even this step was not too satisfactory as all volunteers had to hurry to phones and all call at the same time to learn the location. So, as the Underwriters’ recommendations included the installation of a modern fire reporting telegraph system, the Council contracted for a Gamewell alarm which was installed in the summer of 1926 at a cost of $11,000.00.
The new system overcame most of the problems caused by late alarms but, for the time being, presented some new ones. The raucous blast of the diaphone gave rise to many complaints about the noise and the boxes proved too much of a temptation to some who wanted to turn in false alarms. Thirty five years later, the complaints about the tone of the diaphone are sometimes heard and false alarms will probably always be present but, fortunately, not to the extent they were in 1926.
In an effort to alleviate the false alarm situation, the Council posted a substantial reward for the apprehension of such culprits. Although several were caught, a reward was never claimed. One night, the Chief was going home and he passed a number of teenage boys on foot at the corner of South Lakeview and Pine. Among them, he noticed one boy that was almost as broad as he was tall. No sooner had the Chief entered his house than the alarm bell tapped out box #52 which was only about three blocks from his home and in the direction from which he had just come. In a matter of a very few minutes, he was back at the box and, as there was no one near it, he remembered the boys and particularly the fat one so he began to cruise the area. It was not long before he picked up the fat boy and two companions who were taken to the fire house for questioning.
For thirty minutes, they maintained that they had had nothing to do with the alarm. Finally, Joe Lighthiser showed them a box that was kept at the fire house for educational purposes and, pointing to the little glass disc on the front said, "See that glass? It took your picture when you pulled the box." One boy replied, "I know that’s not so. The boy that pulled the box climbed up the other side of the pole and reached around so that it wouldn’t take his picture." One of the more prominent businessmen of Sebring today, states that he was one of those boys (not the one who pulled the box).
Joe Lighthiser, who later became one of the full-paid firemen, helped with the installation of the Gamewell system and became so expert in the maintenance and repair that when other South Florida cities had trouble with their installations, the Gamewell Company recommended that they employ Joe to clear up their difficulties.
This system has proved to be one of the best investments the city has ever made.
Another ever-present problem of most small town fire departments, has been the desire of nonmembers to follow the trucks. Sebring has always had this trouble and it was especially prevalent in 1926. Ways of combating it were discussed - suggestions that a fine be imposed, etc. - appeals for cooperation through the newspapers, but no satisfactory solution. The new diaphone advised the location of the fire and by the time the trucks got on the roads, passage was already blocked with cars.
When no results were apparent from appeals to the public, Hayden Williams thought up a new approach. One week, he wrote a letter which would be printed asking for cooperation and even demanding arrests. The next week, he answered his own articles with one or more letters to which he signed "A Taxpayer" or "A Citizen", violently denouncing the writer of the previous week and saying that he had as much right to the unrestricted use of the streets as did the firemen, etc.
For weeks, he kept the campaign alive, writing the letters for both sides of the phony argument and creating more interest than could have been generated, had it been genuine. A great deal of improvement was noted - it didn’t completely solve the problem but it went far in that direction and Hayden had a lot of fun.
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The original housing for the hand-drawn reels and chemical engine, which was built in 1914, was entirely adequate for the purpose but it was also a good place to temporarily store other city equipment that was not too bulky. Oftentimes it was necessary to move shovels, rakes, surplus trash cans and other minor tools before the reels could be moved out. But it kept the equipment dry.
A bigger house was needed when the first motorized chemical engine was bought in 1920. Soon after that, the City built a one story, two car building on the site of the present station. This had a 12’ by 22’ room on the rear which was used as a club room and, when the engineers were hired, as sleeping quarters. When the Seagraves was put into service, a lean-to was added to the east side to house the Ford hose truck.
In the general improvement program of 1926-27, a new fire station was included and this was completed and occupied in December 1927. Months of careful planning went into this building, not only by the architect, Wm. Helm but also by Mr. Douglas and the members of the Sebring Department. Every suggestion was accepted and thoughtfully weighed and every newly built fire house in South Florida was visited, the thought being that this house should meet not only the needs for 1927 but for the long range future and it must be said that it has met this specification very well.