The History of The Morrison Fire Department.
The Fire Department in Morrison Illinois was formed by 10 founding members on 7 June, 1876. It was called The Jackson Hose Company after the City of Morrison’s Mayor at the time, A.J. Jackson. A.J. Jackson was never a member of the Fire Department but commented on the members of the Fire Department in a Whiteside Sentinel article dated 19 April, 1877, in his Annual Report of the Mayor. And I Quote. “The life of a fireman is proverbially a life of hardship, fraught with as much danger as that of a soldier in an active campaign, liable to be called at any moment from their peaceful vocations, or their quiet and refreshing slumbers, to do battle with the most unrelenting of foes. Occasions demanding their efforts are usually periods of the greatest excitement, and would seem many times as if the timely measure of effort to be put forth was the obstacle to be overcome. “
The first location of the Fire Department was where the Community
State Bank parking lot is located today. If you look along the Main Street sidewalk by the banks drive through their is a small plaque dedicated to the Fire Department.
One of the first pieces of fire fighting equipment was a horse drawn wagon with a hand operated pump mounted on it. It took six to eight men to hand pump the water through the hoses to put out the fire. The famous team of horses that pulled the wagon in 1910 was Tom and Jerry.
By the early 1920’s the Department had purchased an American Lafrance Firetruck. It was the only truck the department had and never left the City. By then the membership had grown to 18 members.
At this time the firemen were contacted by telephone if there was a fire.
Each fireman had a phone in their home or business that was used only
for Fire Department fire calls, The three telephone operators at the phone company would split the 18 names and phone each member to tell them that there was a fire.
By the late 1920 the Fire Department had moved to the City of
Morrison’s Coliseum building. Now the location of Wells Fargo Bank.
On 21 January, 1931 the name was changed from the Jackson Hose
Company to Morrison Fire Department Inc. a not for profit corporation. In 1935 the department purchased a pumper truck that was used mostly for the country fires. It only carried 400 gallons of water.
As the Fire Department continued to grow it moved in 1968 from the Coliseum building to its current location at 206 West Main St.. The membership had also grown to 25 members by this time.
The Fire Department has continued to grow throughout the 70’s. The Department added more fire fighting equipment, more fire truck pumpers and water hauling tanker trucks. The members started to carry radio pagers. The page was and still is dispatched by the Whiteside County Sheriffs Department. The new pagers were a big improvement over the fire phone method. In 1976 the Fire Department celebrated its 100th birthday. It also purchased Self Contained Breathing Apparatus or SCBA’s that allow Firemen to breathe fresh compressed air out of a bottle on their backs through a regulator to a face mask. The SCBA’s are used for fighting fires inside of a burning structure or hazardous atmospheres. In 1979 the Fire Department purchased its first set of “Jaws of Life” hydraulic rescue tools and cutters.
By the mid 80’s the membership was increased to 30 members. I can remember when I got on the Department in 1984, one of the first things I helped with was building five more lockers for the additional members.
Since the 80’s the Department has replaced older fire trucks new ones. Old fire fighting gear that consisted of knee length rubber coat and pull up boots that went over your knees has been replaced by more modern bunker gear. Bunker gear consists of bunker pants with suspenders, bunker coats made out of a fire proof material called Nomex, new helmets with face shields, insulated leather gloves. All for more protection to the firefighter.
In June of 2001 The Morrison Fire Department celebrated its 125 th Birthday with an open house and a booklet was printed to celebrate the occasion.
On October 12th 2009 The Fire Department dedicated a Memorial to its members across the street from North Side School by the Veterans Memorial park. The monument stone contains the names of the original
10 founding members of the Jackson Hose Company and the names of 25 years plus members that are now deceased or died as an active member. Surrounding the monument stone are stone pavers that are engraved with the names of retired members that have contributed 10 plus years of service to the Department. At the time of death of a 25 years plus member, their stone paver is removed from the pavers surrounding the monument and presented to the family of the deceased member sometime during the funeral proceedings. Their name is then engraved onto the monument stone.
Today the Fire Department has Wvo 1250 gallon per minute pumpers called engines. Each equipped with the “Jaws of Life” , Three tanker trucks that haul 1800 to 2100 gallons of water each. Two brush fire trucks equipped with four wheel drive for off road use. A pickup truck, a Ranger side by side, and rescue boat. The Fire Department also has specialized grain bin rescue equipment.
The Fire Department coverage area is approximately 160 square miles.
The area is from the Carroll County line to the North, Black road to the South, Twin Oaks corner to the West, and Just East of the Forrest Inn. It also includes the City of Morrison.
Morrison Fire Department is a unique Fire Department when it comes to income. We are only one of a few Department in Illinois that does not rely on a general property tax for income. We are contracted by the City of Morrison to provide fire protection to the City of Morrison. Each year the City levies a determined amount of money for the Fire Department. It is collected through property tax bills then distributed to the Fire Department.
If you live outside of the City limits you are a rural subscriber. The Fire Department has its own billing committee. The billing committee uses the Whiteside County tax assessors assessed value of your property, adds a multiplier and sends @ 1500 property owners a bill for fire protection for the year. The payments are collected through the mail or dropped off at the station.A rural subscriber is not forced to pay their fire dues. But if the subscriber does not pay their dues and needs the Fire Department to respond they will be sent a bill for our services in the mail. The rates are $100.00 to respond to the fire call and $500.00 per hour to combat the fire. We do have about a 95% return rate of our subscribers.
Today structure fires have become more dangerous for the homeowner and the Firefighter than in the past. The reason is the materials used to make the products we use. Wood is being replaced by plastics, wool and cotton have been replaced by polyesters and synthetics and many more electronic and battery powered devices that burn hotter and faster while giving off toxic smoke.
Thanks to battery operated smoke detectors that became available for residential use during the 1970’s, and battery operated carbon monoxide detectors during the early 1990’s, countless lives have been saved.
The all volunteer 30 member Fire Department answers between 125 to 192 calls per year. 2019, had the most calls in the history of the Department. Calls include structure fires, vehicle accidents, automatic alarms, CO detector alarms, agriculture accidents, car fires, dumpster fires, gas spills at fuel stations, downed power lines, sandbagging for flooding, drownings and assist the Morrison Ambulance when needed. This years calls were, 14 – STRUCTURE FIRES, 11- BRUSH FIRE, 22 –
ACCIDENTS, 11 – VEHICLE FIRES, 13 – WIRES ARCING, 38 – AMBULANCE
ASSIST., 4 – CODE BLUE ASSIST., 11 – CITIZEN ASSIST., 11- ODOR
INVESTIGATIONS, 15 – AUTO ALARMS, 4- CO. DETECTOR, 19 – MUTUAL AID CALLS, 2 – TREE FIRES, 5 – GAS SPILLS, 9 – LANDING ZONES, 2 WASH DOWNS, 1 – DUMPSTER, 1 – HAZARDOUS FUEL SPILL.
The Fire Department is divided into three crews of 10 firemen. Each 10 crew members are assigned four months a year for clean up duty. During their month of duty on Monday nights they are responsible for keeping all our equipment maintained and in good working condition and keeping the Fire Station clean.
The Fire Department has two meetings a month on the first and third Wednesdays, except June, July and August. For those three months we have one meeting on the first Wednesday and the second and fourth Mondays of each month we test fire hose. With that said that adds up to 43 nights of the year with scheduled meetings. Members are
required to achieve a minimum of 18 hours of fire training per year. Training is offered in house and members are encouraged to take training classes offered by the Illinois Fire Service Institute throughout the year. Not including the 125 to 192 Fire calls per year. It is a huge commitment to be a member of the Fire Department.
To become a member of the Fire Department you must be between the ages of 18 and 40 and in good health. The reason for no older than 40 is, this would allow you to get 25 years on the department before you are required to retire at age 65. At 25 years of service on the fire department you receive a commemorative gold watch to mark your achievement of 25 years and can continue to be a member until your 66th birthday.
Since the Fire Department began in 1876 their has been 268 members.
This past year, 2019 the Fire Department purchased the building next to the Fire Station on the West side. It is a work in progress for the department. We have replaced the roof this past year and plan on repairing the North wall of the building this year to include a larger garage door for our equipment.
The Fire Department also holds two fundraisers during the year. It does a pancake breakfast, the Sunday after Mother’s Day in May. A Drive through porkchop sale in November and a Toy drive in the fall of the year for Christmas.
And one more thing today is the second time I have worn our new
Class A uniforms.
In closing I would like to finish with the Fireman’s Prayer.
When I am called to duty, God Wherever flames may rage, Give me strength to save some life, Whatever be its age. Help me embrace a little child Before it is too late Or save an older person From the horror of the fate. Enable me to be alert And hear the weakest shout And quickly and effectively To put the fire outr I want to fill my calling And to give the best in me, To guard my every neighbor, And protect his propetty. And if according to your will, I have to lose my life, Please bless with your protecting hand, My children and my wife.