FIRE DEPARTMENT
"A look in the past"
The Mansfield Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1901 with fifteen men. Protection began with a two inch water main laid by S.S. Smithee from the Mansfield Oil Mill down the main street with five openings as connections for fire hose. Mr. J. Grow served as chief of the department for fifteen years. The equipment consisted of 250 feet of hose which was wrapped around two pieces of pipe so it could be carried in the same manner as a stretcher. It was housed in Chief Grow's carpenter shop.
There was a serious fire in the business district in 1902. The city donated $50 to the department for additional equipment afterward, and Chief Grow donated $100 and purchased a hand cart with a hand real and 250 more feet of hose. Chief Grow was later reimbursed with $50 from the city and $50 from the Methodist Church. The new equipment was too heavy to be pulled by hand; so the city paid $1 to anyone who was on hand with a team and wagon to pull the cart to a fire.
In 1903, the fire department requested and received funds to build a fire hall. A 14x20 foot building was erected on the back lot of the chief's lumber yard. The members built the building themselves in one day including a coat of red paint. The department was motorized in 1916 and carried one piece of equipment until 1947 in a building approximately 20x20 feet and owned by the city.
In 1947, a fire that began in the Farmers' Lumber Company nearly destroyed the west side of town. This fire was the deciding factor in a re-organization of the department that occurred on October 29, 1947. The twenty men of the re-organization selected Raymond D. (Bulldog) Miller, who operated a welding shop in town, as the new chief. Mayor Charlie Harrison was elected President, and Ira D. Gibson Secretary-Treasurer. Fireman Gibson has served the department in this capacity ever since. The other members of this re-organization included Hubert Beard, Douglas Sims, Clyde Linville, A.I. Romans, Ernest Arber, M.L. Ellis, C.F. Cantrell, L.O. Hall, John Hill, Bill Spencer, J.R. McGuire, O.E. Metcalf, J.W. Henry, Ray Thomas, James Vincent, Harry Noles, J.H. Annen, and W.A. Halbert.
Several new pieces of equipment were added at this time also. There were a 1934 Chevrolet, 500 GPM, 500 gallon Booster Tank; a 1939 Chevrolet, 500 GPM Booster Tank; and a 1941 Ford, 500 GPM, 180 gallon Booster Tank. On January 23, 1948, the department received its first factory built truck. It was a 1942 open cab from Navy Surplus.
The evening of July 31, 1968, will forever live in the minds of Mansfield's firemen.
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