Detailed History of Fire Protection in Dwight, Illinois

• On May 17th 1875 with Dwight Village president Eugene Baker presiding, an ordinance was passed that a fire department be established for the Village of Dwight. The Good Will Fire Co. (later known as the Dwight Fire Dept.) was established. Officers consisted of a fire marshal (Oliver Slocum) and his forty-five volunteer firemen were organized into two companies. Thirty members had charge of the Hook and Ladder wagon and the pumping apparatus, and the company of fifteen men operated the Hose Cart and steam pumps. In August of the previous year the board had authorized issuing bonds of $500.00 to purchase hose and fixtures for fire-fighting use.

• In November 1875 it was voted to purchase a Babcock Manufacturing Co. No. 1 Hook and Ladder truck costing $650.00. Marshal Slocum was also authorized to purchase a hand fire engine costing $250.00 and to buy additional hose.

• Needing a place to house the fire equipment, the trustees voted on December 7, 1875 to use the town house for a storage spot. A treasurer’s report in April 1878 noted expenditures of $486.49 for the year. An extensive inventory was also listed in the minutes.

• On June 14, 1881, Trustees adopted an ordinance setting forth the fire limits and regulating the construction, repairing and alteration of buildings.

• By 1883 the inventory value of the department had reached $2,495.00 and the fire committee of H. Thompson, C.D. Chalfant and I.H. Baker was named April 24. Three years later members of the committee were F.W. Ford, John Leach and R. P. Morgan Jr.

• Of Special interest was that building regulations were a problem in the olden days, too. On April 27,1887, E. H. Kneeland was notified that the porch attached to his building used as a blacksmith shop was in dangerous condition and he was asked to fix it.

• On July 20, 1891 it was voted to construct a new water works system in the village and bonds totaling $8,500 were issued for that purpose.

• On Saturday October 10, 1891 a fire caught in the engine hose back of the old Kepplinger block and everything was gone in about two hours. The Odell firemen were on hand to assist. At the November meeting it was voted to put in a reservoir and purchase a deep well pump.

• In January 1892 the trustees adopted an ordinance regulating water rates and supplies and divided the Village into four fire districts. No.1 east of Prairie , south of Mazon ave; No. 2, west of Prairie and south of Mazon; No.3, west of Prairie and north of Mazon; No. 4, east of Prairie and north of Mazon. During these times it was up to the fire committee to approve any permits for building new structures.

• In 1893 each member of the department was paid $4.00 per year, but they received a raise the following year to $5.00 per year.

• By 1895 there were fourteen street hydrants around the “old” or “inner” town which had improved water pressure when Dr. Leslie Keeley, Curtis J. Judd and John R. Oughton had a water tower built then presented it to the Village on July 4 th 1898.

• On February 9, 1904 the fire committee authorized $275.00 to be used for the purchase of a team of horses along with a suitable harness and running gear for the wagon. During the previous years most of the funds went to new hoses but in February of 1908, the fire committee decided to purchase six rubber coats and six pairs of rubber boots for the firemen.

• A change in policy was recorded April 11, 1911 , which provided that the village treasurer pay over to the treasurer of the Dwight Fire Co. all money collected for the fire department, so the fire company could pay for its own maintenance.
• Although the first motorized fire engine was a 1915 Model T chemical truck which could be used beyond the Village limits, the horse drawn Hook and Ladder wagon was still being used in 1927.

• A fire alarm system operated through the telephone company was installed in 1919 for $456.89.

• Another fire engine was bought in 1925, then in 1929 with $4,000 raised by subscriptions among property owners outside of the corporation and $2,500 from the Village, a new 500 gallon pumper with two 40 gallon chemical tanks was purchased.

• In the early 1940’s it was recommended that the village purchases a new fire truck costing between $4,000 and $5,000.

• During June of 1944 , a community fire truck fund was started and a letter was sent asking for voluntary contributions from each member of the community fire company.

• Ten years later a Boyer 500 gallon pumper was added to the equipment and that together with a 1950 Diamond T Pumper served the community for fourteen years.

• In 1964 a referendum was passed to form a Dwight Fire District and private citizens were named to the directorships. Earl Kime, President, and Clarence Roeder, Treasurer, still serve while B.E. Clapp was secretary of the original group.

• In 1964 the Fire District was formed which extends five miles in all directions from Dwight and in only seven years it was rated “A” which means “ the best fire protection available”

• The new fire house was built in 1968 for $60,000 which is located at the northwest corner of Prairie and Delaware. Present inventory includes: three pumper trucks, the 1974 equipment van which they bought with money received over the years from donations and the annual Fireman’s Ball, and the new 1975 mini-pumper which can produce foam to smother gasoline or oil fires.

• May 17, 1975, the Fire Department’s 100 th Anniversary, was celebrated with an “Open House”, and a big parade of bands and fire equipment from neighboring towns.

• In addition to their functions of fighting fires, the volunteer firemen gather twice monthly at the fire house for meetings. Each month a group of volunteers are responsible for certain duties at the fire house, and this has been the practice of the members down through the years.