FIRE DEPARTMENT MARKS 100TH YEAR



FIRE DEPARTMENT MARKS 100TH YEAR

For 45 years, Jerry Allnutt has battled blazes for the Owenton/Owen County Volunteer Fire Department. But when the biggest fire in his life ignited, he wasn’t around. He was in Lexington when his house burned down to the frame in 1984.

Still, Allnutt said the fire taught him the importance of the department. Firefighters drove 70 miles to try to save his house.

The Owenton Fire Department has been saving lives and protecting property for a century. It marks its 100th birthday today with a party and parade.

Department members didn’t realize the significance of this year until a stone marking the department’s founding in 1893 was noticed at city hall. The stone has since been moved to a hill in front of the firehouse.

Capt. Glenna Clifton says records of the initial years haven’t been discovered, but the department’s resident historian has pieced together some of the tradition. Until the first fire truck was purchased in 1927, firefighters made do with a steam engine that they often had to pull up the Madison Street hill.

The department reorganized in 1954 as the city and the county combined limited resources.

“We only had 12 raincoats, and they were Army surplus”, said Allnutt, a county chief for seven years. “If you get in the heat with those on, they’ll burn you up or melt you.”

Donations and annual fundraisers gradually allowed the department to expand and open its current home in 1979.

For some, the department is an extension of their family. Several husbands and wives and fathers and sons serve side by side along with the mayor and city council members.

“This is a rural community and we’re a very tight-knit family within the community,” said Carl Stewart, a retired assistant chief. Five members have served more than 25 years, and past members remain part of the group, Stewart said.

“It’s been 12 years since I was an active member, but there’s not a time when that whistle blows when I don’t get up and look at the monitor,” he said. “It just gets in your blood.”

No firefighter has ever been seriously injured.

“It says ‘volunteer’ but we’re really unpaid professional,” said Bill Bell, a 35-year veteran.

Today’s festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with firefighter games. Booths, food and a raffle for a scanner also will be featured. A parade through downtown Owenton begins a 2 p.m.

Historical Society enjoys fire department history

The history of the Owenton/Owen County Volunteer Fire Department was the topic of the Owen County Historical Society’s meeting Monday evening.

Mrs. Sollie Clifton, spokesperson for the department, chronicled its 100-year history following the potluck dinner. Below is a summary of Clifton’s talk.

According to the archstone, which stood above the doorway of the first Owenton firehouse, the fire department was organized in 1893. Until recently the archstone was part of the Owen County Courthouse wall. It is now on display on the hillside facing the firehouse on Main Street.

“Some Owenton residents remember the firehouse on South Madison Street when a steam pumper was used,” Clifton said. “It was pulled by horses and sometimes by the firemen.

Because it was difficult to pull the engines up the hill. The firehouse was later moved to the courthouse square.

“Fires were somewhat of a social event during this period and many would dress in their Sunday clothes to go to the scene of a fire in town,” Clifton said.

From 1893 to about 1920 the department was known as the Owenton Fire Department, with a paid chief and wages paid to any volunteer who responded to a fire.

After 1920 it appears that no members were paid, and the department became known as the Owenton voluntary Fire Department.

Town Board minutes indicate the board often met at the Engine House in the last 1800’s and early 1900’s, but the location is not identified.

In 1906 the board contracted with W.S. Mason to serve as Fire Chief. His duties included care and daily lighting of the public streetlamps; caring for and maintaining the fire engines; hanging the hoses to drain and dry; circulating hot water through the steam engine at all times and exercising it once a month; and to be on hand in Owenton at all times or represented by an approved substitute.

Chief Mason’s salary is not known, but in 1911 Chief William Morgan was paid $22.540 per month for the same duties.

In 1908 the Town Board purchased its first gasoline engine for $1,350, “Having been convinced that such an engine would be much less expensive and very efficient for quick action,” according to records.

On February 5, 1909, the city council paid for the installation of a telephone at the home of Chief C.W. Kenney.

The colored IOOF was charged $5 per month to use the back of the firehouse for Lodge purposes in 1911.

In August 1914 the council granted a permit to the Owenton Christian Church to build a brick building on Adams Street (now Main Street). Fire had destroyed the original frame church and the house adjacent to it on May 12, 1914.

On June 7, 1918, the speed limit in Owenton was set at 8 miles per hour.

An additional gasoline-powered fire engine with four cylinders and 300 feet of hose was purchased in 1920 at a cost of $2,300, which was paid in five installments. During that same year an ordinance was passed making it an offense to drive over fire hoses while in operation.

“Even though the fire department has existed for 2100 years, apparently it was inactive for a time,” Clifton told her audient, “One April 15, 1954, the Williamstown and Dry Ridge Voluntary Fire Department was invited to Owenton to assist in reorganizing the department.

By June 1955 the department boasted 34 members. That fall firemen offered to provide county fire service as well in exchange for the fiscal court’s help in purchasing an additional fire truck. Although the Owen County Rural Fire Department had its own officers, volunteer members served on both departments.

The fire department moved to Perry Street on April 8, 1063, at the site of the present-day Owen County Seniors Center. The department remained at that location until 1979 when the new firehouse was built on South Main.

In January 1965 talk of establishing a new department in New Liberty, with the Owenton department housing and maintaining a truck there.

The Crusade for Children was declared a success in 1966 when volunteer firefighters collected $600. In 1968 the department collected $1,000. The department still participates in this charity each May and many Owen Countians are aided by the funds collected.

Fire Chief and City Councilman J.B. Sipple was named “Owen Countian of the Year” by the Owenton Rotary Club in July 1971. Later that year firefighters helped the Jonesville Fire Department collect donations for a new firehouse.

In 1972, the worst fire in the in the Department’s history burned the Southern States building, located on the North Main Street where the Scoopy Doo restaurant is now. Twelve homes were evacuated and 139 individuals were treated for smoke inhalation. The blaze was battled by 76 firemen from the Owenton/ Owen County, New Liberty, Jonesville and Dry Ridge Fire Department.

The Owenton/Owen County Volunteer Fire Department will celebrate its anniversary on Saturday, July 3. Fire departments from all the surrounding counties have been invited to join in the festivities, which are open to the public.

A fireman’s fun competition will be held at 10 a.m. in the Schlumberger parking lot. At 2 p.m. there will be a parade of fire trucks and emergency services vehicles. After the parade the trucks will line up around the courthouse square for viewing.

There will be games for the children and food provided by the Owen County Search and Rescue Squad and the Rebekah Lodge. The Lodge will also open its recreation hall for visitors to come in and eat, relax and enjoy the day.

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