While stumbling through the local history of our community I am inclined to make mistakes now and then. Given the fact that few to none of them are what one might consider to be “earth-shattering” it’s not much of a problem. There is room for some error. However, while on the subject of mistakes I note that there is at least one organization in our community that through the years seldom made mistakes because the result would be devastating. That organization is the Vermilion Volunteer Fire Department.

        As local organizations go it is undoubtedly one of, if not “the” oldest volunteer safety organizations in the city. Although, to my knowledge, no records exist to document that as a fact it would likely be safe (no pun intended) to assume that a loosely organized force of volunteer firemen probably existed for some time prior to Vermilion’s official incorporation as a village in 1837.

         Formally organized as the Relief Fire Company #4 in the mid 19th century (top photo) it was reorganized and was renamed the Vermilion Volunteer Fire Company (lower photo) at the dawn of the 20th century.

         By 1910 when Vermilion News Editor/Publisher Pearl Roscoe froze the lower image of Vermilion fire-fighters at the back of the Vermilion Township Hall they had come a long, long way from the bucket brigades and hand-pumpers of their fathers and grandfathers. Their steam-fired fire pumper was a state-of-the-art machine. And it is clear that the men were truly proud of the apparatus.

         Prior to the time water became readily available throughout the village the fire pumpers were placed near a good water source – such as the river – where they were used to pump water through lengths of hose to the fire. The hand-pumper, as the name implies, required as many as 10 men to operate. Thus, the advantages of the steam pumper over its immediate predecessor is appreciable.

         And Vermilion did have its fires. In the years of 1875, 1891, and 1903 many of the stores and shops located along the southwest side of Liberty and Division/Main Streets were visited and destroyed by flames. In 1910 twenty-two cottages in Linwood Park went up in smoke. So frequent were the mishaps that after the 1903 fire a small headline in the old Erie County Recorder placidly observed “Vermilion Burns Again”.

         In truth – although they were catastrophic – there was nothing extremely unusual about these conflagrations. A majority of buildings were located close together, constructed of wood, were heated by coal/wood stoves, and were illuminated by kerosene lamps. Put all those things together, mix in the human error factor, and the potential for disaster becomes, and became, very real. Fortunately, no lives were lost, and no one was injured as a result.

         Although the steam pumper greatly improved the ability of Vermilion fire-fighters to address many of the fires they encountered it was hardly a match (again no pun intended) for fires such as the 1910 fire at Linwood Park. In this case two additional steam pumpers, and hose carts, manned by Lorain firemen arrived on flatcars furnished by the Lake Shore Electric interurban railway. Nonetheless, the old steam pumper more than proved its worth over the years – as did the numerous volunteer firemen who manned it.

         Then in 1928, after 20 years of very commendable service, a new age dawned, and the old steam pumper was mothballed. The Vermilion Volunteer Fire Department, under the direction of Fire Chief William “Dad” Tischer, leapt into the new century with both feet and purchased a newfangled (gasoline engine powered) firetruck. It was not a mistake.

Ref: Vermilion Bugle – 1981, History of Vermilion Fire Department, by John Fischer; The Vermilion  Historical Society (formerly the Vermilion Area Archival Society), Pearl Roscoe Photo Collection; VPJ 04/22/07.

© RNT – April 14, 2024