Cliff Buchan
News Editor

What would the likes of H.J. McClintock, Ray Briggs, Henry Novak, Walter Hoffman, A.A. Richner, Sr., Al Ingvalsen and Willard Stubbs think?

All were firemen in Wyoming during the early years of fire fighting when volunteers would simply drop their work duties and rush to help when a fire was reported.

For this early version of fire fighters, there were no trucks with aerial ladders and pumper trucks with high-pressure hoses.

For these early fire fighters, it was more likely they would man bucket brigades to get water on a fire in the fastest way they knew how.

To today’s fire volunteers, like Fire Chief Dennis Berry, the work of his predecessors in Wyoming is remarkable.

While the early volunteers may have had trouble comprehending the equipment and training of today’s volunteers, the commitment and efforts that were delivered more than a hundred years ago set the stage for what exists today, Berry said.

“There are so many changes,” Berry said. “It would be mind-boggling for anyone to comprehend (today).”

The early years

There were fires to be fought from the time the first settlers made their way to the Wyoming area in 1855. But there was little formal organization in how fires were fought in the early years.

For Berry and Neil Gatzow, a former firefighter, mayor and currently an active member of the new historical society in Wyoming, fires were handled the best they could by everyday citizens.

“You had a certain number of people who were always involved,” Gatzow said. “Then there was the fire department.”

When the first actual fire department formed as a group is a historical fact lost in time, the two men said.

Gatzow and Berry have spent the past year pouring over old village and city council records and researching fire department records in attempts to document the history of fire fighting in Wyoming.

The earliest documented record of village participation that has been found to date comes from July 2, 1904. Village records show the approval of the purchase of three dozen, 14-quart galvanized pails and a 36-foot extension ladder for fighting fires.

Almost five years later on April 3, 1909, village records include an agreement with the Northern Pacific Railroad to install the first fire hydrant at the northwest corner of what is now Forest Blvd. (US-61) and E. Viking Blvd. The cost of the labor and material was $114.30, but it gave the fire department its first connection to a well and the railroad’s small water tower that was used to fill steam engines.

The next big improvement came on Dec. 4, 1909 when the village purchased 1000 feet of hose at 50 cents a foot, one hand-drawn hose cart, and two pipes with nozzles and one Y. The total purchase price was $586.

By February of 1912, the fire department had its first formal building as the village council approved building a house to store the hose cart not far from the railroad water tower. The railroad granted permission for the land use and the council OK’d $79.49 for the materials.

In February of 1915, the council passed a motion to purchase a fire bell to be used on the fire house as a device to call out volunteers for fires.

Difficult job

Berry and Gatzow can only imagine how difficult fire fighting must have been for their predecessors.

With a limited supply of hose and the railroad water supply often too far away to use, the firemen would often have to rely on buckets and small wells to get water to help put out a fire. It wasn’t until Oct. 10, 1930 that the fire crew acquired its first chemical tanks when two, 40-gallon tanks were purchased from the Chisago City Fire Department.

It the early days, it was common for the department to be called out for grass fires and barn fires. Hot cinders from the steam locomotives were the cause of many of the grass fires, Gatzow said.

Structure fires were usually costly as the wood-framed buildings would burn quickly once a fire became established, Berry said.

“They didn’t save very many buildings once they got a start,” Berry said. In many cases, he said, it was more the goal to keep the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.

Leadership

Berry is now in his 36th year of fire service in Wyoming. He was recruited by Gatzow who also joined in 1971 after returning to his home town from military service.

Berry became fire chief in 1982. He took one year off in 1985, but resumed the duty in 1986 and has been chief ever since. He holds the record for longest serving chief.

It wasn’t that way in the early years as the job of fire chief frequently changed hands.

The research compiled by Gatzow and Berry shows H.J. McClintock as the first fire chief in 1916. Although other earlier members no doubt held leadership roles, no records have been found, the two said.

McClintock was followed by Ray Briggs on Oct. 1, 1917. Briggs was paid $10 for the one-year stint.

He gave way on March 20, 1919 to Henry Novak who was also paid $10 a year. It’s not certain how long Novak served as fire chief.

Village records next show that Walter Hoffman was named fire chief in 1923. A.A. Richner Sr. took over on May 6, 1924 and Al Ingvalsen became chief on April 5, 1927.

A time of change

The arrival of the 1930s signaled a time of major change, both in structure of the fire department and in the equipment it would acquire.

It was still a time of social gathering for the men who enjoyed dinner meetings during the 20 year period through the 1930s and 1940s. A fire department cook was often designated to prepare meals.

The ability to add new equipment did not come without some sacrifice by the members.

Willard Stubbs was at the forefront of that effort. In June of 1931 the village paid Stubbs $30 for storing the chemical tanks purchased from Chisago City.

Rather than pocketing the money, Stubbs returned the check to the village, stipulating that the money be used as partial payment on the purchase of a truck chassis to mount village fire fighting equipment.

(Stubbs would later sell property to the village for use as a fire station site.)

On Dec. 7, 1931, the village council approved the purchase of a Ford chassis from Banta Brothers Dairy for $25. The purchase was completed in January of 1932 and the chemical tanks were soon mounted on the chassis.

Formal structure to the fire department came late in 1932 when townsmen met to formally organize a fire department. By Dec. 7, 1932, by-laws for the department were written and adopted.

In 1948 the fire department made its most significant capital equipment purchase to date when the council approved the purchase of a 1948 International pumper. The truck remained in service until 1991 when it was retired.

Tradition, change

As men like Berry and Gatzow came on the scene, in a sense it maintained tradition but yet marked a changing of the guard, the two said.

As Gatzow recalls, when he joined in 1971 there was a gap of at least 10 years of age between himself and those members already serving.

But Gatzow was following family tradition, too. His father, William, a railroad worker and barber in Wyoming, joined the fire department in 1934 and served with a cousin, Phil Gatzow, a tavern owner in Wyoming.

Neil Gatzow lost his father in 1959, but he carried on the family tradition of service with fire fighting duties and later in city government. He spent a dozen years on the fire department.

Berry’s family moved to Wyoming in 1956. His father, the late Lloyd Berry, served 10 years on the department. Three Berry brothers — Dennis, Tom and Stan — all volunteered for duty.

Today, Berry says, Wyoming’s expanded fire hall and modern fleet of fire fighting equipment gives pride to the men and women who serve as firefighters.

The department has come far, he says, from the days when bucket brigades were the only option for fighting fires.

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