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History of the Sharon Fire Department March 3rd 1899 - Sharon Village Board begins the process of organizing a Volunteer Fire Company to protect the community March 23rd 1899 - 42 citizens sign on as Charter members of the Sharon Fire Department with Dr. C.S. Ripley as its first Chief. April 6th 1899 - Village Board purchased the building and lot at 123 Plain Street to house the fire equipment and serve as the Village Hall. That night the first fire drill is held to practice with there equipment. Two hand-drawn Hose Carts, Hook and Ladder Wagon and a hand-drawn 60-gallon Chemical Cart. March 1916 - H.O. Robb becomes the second chief of the department. He recommends purchasing the first motorized apparatus for the community. Sept 12, 1918 Sharon Fire Departments first motorized apparatus arrives, a Ford chassis with to mounted 25 gallon chemical tanks with a 3/4 inch hose reel and an extension ladder. Firefighter are now paid .50 cents for each fire call only if they have attended the drill that month. January 1919 - The fire bell will be used to help signal the location of fires. One bell for a fire on the north side of the village and two bells for a fire on the south side, three bells for a fire downtown and four bells for a rural fire. January 1921 - The a Ford chassis is purchased and the department builds the body to serve as SFD first motorized Hose Truck. This state of the art vehicle hauls 1500 feet of 2.5 inch hose with a full compliment of ladders. Firefighters pay is increased to $2.50 for each fire call that they attend. 1926 - It is noted that SFD is proud that they can achieve an average speed of 40 miles per hour on the only paved road (Hwy C) and 30 miles per hour on gravel roads. 1927 - The fire bell is retired and a roof mounted siren is installed to alert firemen of calls and will be tested each day at noon. 1930 - A snow plow is purchased for use on the 1918 Chemical Truck. 1931 - The need to update to truck with a fire pump is evident and the village rents a used American LaFrance from the Peter Pirsch Co. January 1932 - The village has been hesitant to purchase a new pumper, but after a serious fire at the Morris Bros. in the downtown a new 1932 Pirsch is ordered. This is the same truck that has been restored by the department. November 17, 1934 - Sharon Public School is destroyed in a large fire, after 3 days and 226,000 gallons of water the fire was out. 1936 - The department sells the snow plow for the Chemical Truck as it is no longer needed. The department assist the community by building a ice skating rink, outdoor fireplace and playground equipment in the village park. 1942 - Charles Morris Jr. is elected Fire Chief. Chief Morris enacts many changes and begins a decade of progress for the department. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` 1945 - The Village of Sharon has provided fire service in the rural areas on a contract basis covering portions of Walworth, Rock, McHenry and Boone counties. The State of Wisconsin mandates that all townships must provide fire protections for its residents. The Town of Sharon signs an agreement to provide rural fire apparatus and the village will house the equipment and provide the personnel in exchange for use of t he equipment within the village. September 1945 - Town of Sharon receives its "New" Mack Pumper. This is the first unit to have an enclosed cab and 500 gallon per minute pump along with large hose bed, water tank and ladders. April 1948 - Town of Sharon receives its first Tanker Truck. This vital truck equipped with a 1000 gallon tank on a Dodge Chassis and a homemade portable tank makes it possible to effectively fight rural fires. 1949 - Sharon Fire Department celebrates its 50th anniversary with an open house and a banquet with many in attendance. 1949 - The Sharon Fire Department organizes the Rescue Squad. Seven men sign on to bring basic first aid the community. 1951 - Dodge panel van is purchased to be used by the Rescue Squad. 1951 - The department rents the office above the Sharon State Bank to use as its meeting hall. Meeting nights are changed from Wednesday nights to the first and third Mondays of each month. 1953 - Sharon Fire Department is honored to have Chief Morris be elected as the President of Wisconsin State Chief's Association. 1954 - Chief Morris resigns as Chief of SFD. Chief Morris is hired by the Town of Beloit as a full-time paid Fire Chief. In the next year he will build a department from the ground up. He was responsible for building a station, acquiring apparatus and recruiting volunteer members. 1967 - Village purchases a used 1945 Pirsch Pumper to replace the 1932 Pirsch. The new unit has a larger pump and enclosed cab. 1969 - An addition is built on to the original station more than doubles the storage space. The village moves its offices to a new location and the fire department will use the second floor for meetings. 1969 - The Town of Sharon replaces the 1945 Mack pumper with a new Ford/General Safety Pumper. Equipped with a 750 gallon per minute pump and 1000 gallon tank and more storage it is great improvement. 1972 - Plectron Alerting System is online. Members have a large radio box in each of there homes to receive pages from the county dispatch. While it is not portable, it's better than the Fire Phone System. 1974 - Sharon Fire Department celebrates its 75th Anniversary. 1974 - SFD trains its first EMT's (Emergency Medical Technicians). 1974 - SFD purchases its First Ambulance. Until this time all patients were transported in a funeral hearse, members would respond to the station and some would take the 1951 panel van to the scene and some would go to the funeral home and pick up the hearse. The new ambulance is well equipped with the latest technology and has much more room than the hearse. 1976 - Village of Sharon purchases a new Ford/ General Safety pumper to replace the 1945 Pirsch. This trucks boasts a 1000 gallon per minute pump and 750 gallon water tank. It looks identical to the 1969 pumper. 1978 - Town of Sharon replaces the 1948 Tanker with a Ford/Barton Tanker with a 1250 gallon tank and more space for equipment. This was great improvement over the 1948 Dodge. 1978 - SFD conducts a large scale fund raising effort to replace the 1951 panel van and purchase a second ambulance. This event becomes a community wide success with dances, auctions and raffles to raise funds. SFD reaches its goal ahead of schedule with an out pouring of community and personal donations. 1980 - SFD members build their first grass fire apparatus. Built on a well used 1968 Dodge 1/2 ton chassis it proves very effective in controlling wild land fires. 1988 - SFD members build a replacement grass fire apparatus for the 1968 Dodge. Built on 1978 Ford chassis it sports a new water tank and pump and power steering and automatic transmission. 1991 - Rescue Squad receives a Semi Automatic Defibrillator and Training from Beloit Memorial Hospital. Within one year a life is saved with this equipment. 1992 - The village and township jointly purchase a new medium duty Rescue/Ambulance to replace the 1974 ambulance. The new Med-Tech Rescue/Ambulance on a International chassis will respond to all calls. It can transport on EMS calls and serve as personnel transport on fire calls, built on a heavy chassis it has a breathing air cascade and carries extrication equipment. 1993 - The village and township jointly purchase a new Med-Tech ambulance to replace the 1978 ambulance. The new ambulance has a diesel motor which will be more reliable than and previous ambulance. 1993 - SFD finally updates to pagers. Because of an antiquated county radio system low-band pager will not receive pages on a reliable basis. The county Fire Chiefs Association installs a 400mhz radio system in the dispatch center and SFD is able to catch up to modern standards. Sept 1993 - The 1969 Township Pumper needs to be replaced and space is so limited that township and village agree to investigate the construction of a new station and replacement of the pumper. August 1994 - Sharon Fire Department and the Village and Township of Sharon enter into a new working agreement. Under this agreement the Sharon Fire Department will change its official name to the Sharon Fire & Rescue. The future construction of a new station and all apparatus with the exception of rural tanker trucks will be purchased and maintained by both the Village and Township of Sharon on a 50/50 basis. Rural tanker trucks will be the owned and maintained by Sharon Township and hydrant maintenance will be the responsibility of the Village of Sharon. After this agreement is signed both parties approved the construction of a new station and the purchase of a new pumper/engine. This project will be the largest and most expensive improvement project in the departments history to date. June 20,1995 - The new Fire Station is completed and in operation. Built on vacant lot on the east edge of town this 80 x 110 foot structure has ample room for the future. Built on schedule and on budget it cost $320,000. Countless hours of department personnel time is spent on construction along with $30,000 from fundraising events to furnish and complete the building. We could not be more proud! June 30, 1995 - Our new pumper rolls into town! On time and on budget at $220,000 this new Spartan/General Safety Engine #4020 has a 1250 gallon per minute pump and 1250 gallon water tank. With some cutting edge features such as hydraulic ladder rack and integrated foam system. This truck will see heavy use in the next decade pumping for days at several large scale incidents in our area. 1998 - 1932 Pirsch is fully restored to operating condition. April 1998 - Dickey Environmental Fire - Fire Strikes the Dickey Compost Site on Salt Box Rd, thousand of large bales of cornstalks and mountains of compost stored over a 10 acre site erupt in to flames. The fire destroys dozens of semi trailers and endangers several structures, 12 departments respond and contain the fire within 12 hours. The fire will burn for 30 days and result in several more responses making the longest fire in department history. 1999 - Sharon Fire & Rescue celebrates its 100th anniversary during the July 4th celebration. April 1999 - Prairie Landings Apartment Fire - A massive fire in a 80 unit, 3 story apartment complex results in the largest fire in SFR history with a loss over $3 million. The building under construction burned quickly endangering the occupied apartment complex to the east of the fire building. Due to fast action and efficient mutual aid assistance the occupied building suffered no damage and one third of the stricken building was saved. The call for assistance went out immediately to 15 departments and responding departments from Delavan, Clinton and Linn Township stated that it could be clearly seen for miles in the night sky as they left their stations. Large embers traveled over a 1/2 mile to ignite a barn and shed but were quickly controlled. While there was heavy financial losses, there no injuries. This was a fire you would not forget. 1999 - Town of Sharon purchases a new Tanker/Tender. Without the space restrictions of the past the departments orders and receives a new Peterbilt /US Tanker 4000 gallon elliptical tanker. This truck is major improvement in rural firefighting for our department. Price tag $165,000. 2001 - Sharon Fire & Rescue members purchase a new Ford chassis to for a grass fire unit. With a diesel engine and 4 doors cab it proves more reliable and versatile than the previous chassis. 2001 - Sharon Fire & Rescue joins MABAS Division 103 and is proudly one of the first to come on board. 2003 - Sharon Fire & Rescue receives AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) Award of $62,000 to purchase new PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for all members. 2004 - SFR upgrades to EMT IV-Tech provider level. Seven members are trained to administer Intravenous Fluids and limited medications. This is great improvement for our rural area. 2005 - 1978 Tanker is replaced with a 1979 E-One Tanker from the Cherry Valley FPD. The replacement truck has a automatic transmission, diesel engine and aluminum body and vast improvement over the 1978 Tanker which was under powered, handled poorly and suffered from corrosion. 2005 - SFR takes delivery of a new Ambulance. Built by Road Rescue it is larger and more user friendly and replaces the 1993 ambulance. Price $108,000 2006 - SFR receives AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) Award of $113,000 to purchase new SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus) and Large Diameter Hose and Related Fittings. November 2006 - Ed's Grocery Fire. SFR responds to a reported fire in the middle of the downtown block at the grocery store. A MABAS Box Alarm is requested and will eventually go to a 5th Alarm with 2 special requests. First units on scene perform primary searches of the 2nd floor apartments and attack crews find an intense fire in the basement and are forced out and the offensive attack is changed to a defensive attack to spare the Historic Downtown. With the help of over 25 departments, 5 ladder trucks, over 100 of personnel and dozens of water tenders the fire is held to building of origin. The village water supply was exhausted within the first two hours and water was hauled from neighboring communities. Without our MABAS mutual aid system the results would have been much more tragic. January 2007 - SFR receives its new pumper. Replacing the 1976 Pumper is a Spartan/Crimson Fire pumper equipped with CAFS ( Compressed Air Foam System) the first such system in Walworth County. A 1500 gallon per minute pump and 1200 gallon tank along with the CAFS system which can make plain water 7 times more effective, this unit will serve well for the community for years to come. Price Tag $285,000 August 2007 - SFR receives AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) Award of $61,500 to purchase a Stationary Generator and SCBA Air Compressor. November 2007 - SFR members purchase a Kubota ATV and equip the unit with a 100 gallon tank and rescue stretcher. This unit will be towed on a trailer to wild land fire and search/rescue incidents will enhance our capabilities when staffing is low during the daytime.
Fire Chiefs in Sharon History C.S. Ripley 1899-1916 H.O.Robb 1916-1919 C. Morris Sr. 1919-1926 H.O. Robb 1926-1942 C. Morris Jr. 1942-1954 L. Dibble 1954-1973 G. Hertel 1973-1978 F. West Jr. 1978-1993 D. Miller 1993-1999 M. Ruosch 1999-Present
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