Springfield Memorial Library: Pages from the Past

In celebration of Arbor Day in April 1987, city maintenance engineer Ron Henderson planted a Silver Maple tree on city property, assisted by Mayor Duane Neitzel. This tree-planting initiative was part of a program aimed at having the Arbor Day Foundation designate Springfield as a Tree City U.S.A.

(left to right) city maintenance, Ron Henderson and mayor, Duane Neitzel.

The History of Firefighting in Springfield

Since the founding of the village of Springfield, fires were initially fought by dedicated volunteers. In 1905, the community came together to establish a volunteer fire department with C.W. Owen as president, E.J. Quinley as secretary, and C.F. Calhoun as fire chief. In those early days, fires were tackled using a bucket brigade until a hose cart pumper became available to be either hooked up to a horse or rolled to the fire scene. In 1936, a used GMC truck was refurbished and outfitted with a hose, ladder, and chemical tank by fire volunteers E. Donald Schmidt and Ted Mundell. The fire truck and firefighting equipment were stored in Kiger’s Garage, located at 205 So. 1st Street. Fire calls were handled there, and alarms were sounded from Kiger’s Garage.

Photo 1: Springfield Volunteer Fire Department’s first fire truck driven by John Kiger in 1936.

Photo 2: Kiger’s Garage, 205 So. 1 st Street