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Sebring Ohio Historical Society

126 North 15th Street
Sebring, Ohio 44672
330-938-6920

History of the Sebring Fire Department

The Sebring Fire Department was formed in late 1901, as the Sebring Fire
Company. It was organized as the Sebring Volunteer Fire Department, Oct
27, 1903. A city ordinance calling for a volunteer fire department was
established in 1975. Membership was set at 24, but at times was as low as 18
or as high as 30. Today's membership is kept at 24. In the early years an
auxiliary list of men was kept to draw members from when an active member
resigned or retired. Members who retired or resigned were then placed on the
honorary list. Men were placed on the honorary list when the reached the age
of 45 in the early times of the department.
The first Fire Chief was Harry Davidson, followed by Norm Ward, who only
served one month. Then there was Robert Finley, Sylvester Heidecker, Sam
Eardly, Clare Smith, Frank Timmer, John Watson, Dale Larkins and
presently, James Cannell.
Many men have served on the Sebring Fire Department, too many to list, and
records are inaccurate. In the early days, firemen patrolled football games in
the stadium.
The Fire Department had at its disposal a chemical engine and hook and
ladder at its beginning. A few years later, the department added two hose
aerial companies to its apparatus list. Over the years, several equipment
changes have been made. Today the department has one of the best equipped
volunteer fire departments in the state. At its disposal are four pumpers, one
pumper aerial, and an emergency car. In the early days, purchase of these
vehicles were made possible by cooperation of the businessmen in town,
village council, and the firemen. The department has five state certified Fire
Safety Inspectors, four state certified Fire Training Instructors, three qualified
Scuba Divers, and constant monthly training sessions for all 24 members.
Housing for vehicles in the early years was behind City Hall, with the
Firemen's Club Room on the second floor. It has been reported that they may
have kept the chemical engine at one of the potteries. The firemen moved
into their present station, the lots being the old Ohio Avenue School. In
October of 1952 an addition was made to the back of the station, and an
additional bay was added in 1980.
Firemen were called into action in the early days by sounding a bell. It was
fixed atop City Hall. In 1905, there was trouble hearing the alarm. They
purchased a larger bell with more volume. Later, whistles at the potteries
were blown or sounded in conjunction with the bell to notify the men. In
1939, the alarm was sounded or tested at 1:00 p.m., a practice that is still
done today. In 1972, the siren on top of City Hall quit working, and a new
one was installed at the fire station. A year later, the old siren was fixed and
installed on top of the Royal China Company. Besides the two sirens, each
fireman has his own alert pager in his home for better notification.
The fire department has always tried to be self-sufficient. In earlier days, it
spensored minstrel shows, steak fries at Lake Park, Concessions at the
Harvest Home Festival and Chautauqua, and even sponsored dances. In
1935, the department was asked to sponsor all of the Harvest Home Festival.
In 1939, the first Firemen's Carnival and Parade was held. The carnival was
held at the football stadium along with a fireworks display. This event has
carried on through the years with only the location and time of year being
changed. In 1944, it was voted to hold the Carnival on 15th street between
Ohio and Maryland Avenues. The amusing company that has supplier for the
carnival for the longest is Dine Amusements. Dine first came to sebring in
1961 and has been here every year since.
In 1955, weekly bingo at the fire station was started. This was began to help
raise funds. In 1974, with more activities being planned, bingo was
discontinued at the fire station and turned over to the American Legion the
following year.
Today, the firemen still raise money with the annual Carnival. They have
sold fire extinguishers and smoke alarms for the home.
In 1929, a Junior Fire Department was first organized, then discontinued years
later.
In 1942, Sebring factories had to use fire brigades of employees as axillary
volunteer firemen because of the war.
In 1953, the Sebring fire department ladies Axillary was formed with the
acceptance of a constitution and bylaws.
the department has memberships with the Ohio Firemen's Association, The
Mahoning Valley Firemen's Association, and the Columbiana Volunteer
Firemen's Association.
The Sebring Fire Department covers in its fire protection 36 square miles. It
includes Smith Township, the Village of Sebring, and mutual contracts with
eight surrounding communities.
Some of the larger fires have been the Ohio Garage, Sebring Hotel, Methodist
Church, Grindley China, Stanford Pottery, Sebring Manufacturing and Royal
China.