Fire Department 1900-1924
Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company
Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department
Skokie Fire Department Chronology
1871 through 2006
Compiled by Lt. Ron Smith, Skokie Fire Department Historianfor the Skokie Historical Society
| 1871 - 1899 | | | 1900 - 1924 | | | 1925 - 1949 | | | 1950 - 1974 | | | 1975 - 1999 | | | 2000 - 2006 | | | Home |
1900 - 1910 |
Jacob Schmitz is Chief sometime during these years. | ||||||||||||
1900 |
Niles Centre's population is 529.
February 5 - George Busscher paid $5.00 for fire hooks and repairing an engine.
February 5 - M.M. Gabel paid 60 cents for repairing a pump and water truck.
December 22 - George Busscher paid $1.20 for four fire hooks.
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1901 |
May 14 - The Niles Centre Village Board appoints a three-person committee to meet with the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company about reducing the rent for the meeting hall and jail.
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1902 |
Niles Centre Volunteer Fire Company officers are:
October - Dr. George Sintzel, Niles Centre Village President, and Edward Klehm receive threatening letters which state that their homes will be burned to the ground.
October 7 - Dr. George Sintzel, Niles Centre Village President, appoints Village Trustees George Landeck, Peter Baumhardt and William Galitz to investigate methods for improving the Fire Company.
October 23 - George Busscher's large barn, which was located in the middle of town, burned. An Evanston Engine Company accompanied the Niles Centre Volunteer Fire Company.
October 25 - Sam Meyer and Peter Blameuser both receive threatening letters that their barns will be burned down. The Citizen's Committee patrol the streets at night. The Evanston Fire Department promises assistance if needed. The Niles Center Village Board seeks to purchase a chemical engine.
October 31 - Fire Chief Jacob Schmitz discovers an arsonist setting fire to Sam Meyer's barn. Schmitz sounds the alarm and many people pursue and shoot at the arsonist. The arsonist is lost in a thicket of brush at the edge of town.
A Steamer Pumper, manufactured by the American Fire Engine Company, (Cosmopolitan Sixth Size 250 gallon per minute capacity) is purchased and assigned "Engine Company #1". This steamer pumper is too heavy for the muddy streets. It appears to have been sold after six months.
NOTE: By the end of 1902, arsonists set fires to nine barns and one home. These fires occur over the last few years and were widespread throughout the North Shore area at the end of the 19th Century. There may have been more fires that were not reported in local newspapers or in oral histories. |
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1903 |
Three firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
April 15 - The Volunteer Fire Company is authorized to purchase a chemical engine to extinguish fires. (May have been purchased in 1906 - sold in 1921.)
August 5 - The New York Belting Company is paid $70.00 for a hose.
December 18 - The New York Belting Company is paid $4.00.
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1905 |
1905 Sanborn Fire Map Report:
June 5 - The Chicago Fire Apparatus Company is paid $10.00.
June 13 - The Niles Center Village Board of Trustees forms a Committee to meet with the President of the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company about lighting the firehouse with gas and electricity.
August 8 - A profit of $160.00 is made from a Picnic.
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1906 |
January 2 - Niles Center Village Trustees George Landeck, Peter Heinz and Eberhardt Blameuser go to Indianapolis to investigate the gasoline engine as represented by Mr. Howe of the Howe Fire Engine Company.
A fire engine, possibly the Chemical Engine, is purchased. April 2 - The Niles Center Village Trustees are reimbursed $32.50 for the Indianapolis trip.
May 7 - Jacob Schmitz is paid 75 cents for metal coupling.
May 7 - Jacob Schmitz is paid $25.00 for two 3-gallon fire extinguishers.
September 3 - A profit of $122.27 is made from a picnic.
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1908 |
Eleven firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
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1908-1910 |
The North Shore Channel of the Metropolitan Sanitary District is built. | ||||||||||||
1909 |
Two firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
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1910 |
Three firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
Michael Schmitz is voted Chief of the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company. Chief Schmitz holds this position until 1945.
June 6 - The Illinois Firemen Association is paid $2.00. (Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company may have joined at this time.)
June 6 - Chicago Fire Apparatus is paid $8.50.
September 6 -Shortly after 12:00 noon during Niles Center Market Day, five local fire departments fight for hours to save half the buildings in Niles Center's business district. The fire started in the rear of Melzer's Saloon. The exact cause of the fire was never determined. At the onset of the fire, the volunteers respond with the hand pumper. Twelve men start pumping from the village well located in front of St. Peter Catholic Church. A man working for the telephone company runs into the Schmitz Saloon to remove the payphone from the wall. Chief Michael Schmitz stops the telephone company man and calls for help. The Evanston Fire Department and the Chicago Fire Department send their Steamer Pumpers. Evanston Company #2 requests a change of horses at the city limits. (This is a common practice since the horses could pull the steamers only a few miles.) A farmer leaves Seul's Saloon to rescue his wagonload of pigs when the farmer is told to meet the Evanston Fire Company at the city limits to exchange horses. Evanston Engine #2 (an 1895 horse-drawn Ahrens Steamer) continues to the fire and sets up at the Blameuser pond located on the northeast corner of Niles Avenue and Oakton Street. A Babcock Chemical Engine assists at the fire. An exercise wagon with 1,200 feet of hose, lead-out about 700 feet to reach the fire. Morton Grove and Niles Fire Companies also aid in fighting the fire. Chicago Engine #108 responds but is unable to connect their fire hose because of different coupling threads. Firemen and citizens work to save the town. Bucket Brigades are formed on the east side of Lincoln Avenue to water down the buildings. Water-soaked rugs are draped over the roofs to stop the spread of fire. A small boy and future fireman, Ambrose Brod, stands on the roof of the family home to extinguish flying embers that land on the roof. The fire destroys nine buildings on the west side of Lincoln Avenue just north of Oakton Street.
October 10 - The Village of Niles Center donated $25.00 to E.B.T. on behalf of injured firemen. (It is possible that Fireman Frank Wagner is hurt in the September 6 fire.)
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1911 |
Three firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
February - The Niles Centre Hotel, located on the Southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and Oakton Street, is destroyed by fire on a very cold evening.
February 6 - The New Jersey Car Spir. & R. Company is paid $100.00.
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1912 |
Nine firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
July 12 - The new public water works tower begins operation. The tank holds 40,000 gallons and is 120 feet high with a 35-horsepower International gas pump. The 10-inch well is 1400 feet deep and 30 fire plugs are in place. The water tank is located at Niles Avenue and Elmwood Street.
November 29 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $85.00.
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1913 |
Three firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
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1914 |
Fourteen firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
May 3 - The Howe Engine Company is paid $650.00 for the purchase of a gasoline 250 gallons per minute pumper and 2 1/2" hose reel. This pumper is pulled by horses.
December 7 - Raincoats are purchased for $27.00.
December 7 - The old hand pumper is sold to Mt. Prospect, Illinois for $60.00.
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1915 |
Eleven firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
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1916 |
Five firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company officers:
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1917 |
Eleven firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
Main Street is renamed Lincoln Avenue and will be paved during the summer. April 6 - War is declared on Germany. May 25 - The U.S. Motor Truck Company is paid $480.00 for the 'Engine No. 1' chassis. The Howe horse-drawn pumper is remounted onto this chassis.
July 6 - Honemann & Baumhardt is paid $135.00 possibly for the labor to remount the Howe pumper onto the truck chassis. This is the first motorized piece of apparatus owned by the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company.
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1918 |
Six firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
January 6 - Wenzel and Kante Mason Contractors is paid $38.75 for the enlargement of the Engine House door.
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1920 |
Niles Center's population is 736.
Eleven firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
February 2 - The New York Belt & Packing Company is paid $200.00.
March 1 - The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company assists Morton Grove in fighting a fire at the famous Wayside Inn on Dempster Street at Lincoln Avenue.
May 3 - A $200.00 donation is received from the Village of Niles Center.
May 28 - The clubhouse at the Glenview Golf Course is burned to the ground due to a delay in the alarm. The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company assists in battling the fire. The loss is approximately $125,000.
June 27 - The Niles Center Auto Garage catches fire with a loss of $3,500.00. Fire Companies from Niles Center, Morton Grove, and Evanston fight the fire. Prior to the fire, firemen from Niles and Niles Center are playing baseball but are required to abandon the game to fight the fire. After the fire is doused, the game is resumed and Niles Center loses 4-3.
July 5 - The Niles Center Coal & Building Materials shed catches fire from two freight cars. Fire Companies from Niles Center and Morton Grove battle the blaze.
August 2 - The U.S. Rubber Company is paid $317.52
August 9 - A $215.00 fire protection donation is received from Tessville.
October 4 - A $50.00 donation from the Chicago Northwest Railroad Company is received.
November 26 - The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company attempts to get title to the Engine House in order to sell the Engine House to the Village.
December 17 - The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company receives its first payment of $34.00 from the Foreign Fire Tax.
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1921 |
Seven firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
April 29 - In a court proceeding to determine title to the Engine House, the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company submits information. Clear title is awarded to the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Center Company.
July 20 - The Chemical Engine is sold for $40.00 This apparatus may have been purchased by Chief Peter Hohs Sr. for the Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department.
NOTE: 1920 is the last year in which Peter Hohs, Sr. makes a donation to the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company. As Peter Hohs, Sr. is concerned about the long response times from Niles Center and forms the Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department in 1921 and is named Chief. He purchases fire equipment which he stores in his barn at 9451 Niles Center Road. Fire alarms are called in by telephone during the day at Morton Grove 26 and during the night at Morton Grove 58-w-2. Air-raid siren switches, located in Duffy's Tavern and in Chief Hohs' home are activated to alert firemen.
Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department members:
August 19 - A fire breaks out in a barn near a landmark Hotel in the town of Niles. The Fire Companies from Sharp Corner, Niles Center, Niles, Jefferson Park, Park Ridge and Morton Grove fight the fire and save the building. This is the first documented fire fought by the Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department.
September 2 - The old blacksmith shop on Emerson Street (today's Golf Road) west of Gross Point Road was destroyed by fire. Local fire departments prevented the blaze from destroying adjacent buildings.
October 17 - Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company assists at a large fire at the George Wittbold Greenhouses in Edgebrook.
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1922 |
Nine firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
February 7 - The Village of Niles Center purchases the Engine House on Floral Avenue for $600.00 from the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company.
Engine House has indoor plumbing installed.
April 18 - Niles Center annexes 3,500 acres of land west of Evanston known as unincorporated Sharp Corner. The City of Evanston threatens legal action.
August 11 - Henry Vogt, a Sharp Corner Volunteer Fireman, loses his barn to fire because the wells are pumped dry fighting the fire.
September 11 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $60.00.
September 16 - Fire breaks out at midnight in Collatz greenhouses on Main Street. The adjacent home is saved.
November 28 - Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department Company meets to discuss the purchase of a larger fire engine.
December 1 - Gadakes barn, located on Church Street, is destroyed by fire but two horses, one car, several cows, and a home nearby are saved. The Fire Companies from Sharp Corner, Morton Grove, and Niles Center fight the blaze.
December 4 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $322.50.
December 22 - The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company asks for support at a movie show to raise money for a Twin Chemical Engine.
December 27 - The Foxwood Kennels at Dempster Street and East Prairie Road are destroyed by fire. An Evanston Fire Company assists but there is no water supply. The building is destroyed although several dogs are saved. A $5,000 loss is realized.
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1923 |
Three firemen pay a $1.00 initiation fee.
January 27 - A roof fire breaks out on the Franz Manning home located on Eichelberg Road. Niles Center fireman, Joe Nellessen, is driving by and notices the fire. Nellessen sets up a ladder and Mrs. Manning helps with a bucket brigade. Their quick action extinguishes the fire before the Fire Department arrives.
March 19 - The Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department purchases a Model T Ford with two 45-gallon Pirsch chemical tanks. The hand-pulled Chemical Engine is retired.
May 7 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $205.31.
September 5 - The home of A. Warner, located on East Prairie Road, was almost destroyed by fire. He had just completed the building. The Fire Companies from Niles Center, Morton Grove, and Evanston pumped from a well, located a block away, which ran dry.
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1924 |
January 7 - The Central Tool Machine Company is paid $187.93.
January 8 - A $25.00 donation is received from the Village of Niles Center.
January 26 - Sharp Corner Volunteer Fire Department holds a dance at Peter Hohs' Hall to raise funds to pay for the new Ford Pirsch Chemical Engine. The old chemical engine will be retired.
February 4 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $201.80.
February 22 - The Niles Center Volunteer Fire Company is called out to the Bleiss home on Caldwell Road because of a gas tank explosion.
March 3 - Central Tool is paid $10.00
March 3 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $75.00.
April 4 - The North Shore Line begins train rail construction from Howard Street to Dempster Street. In 1926, the North Shore Line extends to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the fastest inter-urban train line in the country.
April 7 - Carl E. Franz, the tailor, is paid $60.00.
May 15 - A $250.00 donation is received from the Village of Niles Center.
October 6 - The New York Belting & Packing Company is paid $48.00.
November 30 - The U.S. Motor Truck Pumper breaks down while returning from a call.
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