we put it in the paper that we were going to have a meeting up at castle green's country club everyone that is interested in starting our own fire department and i believe we had thirteen people come to that meeting and that is where it started  it was the grassroots and from there we all chipped in a couple of bucks to get a little bit of paper and things like that we needed and got a secretary and treasurer and so on and so forth so this is how that whole department started they were thirteen people with a dream a dream of a stablish in their own community by giving residents a focal point the year was one nine hundred sixty four and the township of north dale had just been formed the north del volunteer fire department would become the heart and soul of the new township it was really thrilling you know to be doing something for the community and also with really interesting to see how many talented people put all their energy and effort in free time and that they did back then were a true volunteer these money came from the firefighters with the exception of a small amount of money that we received after we got our contract well hit people then it was easy after finance and we went to everybody at st paul and everything else and asked to have township attorney go down to stillwater the banks went down there and he come out and that told that this was a big white elephant it would never get off the ground and it someday it's all going to go flop and we're gonna go broke and it was hard it wasn't very easy dog but we had the guys that were determined and every time they had to have a negative comment the guys that say well let's do it and we can do it and this is what it is and it shows what people can do and they work together in communities and disasters and everything we all kind of chipped in at the start time they need to some more money into it and it by and it become a body part and a fire department that had to scrimp and save for everything it got well they were starting from scratch you know they didn't have a lot of equipment there wasn't much of the fun started on north fiftieth street and a lot donated to the fire department well and my favorite memories are that everybody cooperated to try and get that building built and finances to pay for our engine and all of the stuff that came everybody produce something somehow way shape form or manner whether it was something they had to give or their labor or whatever we all tried not a single carpenter plumber or handyman was hired it was definitely a volunteer effort from the get  go we worked quite hard on the building to get it up and then we thought we were a really big time fireman but while those big time firemen now had a big time building they quickly found they needed some big time training and that's where john scanlon came in of the lot of us the new firefighters immediately realized they couldn't do it alone and their wives quickly stepped in to pick up the slack the ladies auxiliary was formed as a fund raising group for the department when it was active we did things head functions tried to raise money to buy new equipment things to make it safer more easily for them to do things and we had a lot of fun we did everything that we used to raise the money we donated ourselves or collected from the community our spaghetti dinner was a big one and we used to be up till two thirty in the morning baking the cupcakes the night before and it would take us three days to do the spaghetti dinner and it was one of the many times we laughed and giggled and i think the times we had the spaghetti dinners where we would roll three thousand the balls on a friday night you never want to roll another just whatever fundraisers we could think of we started having bizarre and everybody would donate food for the bizarre table and we'd have cherry bowls where the kids could pick cherries out and that would be they'd get a prize or fish pie and so we did whatever we could come up with over here too we always see who could make the best but they were always a good food their husbands the firefighters always had good food to eat too and fires that just kept burning the women would show up to the scene very sandwiches and hot coffee to keep the men going i said well close a scanner in the pager and listen to what's going on and if it's a bad fire we know we're going to be running with the food and the coffee and the drinks so we not only pay attention to if one of our husbands get hurt but also two if it's a serious enough call that we have to go out and help serve our guys i don't want i guess the women just thought that the men needed some help you know they when they go to fire we make lunches  our coffee or whatever was needed sometimes i was wondering if it was for the sandwiches or if they just want to make damn sure where we were for many of the ladies providing food at the fire served a dual purpose nourishing their husbands and watching over them at the same time it was thrilling i think guys talk about the adrenaline i think it ran in some of us women it sure did me i was excited to go on it because i would be close to the guys to my own husband if something he guys would just have icicles coming out of their mustaches off their faces whether it was twenty below or a sweltering ninety above the ladies auxilary was always their most would say it was not only their duty but also their desire we had a good time in the twin ever we did where there was a good job or bad job we just did it and he had made the best out of it you know in those days when a man joined the fire department his whole family almost had to join as well some were just a little more vocal in their quest i think we drove him nuts enough to so that they had to put some sort of organization together to keep us under control and they started junior first apartment i believe back in the early seventy's middle sevent and there was about six seven eight of us ever on a journey for an apartment and that was good i mean we learned a lot and we got to grow the drills and we even ended up on a couple calls sometimes contrary to what some after a few years north dale township was the next into the city of oakdale and over the years the oakdale fire department developed quite a reputation in the area there were fears aggressive and they wouldn't go down without a fight much of that was attributed to the the still a lot of knowledge out there to learn even though they're gone yes for you might know it all but there's always something new coming up for a new way you gotta change things to adapt a new law that has passed but the legacy of that aggressive fire department lives on even aggressive in a fire then but it also could be a lot more dangerous at times too but i enjoy that aspect of it get in there and get in thirty and work and takes everything we can do to keep our firefighters in the truck going to blow up on the scene carting around soapies the firefighters have to remain in the vehicle until the officer up front directs them out of the vehicle and tells more to go with this department you have to darn yours hold the door shut so they don't get out of the truck i'm not saying other departments are like that but we have a very good group of progressive people that's good to have because when you need something done it gets done you don't have to wait for them to do it when the polls go off you know the people are going to come down here and the people are going to that's why we do continuous training for that the groundwork for this department was laid thirty years ago and it's been strengthened through the years the future holds nothing but promise thirty probably forty calls and that was probably busy to them and now we're running four hundred four hundred fifty and our population is going up our expansion in the north in the city is getting bigger and we're going to wear brown and determine to have more calls and i think it's going to be we're going to have to pull more people in our needs both daytime response from a time response and we've got great mutual aid agreements and great response agreements with the fire services around us and everybody seems to be singing from the same page of music and w each ringing of the tones for tells a different scene each response promises a different outcome you never know what kind of a situation you'll encounter as a volunteer firefighter and a woman but her parrot got away so they call us there right now they have their family to go home or their dad to go home with the kids probably hit me the worst i don't mind going to a medical call of an elderly person you know it doesn't make it if it bothers me but it doesn't hit me in the stomach like those other two have for many it's the first call the l always remember and my first call was the i remember it was twenty below zero and got my gear and hung it on the rack and went home and i was still playing around watching t v and i went off the first time and it was a house fire and those are few and far between and they had not had one in in years and  call because it was back then you had to hang on to the side of the truck and you had to buy your own boots and jackets and you didn't have to correct it whitman at that time back then you're fought a fire  your t shirt and a pair we're all now you've got quite a bit of appointment to back you up which makes it a lot better you know are you talking about obama interior man he shouldn't have to put his own money into the fire department and back then we didn't have that i had bid on the department about two months and we got a fire call course we all come rushing rushing down here i got on the truck in this guy gets in the front and i don't know who he is i've never seen him before turns out he's a captain with the fire department and the spruce time i saw at that time you know the guys who make it when they could you know and since then we've put a little more you have to hope that maybe you can get some of their help from another department or something in the arch or two when i am called to duty god wherever the flames may rage you ministering to save a life wherever be its age how many embrace the little child before it's too late or save an older person from the horror of that fate enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout and quickly and effectively to put the fire out i want to feel my calling and give the best of me to guard my every neighbor and protect his property and if according to my fate i may lose my life please bless with your protecting hand my children and my wife so why do they do it why spend every monday night training for a disaster that may never happen why wake in the middle of the night to answer the call of someone who stub their toe on the way down for a midnight snack why risk their lives entering blazing inferno they could come crashing down at any second they'll tell you why through good times bad times or any time at all out through the door or off on a call we hope that our troubles will be too great as for in the hands of our services lies their true fate you've seen one you've seen all as some may say but as for tomorrow is still another day you just never know what problem draws near it kind of routine are the ones which draw two years the people we work with the family the friends the troubles we deal with the support never ends so together we must think the ones for this test or first and foremost best thirty years of service one nine hundred sixty four one thousand nine hundred four i guess lot of us felt that way about it we had to we had to do this we had to have her own handed i decided i'd better get out there because we didn't really have that many people on the fire department i think we started out with something like about six or seven men in some of the guide to be working nights and couldn't get out and we needed night  we needed a man so i decided at that time i did a good interview but you know see if i can do something for me it is that's been since i've been a little kid is to be a full time fireman because i grew up my dad's a volunteer fireman for st paul and i have grew up around firemen all my life and just from chase and fire trucks when i was little is just what i want to do if i am and what i love doing i think it takes a lot of courage a lot of guts and a lot of wanting to help you and me but i think that's about the most part of it you think about your neighbors and the trouble they could get into into trouble you could get them out of which is a good thing you know it isn't only making out fires it's going out on a frozen lake that you have a kid fall in and you're risking your life to bring that little guy out of the way it's more than just the fire department it's a hospital it's it's a life for the people down the street it's nothing but good and volunteer fire man it's a hard working person i joined just because i like to help people and gives me a sense of self satisfaction i guess a little this i think it's got to be in your blood a lot of people come up and say you're crazy for going in the fires but i think anyone can do it if they put their heart to it i love working for the community i love helping people in their times of trouble favor part it's helping people i like to help people i do it at all of you when i fight fire it's sad to see people lose things but yet it's kind of rewarding for them to go in and take down a fire and save maybe ninety five percent of it and you know i guess you feel kind of proud that you were there to help just to be a part of it it's nice to know that you can do and when you get done with some them to get the best care they can that you can give them you know when they get to the hospital hospital take over from there because they carry they're carrying their volunteering they're putting in their life on the line for the community for all of us and they're a special group of people you have to be to volunteer and put your life at risk i was going to put out i got twenty years but i haven't i think why do i want to quit i've been doing a for twenty years here when you ring the bell word that every time you leave home you know you don't know what's going to help and we don't know what that alarm is when it goes off we don't know if we're going to come back to our family we don't know what's going to happen only god knows that thirty years of service for men both young and old some very special people with their hearts made out of gold sometimes i think consumed by everything it takes but what is one more drill if it saves  a state hours of training trying to do their best because when they are needed they have to pass the test they work all day they hurry home to eat they have to be at the station so they have to beat feet home again and the kids are in bed a few what words with the wife their feet feel like lead they fall asleep in wouldn't you know the tones go off and off they go how blessed we are to have volunteers how wonderful their purpose for all these years thank you warren and thank you all for just being there for us to call everybody down here is strictly in it to help their community and i don't think i've had seen anybody down here that was in it for the money is there is and they just came down on one and all they're looking for volunteers used to be all whole different ballgame years ago in a volunteer and it is now you got so many so many more rules and regulations that  now it's more of a job and it is volunteerism but still volunteerism is still a big big issue you get this feeling when you know you are involved with saving a building burning down or you save a life it really gets you hard i read an article in the paper the other day no if it's had something to do with a firefighter their hero when they walk in the door and want to join the fire department their act of heroism is taken their step towards an act of heroism is taken when they put that pen on that application and fill out that application on paper and turn it in and get accepted i don't think any of these people want to big pat on the back it's good to hear it every once in a while they hear from me they hear from the other captains in their line officers but when the public sends a lett thanking them i think that really hits home i mean it does and does more for them than anything i think one of them here and they be happy all year long yes to be dedicated to his community and be interested in humanity that's what it is many will be shocked to find when the day of judgment here that there's a special place in heaven set aside for volunteers furnished with big recliner cultures and footstool when there's no committee chairman no group leaders or carpool no eager team that needs a coach no buts are no bake sale there will be nothing to staple one thing to fold or mail telephone less will be outlawed but a finger snap will bring close drinks and gore made dinners and retreats fit for a king you ask who will serve these privilege few and work for all their worth by all those who reap the benefits and not want to read on earth yeah the families of these firefighters undoubtedly understand better than anyone the dedication that goes along with this kind of service their pride and respect for these volunteers holds no bounds but it doesn't stop them from worrying on occasion now it's not so scary unless i know it's a really bad fire and i worry  know it's not they're not too bad if it's an ambulance run in the middle of the night i go right back to sleep if it's a fire call and i hear fully involved that's it i'll sleep well tonight you never know you just you know hope it's never on yours but you know right now we're taking them people away from their leisure time with their family so the people that end up suffering in this are families and i think the spouses are the ones that need the big hats off to because they're the ones who end up putting up with everybody leaving for the for the birthday parties or about the graduations or whatever it may be the special events and they're the ones that are suffering what you see is the firemen but you don't see the wife at their home waiting or the kids this waiting to go to a school function or the baseball game that you know they're there's lots of things that you give up because of it and i think that's why it becomes a real dedication there is nothing in my husband's life that comes before the fire department he would put anything on hold if there was a call i think then left him more grocery store special kind of woman a cut above the rest that's a firefighter's wife raising her among the best how many goodbyes are shouted without a fond of brace as duty steals her man for the danger he must face how many meals are ruined or tender moments disturbed by the whale of a distant signal sparking loyalty unsworth it's a devil of a job for an angel like this who for the love of her man must forsake that kiss she can run a garden tractor even paint a room in need she can stretch a dollar is a miracle indeed she's mother lover show for a nurse a living symbol for better or for worse rich is the man reaping his rewards in life who chose to be the other half of a firefighters wife aside from the ability to help their fellow neighbors firefighters say they derive another benefit from their duties as well it's kind of a secret handshake shared by the firefighting for turnitin one that makes their eyes light up and gets their feet ready to move and join the excitement i mean time a pager goes off it's always something to go to some excitement something good we were not dn we get down hopefully to be out there like fire fighting a lot i mean just fight the fires itself i think that's what i get my throws and just say when i see fiat really get excited my energy gets going and i think that's very like doing what it best to help somebody who's hurt is the feeling is unbelievable the rush you get when you're running one of these trucks going to  like the adrenaline and the the danger i guess the job has us to sometimes right now on the back of that truck you know sirens go and driving down the street people saying there goes our heroes you know every time i see if big fire and we go in that scares me scares me to death but i still do it because i feel that's my job that's what i signed up to do and that's what i'm going to do there's days yeah you come home after you know almost five or six in a roll especially after working a fire you're just your dragon already after the loosen up the muscles or just sleep or scary feeling when you get in there and can't see a thing but when you get all it said and done with and you come out and sell it you feel really good hopefully you saved what you need to be saved and sometimes they  need and what kind of fire is it i like it off i do i just like go with most volunteer organizations you take what you can get anybody is another body to help you accomplish goal but when the members of the oakdale fire department came together they found that the hole was much greater than the sum of its parts in the most part they were good people hard working  places in the community since i've started i've seen a lot of changes a lot of aggressiveness i think there  and very proud of it and he's very proud to be a part of it we get along pretty good all of us and you have to i mean we're in a way this is our second family because we're always in the calls here ne'er drills every monday night you know i mean you have to get together and everything just flows together and we work together real good and i respect everyone on the street because of what thing they put their lives on the line respect in camaraderie are key factors to keep the oakdale fire department working together and working together so well it was like brothers and sisters really a tight knit family even away from the department so help with things we got going around the house or whatever you need really like working with a lot of the people here were similar but good we're different and nice to be here they're like my second family we've seen from all till has been so darn dedicated and friendly like i had said earlier we want to head and had community things that was like a family because you can depend on them for anything even if it isn't firing power related if it was something that you needed done at home or right your car broke down you called out here and any one of the guys that would be here would come and help you know they're dependable the guys are great you just don't understand the whole you know you public and reflects on ourselves it all makes us feel really well really good and doing our job well they're great bunch of people to work with i'm happy that i'm with them really and your fellow firefighters you've got to work with mean most of the changes one for the better no matter how much training to do the best training is experience and the experience of the older gentleman have been out for years to teach me stuff that i may never see that they've seen you know that  never come along in my time and it's nice i mean you can do all the training they want but experience is what really counts right matters working with these guys it's like a family you know it's a family away from your home and and we all stick out for each other and it shows it's a lot a lot just one big family reunion day after day for thirty years the oakdale fire department has touch the lives of both firefighters and residents alike three decades of service saving lives and building a stronger community i have been fortunate enough to be a part of this hodgepodge of volunteers people from every walk of life was only desire was to serve their community as a chief during his thirtieth year anniversary i would like to take this opportunity to thank the men and women who have dedicated and risk their lives and the sake of others and it doesn't mean just the firefighters and include their families as well the people behind the scenes who give up so much so their loved ones can serve the city i would also like to thank the community of oakdale the people who have eaten under spaghetti dinners and attended our firefighter dances you are the ones who have supported us and allowed us to grow into the department we are today and we thank you for that i would like to dedicate this tape to four firefighters who have made a great impact on this department for who served retired and