The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1936-01-16
HOSE and LADDER :
KNIGHTS TO BEGIN
FIETYFRST YEAR
Annual Meeting Tonight To
NaRe Chief Of Fire
Department
Two Members Have Attended
Over 800 Fires; Five
More Than 200

AulSaAAS VI 11xc 1Oy6A OAUC1 VA
the Hose and Ladder, an orgAaiz-
aiiion eff fire and smoke eaters,
will meet tonight at their refund
table to select their chieftain for
the year and ponder over prob
,lems of the past and plans for the
future.
The organization is better
Known as the Redwood Falls fire
department which at the pound of
the egavel calling the annual
meeting to order viii have started
on its ffty-frst year of protecting
the city and the lives Of its in
habitants frDm the hungry hzmes
4f the god of fire.
FL Has 10 Members
In. the present roster of L9 mem
bers are two men who have seen
more than 300 fires and five who
are the veterans of more than 200
blazes- They represent 154 years
of membership in the corps They
are, C. H Schultz, the oldest mem
Ter from point of service who, has
been fighting fires since 1909 kd
has. attended the greatest er,
$40; Joseph M. Corbett, as5eMber
since 1911 and chief for % years,
a veteran of 3O2 fires; John
Brueske, who first joined in 1906,
left the department in 1907 and
then rejoined in 1913 and has been
a regular since, 254 blazes.; Mike
Richard, who in recent years has
been seen following the fire truck
| in his red transfer truck and who
has been in the company since
1916 answering 271 calls; R. H.
Byram, 1916 to the present with a
record of 225 fires; E. O. Charlie
5ois who enlisted in 1921 and has
210 fights under his belt and R. F..
Byram who served from 1907 to
1914 and then returned in 1925
and has poured water or welded
an axe at 208 fires.
Has Had Six Chiefs
The other members some with
over 100 fires to their credit are
Ernest Gallea, Fred Schmid, Gro
Yer Mansfield, Burton Hauck,
Robert Pryor, Oscar. Randgaard,
Harry Thomas, George Wilcox,
Floyd Schmid, Walter King and
William Yonetz.
In the SO years Of its organiza-
ton the fire department has had
only six chiefs, F. w. Philbrick
being the first in 1885. He served
until 1894 when H. F. Buechner
was elected but was renamed in
1855 and succeeded by A. w. Bag
er the following year. c. w. Mead
held the post in 1903 and c. V.
Everett was elected in 1904, serv-
ing until 1913. M. o. Byram then
! directed the department for two
years and Mr.. Corbett took char
ge in 1915 and has been at the
head of the organization since. A
total of 10S names are listed on
the departments honor roll.
Today the department is one of
the best equipped and most eff
cient of any in communities COM
parable with Redwood Falls in
Minnesota.
One of the first really big blaz-
es which the department had to
contend with was the $125,000 fire
which destroyed the Hotel Fran
co.'s block, October Is, 1908.
Guests at the hotel were routed
out of their beds at a. m. by the
flames and two men were trapped
on top of the adjoining Hough-
master building which was also
destroyed and were rescued by
means of ropes extended from the
F. Hubbard and company building.
Aune and Thune suffered a $685.
900 loss to its stock and DR.. H. E.
Schlegei, DIR. William Corpron and
DR.. H. j. Henze who had their
offices in the Houghmaster block,
also were listed among the heavy
losers. The buildings were then
located at Second and Washing
ton streets.