Dedicated to Serve:  Fire and Emergency Services  
                                                     

History of Millersburg Fire Department
and
 Holmes Fire District # 1

On Sunday May 11, 1834 fire raged through the streets of Millersburg.  Thirty-one buildings were destroyed including the log courthouse and jail, a hotel, six shops and stables, and twenty-two dwellings.  In all, eighty people were left homeless.

On April 6, 1835 the newly formed village council took action designed to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.  The ordinance as adopted required every property owner to place a collecting barrel under the spouting, keep two buckets not less than two gallons in a convenient location, and have a ladder that would reach three feet above the roofline.  In 1872 the village built cisterns along Jackson Street for water storage to facilitate the bucket brigade.

The first fire service was formed in the 1880’s with the acquisition of a hand pump on a cart.  The equipment was pulled through town by the volunteers and water was pumped from the cisterns.  A second hand pump and hose cart was added in the early 1900’s. 

In 1897 Mayor C. J. Calhoun appointed Town Marshal John Albertson as the first Fire Chief. The duties had been previously assumed as one of the roles of the Village Street Commissioner.

Firefighting moved in the mechanical age in 1920 when a Model T Ford truck equipped with two chemical tanks was acquired. 

In 1927, a motorized Biederman Master Firefighter was added to the fleet.

Through the years the department has had many pieces of equipment come and go, but one pumper still remains.  In 1946 the village purchased a new Dodge pumper with a 500 gallon per minute pump.  This truck is still owned by the department.  “Old Number One” has been retired from active service, but still remains at Station 1 as a piece of the past.

The Township Fire Protection Association was formed in 1948 with the cooperation of the nine townships and the two villages.  They were: Hardy, Monroe, Berlin, Paint, Mechanic, Salt Creek, Prairie, Richland and Ripley Townships; Holmesville and Glenmont Villages. 

In 1951, funds from the firemen and the Village of Millersburg were pooled to purchase a used Pontiac Ambulance.   It was the first emergency medical service offered in the community.  The men volunteered their time to meet the challenges of education and training in this new service provided.

Over the years additional fire departments were formed and new associations were formed.  In 1976 the three remaining townships: Hardy, Mechanic, and Monroe; and the Village of Millersburg disbanded the original Township Fire Protection Association and formed the County’s first fire district.  This new political entity called Holmes Fire District # 1 is the controlling authority for fire and emergency medical services today.

In 1992 the Fire District took the step from volunteer to combination staffing.  The Fire District met the challenges of increased call volume and increased demands places on volunteers with the employment of a full-time firefighter/paramedic.  Over the years, staffing has increased to include two full-time employees and over 33 part-time employees that assure that at least two personnel are on-duty at all times.

Stations

In the late 1890’s the fire department found its first home with the construction of the Opera House on the corner of East Jackson and North Monroe Streets.

This site was razed in 1954 and the department moved to the corner of West Jackson and North Washington Streets.

This “temporary” site was occupied until October 1984 when the District purchased a 14,000 sq. ft. facility on two acres of land just west of the village limits. 

               The bell out in front of the station used to be the in the tower of the old Opera House in Millersburg. The bell was made for Holmes County-Ohio in 1838.  This very bell was used  for many years to alert firemen to report to the station for a fire call.