History

The first way of fighting fires in Hanna City was a bucket brigade with every able-bodied person joining in to help extinguish the flames. On May 26, 1911, village trustees purchased a “combination chemical and water fire engine” and from the same company, 300’ of 2” linen hose. James Clemmer kept the fire engine at his place until Oct. 2, 1911. They then stored it in Favorite’s barn. In November 1911, they added a shed on the south end of the Village Hall to house the wagon. Chemical soda was used to charge the fire engine. It was pulled by manpower and when the general alarm sounded, everyone went to help with one or two getting the fire wagon to the scene. In 1918 the village purchased three dozen fire buckets and four extension ladders and a hook ladder. These buckets had a round bottom so they would roll off roofs because most of the fires then were roof fires. Sometime later the village paid $2.00 to the person who took the truck to a fire and returned it. By August 1926 there was a meeting to organize a Volunteer Fire Co. in Hanna City. The first volunteers were: Clarence Bradshaw, Orrie Whites, Earl Fryman, Win. Snodgrass, Fred Swadinsky, Earl Isbell, George Rindfleisch, Henry Workman, Albert Passinore, John Johnson, Walter Donaldson, Warren Stewart, Everett Sheckler, Glen Stear, Eddie DeTrempe, Russell Picton, Glen Carpenter, Claude Kendall, Allen Rice, William Snell and Ben Behrends. They went to see Dick Largent in regard to renting room in his garage for the fire truck. These early volunteers solicited to buy a chassis on which to mount the hand-pulled pumper. When they purchased it, they were proud of their fire department since the pumper was motorized and was able to travel at least 25 m.p.h. The area for the fire department to cover was about a five-mile radius including Trivoli. 

In September 1927,a space on the west side of what is now Gil’s Supper Club was ready to house the fire engine.

The first minutes of the Hanna City Volunteer Fire Department were taken on Oct. 14, 1927. In 1930 the village asked Mrs. Irma Schuster, who was already employed as telephone switchboard operator, to take fire calls in her home. In early days she gave eight rings on the telephone for a general alarm. She would open all the keys on the switchboard and everybody in town would know about the fire. 

In March 1935 the village, still the governing body of the department purchased a 1935 Ford fire truck for $2,580. This pumper was financed by the result of much legwork by Earl Isbell and others on the board going throughout the community asking for donations. The truck was equipped with two 45-gallon chemical tanks. In each of these tanks a powder was put in the water and in the cap of the tanks was placed a glass bottle, which contained an acid. When mixed with the powder and water, it caused a chemical reaction creating a pressure of 45 lbs. making a good fire extinguisher. To activate the chemical mixture a lever was pulled to break the bottle containing the acid.

The meetings stopped again until 1940 when Mayor Arthur Evans called one to reorganize the Volunteer Fire Dept. Roy Wilson was elected Fire Chief, Robert Quick was Assistant Chief, John Stevens was Chairman of the Firemen and Russell Workman was Treasurer.

In January 1947 the department was transferred to the Hanna City Fire Department, Inc. The firemen would maintain the equipment from then on.

In 1948, the ground was purchased in Hanna City to build a new fire station where the present one is now, and a building was erected big enough to house two trucks. The money for this was raised through homecoming celebrations, public subscription, and other projects backed by the firemen.

By 1951, a fire district, the Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District was formed with George Doubet as the Fire Chief. The district included all of Logan Township, the east half of Trivoli Township and the south two tiers of Rosefield Township. Eventually additional areas would be added that included what is now Lake Camelot, and portions of north Trivoli and Quarry Road.

On April 3, 1956, with the help of Fire Chief George Doubet and Peoria County Civil Defense Director John Van Gordon, volunteers in the Trivoli area organized and began discussing creating a fire station in Trivoli. In January, 1957, a lot on the northwest side of the railroad tracks on Trivoli Avenue was donated by the Trivoli Farmer’s Co-op. The fire station was built that year and an addition was added to the back of the building in 1959. The original officers of the Trivoli Volunteer Firemen, Inc were President Gordon Brown, Vice-President Cliff Johns, Secretary Steve Camp, Treasurer Eli Fidler, and Sgt of Arms Earl Harper. The original apparatus for the new fire station was a 1957 Chevrolet Tanker and a 1948 Dodge Pumper. The first emergency piece of emergency medical equipment was purchased in 1959. Original members when the Trivoli Fire Station was organized were: Lawrence Andrews, Richard Andrews, Marion Bird, Gordon Brown, Lloyd Despines, Paul Downing, Eli Fidler, Ted Harding, Gerald Huffman, Jim Hurst, Clifford Johns, C Miller, E Arv, Oral Parr, Clyde Phillips, Elmer Phillips, Harold Quin, Leslie Stein, Dale Stookey, Bernard Watkins. Assistant Chiefs at the Trivoli Station during early time were: Gerald Huffman 1956-1958, Lawrence Andrews 1958-1961, Wayne Doubet 1961-1965, Don Harper 1965-1967, Donald Woodcock became Assistant Chief in 1967 and eventually became District Fire Chief in 1970’s.

In 1967, the district purchased the house next to the Hanna City fire station and construction began in October of that year on the present four-stall firehouse, located at 212 N Main Street. The station was completed in early 1968 and firemen moved into the modern new building in February, after being housed temporarily at the old International Harvester building, near the railroad tracks.

In 1975, the Fire District installed a Plectron Alerting System. This system was purchased by citizen donations, donations from the Hanna City Firemen’s Corporation, Trivoli Volunteer Firemen’s Corporation, citizen donations, and by a grant from the Illinois Department of Conservation.  This new system enabled Mrs. Schuster to trigger an alarm system in each volunteer firefighter’s home. She handled the fire phone so long that she knew many of the firemen when they were little boys. She called them “her boys” until her death in 1980. For some of those years of service Mrs. Schuster’s daughter, Mildred, helped her. She was honored along with her mother in November of 1978, when Irma retired as fire operator.

In 1978 the Fire District contracted with the Telephone Answering Service of Peoria to answer the fire phone system and alert the firefighters on the Plectron System. On June 15, 1993, the emergency number 9-1-1 was introduced to Hanna City and all of Peoria County. The Fire Number of 565-4221 became the fax line at the Hanna City Fire Station and 9-1-1 was now the number to use for all emergencies. The Fire District contracts with the City of Peoria Emergency Communications Center to answer its 9-1-1 calls and alert the firefighters. While some of the original Plectron Alerting Receivers are still in operation, the system now relays mostly on Pagers, which allow mobility for the firefighters.  Hanna City and Trivoli have fire sirens that also sound when there is an emergency. The fire sirens in Hanna City and Trivoli do not sound between 10pm and 6am. There is not a fire siren in Lake Camelot. There are also yellow flashing lights on Farmington road near the entrances to the fire stations in Hanna City and Trivoli that flash for 8 minutes when there is a fire/rescue call.

The Hanna City Firemen’s Auxiliary was formed January 14, 1974, to benefit those families whose homes were destroyed by fire, and people in the area with other needs. First officers were Pres., Phyllis Culver; Vice Pres., Doris Penn; Sec., Judy Clarke; Treas., Velma Stear.  While the auxiliary is no longer active they provided a valuable role to the Fire Department.

At the present time the fire district is under the direction of a Board of Trustees. The trustees are appointed by the Peoria County Board Chairperson. Trustees in previous years have been Robert Howater, Bill Stear (who also served as Fire Chief), Ted Harding, Greg Short, Phil Gould, David Alwood, Russell Deal, and Deef Stone. Frank Stear became Fire Chief in 1976 and continued as Chief until 1988. In 1988, David Clarke became Fire Chief and during his tenure the Fire District added a fire station in Lake Camelot in 1990. The Fire District now has three fire stations, one at Hanna City, one at Trivoli, and one at Lake Camelot.

On December 23, 1997, the fire department suffered its first line of duty death when Brian T Hauk, an Assistant Fire Chief assigned to the Hanna City Station was killed in a vehicle crash while responding to the Hanna City Fire Station for a reported stove fire. Brian was a very dedicated member of the fire department and is greatly missed. A memorial flag is flown along Farmington Road on the west side of Hanna City that marks the location of the vehicle crash. Brian is buried in Elmwood. There is a memorial message on engine/rescue 431 in Brian’s memory. The Fire Department honored Brian with a memorial service on December 23, 2007.

On July 1, 1998, David Tuttle became the Fire Chief when David Clarke retired.  Chief Tuttle remains in this position today. The Fire Department has progressed greatly in the past 11 years. Here is a short list of those accomplishments: a new fire station in Trivoli, a new fire engine and rescue truck at Lake Camelot, a new rescue truck at Trivoli, a new rescue/engine at Hanna City, a new tanker/tender at Hanna City, Large Diameter Hose on fire engines at Hanna City and Lake Camelot, expansion of the medication program for EMT’s, updated thermal imaging cameras on each fire engine, repair and new paint at the Hanna City Fire Station, received Fire Act Grant for new breathing air compressor & spare breathing apparatus bottles, compensation of personnel, hired an administrative assistant to input required fire reports for the State, added new defibrillators, new extrication equipment on each rescue vehicle, and new rescue air bags, and a website.

On December 15, 2001, firefighters in Trivoli moved into a new fire station at 18911 W Farmington Road in Trivoli that replaced the old fire station which had been located at 101 N Trivoli Ave. The old station had been very cramped and did not allow for the purchase of modern firefighting apparatus. The new station allows not only for the present fire apparatus, but also allows for growth in the future. The building is also equipped with a modern office, meeting room, kitchen, and rest rooms.

Logan-Trivoli is proud to provide Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) service to our fire district. This level of service, which unfortunately is becoming uncommon in Peoria County, allows our EMT’s to use early defibrillation, cardiac monitoring, nitro and aspirin for chest pains, Epi-Pen® for anaphylactic emergencies, King LTS-D for advanced airways, and Glucagon for diabetic emergencies. Advanced Life Support Patient Transport Services are provided by Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois (AMT). We are proud to have a great working relationship with the staff of AMT. Eight pieces of fire apparatus are available to respond, three at Hanna City, three at Trivoli, and two at Lake Camelot.

In 2007, the fire department welcomed its new Engine/Rescue 431, which combined the tasks of two vehicles into one. This 2007 Custom Pierce Enforcer responds on all fire and Emergency Medical Service calls in the fire district. The apparatus is also equipped with the area’s first Compressed Air Foam System (CAFS) that produces Class A compressed  foam and is 4 times more effective at firefighting than just water. CAFS will be used on all fires. The new truck also is fully equipped for heavy rescue duties.

In 2008, the fire department welcomed its new Custom Pierce Impel Tanker/Tender 432, which replaced a 1980 Tanker. This new tender not only carries twice as much water as the old tanker, but twice as many personnel. The new tender is equipped to seat up to six firefighters and is equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus, a fire rated pump, and our Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) equipment.

We are a member of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS), Division 36, which is the State of Illinois fire mutual aid system. This allows our department to have almost unlimited fire and EMS resources from almost every fire department in Illinois. 

In March of 2009, our fire department was asked to house MABAS Division 36’s All Terrain Vehicle (ATV). This ATV will be used for brush fires, transporting injured parties from remote areas, and transportation of fire personnel to and from remote areas for fire and EMS incidents.

The General Wayne A Downing Peoria International Airport is just east of the Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District Boundary. Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District routinely trains and responds with the Illinois Air National Guard Fire Department to emergency training or incidents at the airport. The last plane crash in the Logan-Trivoli Fire Protection District was on December 14, 2006 when a small plane crashed just west of Taylor Road. The pilot was not injured. 

There are presently over 45 firefighters between our three fire stations; 24 of those firefighters are Emergency Medical Technicians. Many of our firefighters are also Illinois Certified Firefighters and have advanced skills and certifications.

The present Board of Trustees are Wendy Conner, President, Stu Tiezzi, Treasurer, and William “Bill” Cackley as Secretary.

Thank you to the board of trustees that provide outstanding administrative leadership to the fire department, to our district fire officers, and to our Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians who answer the calls each day and night.

Visit us again at www.logantrivoli.com