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voy Hotel was destroyed
by fire in September
1925, the Shelton Kiwanis
Club, the Active Club and
the town council held a
meeting to discuss the need
for better firefighting capa—
bilities. At that time, Shel~
ton had three hose carts,
which had been delayed in
arriving at the fire due to
lack of practice on the part
of the firefighting volun—
teers. It was decided that
the town needed to acquire
better equipment, including
a motorized apparatus and
a larger supply of hose, and
that the volunteers should
be reorganized.
Early in March 1927,
Mayor Pritchard and the
town council made a trip to
Portland, Oregon, to inves—
tigate various makes and
prices of firefighting ap-
paratus. They specifically
wanted a machine that was
a combination chemical and
pumper, with a 350~gallon
tank and the hose and lad-
ders needed for quick ac-
tion. They also looked into
several makes of fire alarm
sirens, intending to have
an alarm system installed
when the new fire truck ar—
rived in Shelton.
On March 4, Journal
owner/editor Grant Angle
wrote, “When the bright
new fire apparatus comes
to town, there will be many
volunteers glad to ‘run with
the machine,’ and reorga—
nization of the volunteer
workers will be in order.
The Anlerican Legion, with
members employed in each
of the local garages, will
have a number of men in-
structed in the care and
operation of the new equip-
ment to ensure a competent
man within reach at all
times.”
In late March, the city
received six bids to supply
Shelton with its new fire»
fighting equipment, rang—
ing from $4,550 to $13,000,
“the latter being the class
which cities buy and out of
the question for Shelton.”
The matter was referred to
the Fire, Light, and Water
Committee for study. Angle
wrote that “Because Shelton
has a good gravity pressure
Immediately after the Sa—
jve.‘ /
Hlsrbnv
AT A GLANCE
with which it has gotten
along fairly Well to date, it
is thought that only moder—
ate power will be required,
and if the machine pur—
chased will develop a throw
of 300 gallons per minute or
better, it will be sufficient
to entitle this community
to a 20 percent reduction
in its insurance rates. Suf-
ficient power is required in
the motor to make any of
the streets to the higher dis-
. tricts in good time and also
to pump a good stream un-
der the lighter pressure.”
At a meeting four days
later, the town council de-
cided on a firetruck made
by the Howard Cooper Com-
pany, costing $6,200. The
machine would be specially
built and delivered to Shel-
ton in 45 days. It would
include a standard pump
rated at from 400 to 500
gallons a minute according
to water supply, a special
chassis, a lOO—gallon water
tank for emergency supply
(instead of a chemical sup-
ply), ladders, hand chemi-
cals, and other equipment
to complete a first-class fire-
fighting outfit.
Shelton’s first fire truck,
“the last word in modern
fire—fighting apparatus,”
arrived on the evening of
Thursday, June 23, brought
by two representatives of
the Howard Cooper C0.,
who‘stayed to supervise the
breaking in and instruct the
Legion men in the handling
of the new truck. On Thurs-
day, the machine ‘underwent
“a rigid six-hour test at the
Shelton Spring and passed
all of the tests, which were
conducted by representa—
tives of the Washington Sur~
veying and Rating Bureau.”
The truck was equipped
Let’s Get Ready for.
Warm Weather!
321 5. 2nd St, Shelton, - (360) 426-8208
We’re the place for you!
we’re A45 Rated for 15 Years! ‘
Thursday, June 22, 2023 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 5
Shelton’s first firetruck %
I. ALL _,
' ‘2...
New fire truck with Maurice Needham,‘ of the American Legion, at the
wheel.
Photo courtesy of Mason County Historical Musuem
with a 48-horsepower m0—
tor that had a dual capacity
for locomotion and pump—
ing. Its pumping capacity
of 500 gallons per minute
was clearly brought out in g
the tests, the power engine
throwing as high as 575
gallons. The truck bed ac—
commodated 1,000 feet of
11/2 inch hose. Twelve- and
24-four-foot extension lad-
ders, two electric lanterns
and four hand extinguish-
ers completed the specified
requirements, and with the
arrival of a new electric fire
alarm, Shelton’s firefighting
equipment was complete.
The engine was put in the
hands of the American Le--
gion, and a crew was ap-
pointed to care for and oper-
ate it.
In July, Inspector Brawn
from the Washington Sur—
veying and Rating Bureau
of Seattle inspected and
rechecked the local firefight-
ing equipment. Water pres-
sure in hydrants was found
to be good in all locations.
Mr. Brawn stated that Shel—
ton was well-equipped to
handle any fire call and that
with all modern and up-
to-date equipment, the fire
hazard in the city and adja-
cent residential areas was
greatly lessened.
Later in July, the “pow-
erful electric siren with a
raucous squawk that will
surely wake everybody for
miles around” was installed
on the roof of the Peninsu-
lar m'achine shops. The vol~
unteer fire department was
out every Thursday evening
with the new fire pumper
and had made the rounds
of all city hydrants to make
sure everything was in or- .
der in case of fire in any
direction.
In August, the old city
jail on Cota between First
and Second Streets was
remodeled into an up-to-
date fire station. Concrete
partitioned cells were torn
out to make one large room.
“Double spring doors, with
trap action, will be part
of the new equipment and
will conform with the latest
ideas in station construc-
tion.” The roof was remod-
eled to accommodate a sky-
light and a hose tower. Fire
Chief Hans Jensen would
have an office in the rear of
the building.
At the end of September,
Novel Longan'
"::Bé’5t Mechanic
years in ‘ '
2033 Olympic Highway Nerth ' Shelton
fire broke out in the wood— I
shed of a property on South
Hill (Angleside) and very
quickly spread to adjoin-
ing buildings including the
house. The first warning
was sounded by “the big
whistle at the powerhouse,”
as well as locomotive whis-
tles from the train yard. A
slight defect in the button
control of the new electric
siren resulted in its de-
layed functioning, and the
fire apparatus was already
enroute to the fire when it
sounded.
Although the fast-burn—
ing fire destroyed every
building on the property,
the new firetruck performed
as expected and “Fire Chief
Jensen and 15 volunteers
soon had the flames under
control.”
I Jan Parker is a re—
searcher for the Mason
County Historical M uscum.
She can be reached at par/c-
teCG‘Izctcacom. Membership
in the Mason County His—
torical Society is per
year. For a limited time, new
members will receive a free
copy of the book “Shelton,
the First Century Plus Ten.”
426-1467