Stop 36 – Training and Equipment Improve

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After the Wessel fire in nineteen sixty-four, the Chamber of Commerce bought coats and helmets for the department. There were no fire pants yet, and volunteers bought their own rubber boots if they wanted them. Over time, the department added more and better protective gear to meet federal rules.

Training became required in nineteen ninety-two. Every active member now needs twenty-four hours of training a year, and new members need eighteen more in their first year.

The equipment grew too. In nineteen seventy-five, the city bought an eighty-five-foot Sutphen aerial tower for a hundred twenty-six thousand dollars. It was the first aerial telescoping platform in Nebraska, and it served until two thousand five. A Sutphen pumper followed in nineteen seventy-nine, and in nineteen ninety-three a heavy rescue truck with a generator and the Jaws of Life.