January 23, 2002

 

Horse Stories…………and more Grand Rapids Fire Department History

 

The Passing of Mike and Frank – Part 3 of 3

 

Survival of the fittest –

 

“I’ll tell you it’s a whole lot different now. I never climb onto our automobile chemical engine without thinking of that last run with Mike and Frank. And as we fly through space I can easily picture my two faithful horses at the head of our machine, with me on the seat and the lines in my hands. And then we will cut around a corner on two wheels and I will realize that I am living in a new age – where there is no room for things useless and where only the fittest survive”.

 

And the day will soon come when Mike and Frank will make that last run and they will pass out martyrs to the progress of time. “The day of the horses in the fire department is gone,” said Fire Marshall Henry Lemoin. “We can cover so much more ground with the automobile and it takes us just about half the time.” Grand Rapids has always been lucky, so far as big fires are concerned, and in the past few years a few big blazes have been prevented because of the speed made by our automobile hose wagons. Some people call this luck, but I call it efficiency. We have a fire department that is equal to any, and far in advance of any department in a city the size of Grand Rapids, but it costs money.

 

“In the olden days, as now, our one aim was speed in the department. Five minutes, or even one minute, saved in getting to a fire means the saving of an hour’s work for the department, and a greater saving to the property holders. So we looked about for the best horses that money could buy. The fastest horses in the department drew the hose carts, and they certainly could cover some ground. But their days of usefulness are fast slipping away.”

 

Where horses are useful –

 

“We have little use now for horses in the outlying stations. The automobiles have taken their place, but as long as I am in the department and have anything to say about the equipment, the horses will remain in the downtown stations. Grand Rapids like many other cities has paid little attention to its streets, especially in the business district, and today we face a serious problem in fighting downtown fires.”

 

“Monroe Avenue from Fulton Street to Campau Square is extremely narrow, and the alleys in the rear of the buildings can hardly be classed as alleys at all. They are so narrow that it is impossible to drive one of our big auto hose carts in and turn around and come out. If one of our cars goes into the alley it must go through the entire length before returning, or back out. And right here is where the horses are still of value to the department.”

 

“The wagons are so constructed that they can be turned around almost in the space of their length, and in laying lines of hose in alleys they are more valuable than the automobiles. We can drive one of our horse drawn hose carts into an alley, laying a line of hose as we go, and then turn around and lay another line as we come out. This the automobile can not do, and with one horse drawn cart we can lay three lines of hose in the alleys of the business section in the time it takes one of the automobiles to lay one, and then back out and get ready to lay a second.”

 

“I believe in adopting every modern appliance which will lessen the fire hazard, but take it from me, it is a sad day when one of our old teams is replaced by an automobile. I have been in the department a good many years’ I have seen those horses work and I know what they can do. I have become attached to them, just the same as the other men have.”

 

“When the automobile was invented I looked forward to the day when they would be used in the fire department. I saw the great possibilities in them, but I never dreamed that I would live to see the day when there was no longer a place for the horse. I did not even dare think of the day when instead of riding behind a racing horse to a fire, I would be speeding there in an automobile going a mile a minute. And when that day came it was really the saddest day I have experienced since I have been in the department.” (Henry Lemoine entered the Grand Rapids Fire Department as a volunteer July 1, 1873)

 

“Of course I knew it was for the best, but I hated to give up my horse and little red wagon. There was something about that rig that sent a thrill of pride through me every time I jumped in beside my driver and was off to answer an alarm. That horse was almost human. He knew just what I wanted from him, and he always gave it. No run was too long. It was as if he would never tire, and he did not, for he was just as good the day they led him away and gave me an automobile to ride in, as he was the day we broke him in.”

 

“I’ll tell you, it’s just like losing an old friend when they take one of those horses away from us, and there is not a boy in the department who would give a good deal to have those horses back for just one day. It would be just like a reunion to all, you know, and it would be a day we would all remember as long as we live.”

 

“But there is no place in the department for sentiment. We are paid to save the lives and property of others and we must do that as best we can. And now that the day has come when there is no longer any place in the department for horses, we will say goodbye to them, and we will take off our hats to the horses, for they were the best friends we had. Not a dozen 60 horse-power automobiles will take the place in our hearts that we held for just one of those horses.”

Engine House # 2 on Barclay Avenue near East Bridge Street (Michigan)

 

The Fire Marshall’s carriage is on the left.

The Fire Marshall’s new automobile, probably a 1911 Oldsmobile.

 

This entire three-part story was taken from the October 18, 1914, Sunday morning, issue of the Grand Rapids Herald.

 

Sad but true -

 

It was unfortunate, but most of the horses that were removed from the Grand Rapids Fire Department were used by the city street maintenance department for hauling wagon loads of dirt, gravel and other road building material as Grand Rapids improved and widened the inner-city streets. But . . . . . . . a few of the horses that were retired from the department had the last laugh when, upon hearing the fire alarm took off with or without a driver to the scene of a fire as they had been trained to do for so many years. If they were in a stable they often kicked down a door or jumped a fence and arrived before most of the modern equipment could get to the fire scene.

 

Also true –

 

Frank holds the record for longevity of all the horses that ever served in the Grand Rapids Fire Department – 20 years. Fire Department records indicate that there were few firefighters that served for more that 45 years, but that was human years. Frank’s record far exceeds even 50 human years.

 

More…….Horse Stories – next issue

   

Captain, Robert Imhoff, retired