Xenia Fire Department

Xenia Fire Department

City Manager Kenyon Riddle, of Xenia, O., tells of the growth of the Xenia fire department, in the November issue of The American City, as follows: “Prior to the installation of the city manager form of government on January 1, 1918, the Xenia fire department was just as it had been for forty years. The equipment was horse-drawn and divided among two stations, and was handled by five regular men, a sub-driver, five pipemen, and three teams. The chief received $75, four regular firemen $60 each, the sub-driver $50, and the pipemen $10 each per month. The smaller house has now been abandoned, one team and wagon disposed of, and the fire company reduced to five men and two extra men. The regulars receive $75 each and the extra men $10 each per month, a reduction of $20 per month on men, $32 a month on the keep of the team, and $12 a month on the building, making a total of $64 per month. This change was made possible by the motorizing of one piece of equipment. The combination wagon was a cumbersome piece, weighing 5,500 pounds when fully equipped— too heavy for a team to draw—and was therefore obsolete. It had not been out ol the statoin for three and one-half years. Soon after the manager plan went into effect, the proposition of motorizing this heavy piece was submitted to several medium-priced auto truck firms. The Republic Dayton Motor Sales Company, of Dayton, Ohio, was the successful bidder, and for $1,965, it took the body off the horse-drawn gears and mounted it on a Republic one-ton chassis, furnishing oversized pneumatic tires, a large siren horn, and a search-light. The new outfit which is capable of a speed of 35 miles an hour, is painted and decorated to look like any first-class fire apparatus of its kind. The sale of the old equipment and the saving in operation costs is as follows:

The motor piece has been in use two months and has made thirteen very successful runs.