City of Springdale History On-Line

The grass fire fanned by the early spring winds threatened to burn out of control. The anxious farmer breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the truck careening around the bend. As it screeched to a stop Chris Utrecht jumped out and ran to the pumper on the front of the truck. He grabbed the hose and while he stood on the running board spraying, Ed Schumacher drove the Dodge around the fire until nothing remained but a sodden field of charred grass.

And that was the way the three-year-old Springdale Volunteer Fire Department operated in 1936. For years the community had recognized its need for fire protection. Grass fires and even house fires frequently burned out of control. Residents paid exorbitant insurance rates. When the Curry and Shephard Insurance Agency found it difficult to build up much of a clientele, it introduced a creative selling device. The agency agreed to contribute all insurance premiums collected for three years to a volunteer fire department.

The volunteer fire department immediately became the focus of village pride and volunteers were rarely in short supply. Many members of the fire department also served on the school board and/or were members of the civic club. The people of Springdale felt that the fire department belonged to all of them and they supported it as best they could. The wives of the volunteers solicited funds. Most citizens contributed fifty cents or one dollar. A contribution earned the donor an emblem to be placed on the front door to ensure protection in case of fire.

In June 1945 the president of the board of trustees of the fire department, Ed Schumacher, announced tentative plans for a new fire house to be built on the northeast corner of Springfield Pike and Peach Street. Fortunately, the announcement stressed their tentative nature. In September the trustees solicited bids. The Valley Shopper reported the enthusiasm of Springdale residents. But almost two years later, in August 1947, the walls were up but the building still had no roof! Completion depended on funds to be raised at the big Labor Day Frolic. Only through the willingness and hard work of volunteers, fire department members and others, was work on the building completed.

In 1948 the department elected a new volunteer fire chief to serve in its new firehouse. Frank Smith, a thirty-five-year-old native of Northside, served the Springdale Fire Department for thirty-three years until his retirement on January 1, 1981. Smith brought an unprecedented degree of professionalism to the all volunteer department. He was in charge of safety operations for the General Electric plant which provided him with constantly updated instruction in training, techniques, materials and equipment. When General Electric sent Chief Smith to fire-fighting seminars he gained knowledge that he later transmitted to the Springdale volunteers. Obviously, fighting grass and barn fires in a community of six hundred did not require all the expertise Chief Smith possessed. As the community grew, however, its firefighting needs necessarily grew with it, and it was fortunate to have a volunteer as dedicated and as knowledgeable as Frank Smith. Perhaps the most telling testimony to his effectiveness is that when he retired, the city replaced him with a full-time salaried chief.

In fact, the fire department made up in enthusiasm, initiative and knowledge what it lacked in material resources. Carnivals, raffles and the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Shoot continued to fund the department. Still, funds were usually short of actual needs and Smith was forced to work with equipment in Springdale that must have seemed archaic compared to the state of the art equipment he knew from his job at G.E. Finally in 1952, the department bought an old white truck from Lockland for one thousand dollars which was still in use on standby ten years later. Chief Smith also announced at that time that his department had a resuscitator in "good working order."

Each year, the village eagerly anticipated various fire department fund-raising social event. Like other area fire department, the fire department sponsored an annual carnival and minstrel show produced by Lockland amateur show producer Millard "Skeet" Kunz. In the 1950s, fire department volunteers who participated in a "chorus line" provided a still unforgettable vision of knobby knees, only sacrificing their dignity. The Ladies Auxiliary, organized in 1955 and led by Mrs. Frank Smith, spent endless hours creating the costumes. The women did more than serve coffee and sandwiches at the site of fires, raising funds, purchasing kitchen equipment and helping to organize and produce the annual carnival.

The grateful population of the Springdale Fire District passed a bond issue in November 1956 that provided the Fire District with nineteen thousand dollars for new equipment. The yes vote, representing 90% of the community, illustrated the almost universal admiration and esteem in which the community held the fire department. With the new funds the Springfield Township Trustees purchased a 750 F.W.D. pumper for the department. Next, the department raised funds to purchase a crash truck equipped with generator-powered field lights, coats, boots, a smoke ejector and fire tools. In 1961 the fire department began its life-saving service with a 1951 ambulance donated by Vorhis Funeral Home. The following year when the new village government became financially responsible for the fire department, a new era began.

Springdale owes its fire department a debt of gratitude that goes beyond the obvious protection it provided. It gave the village a focus and a sense of pride during a crucial thirty-year period when centrifugal forces threatened the identity of the village. In a neighborhood with no high school, no industry, no post office and little commerce, it was becoming difficult to think of Springdale as being a distinct place. The Springdale Volunteer Fire Department gave the community a tangible institution and identity that represented Springdale.

Membership in the fire department provided motivated individuals with an outlet for their civic pride, and the members learned a great deal more than firefighting. They developed political and fund-raising skills as well. Bond issues forced the membership to learn how to organize and mobilize public support. Inadequate water supplies led the Springdale residents to lobby the City of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Commissioners for additional and larger water mains.

Members of the volunteer fire department were prominent in the incorporation effort in 1959 and when the new city council was elected in 1960 the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department was well-represented. It can fairly be said that the fire department laid the civic groundwork for the regeneration of the village in 1960. The residents of Springdale recognize that fact and are deservedly proud of their fire department's history.