So far as the village records go, there is little to show that any organized protection against fire existed during the first twelve years of Galesburg. Most likely, wells and buckets and a concerted action on the part of the population was the only safeguards. Several notable fires were the First Lady’s Seminary at Knox College in 1843. At the time the Seminary was the stateliest building in Galesburg as it was a three-story structure with a shining cupola that could be seen for miles. The original Lombard College structure was also destroyed by fire in 1855.
The City of Galesburg procured a city charter in 1857. The Galesburg City Council passed an ordinance on February 24, 1858, establishing the Galesburg Fire Department. Engine Company #1 was established as the first local firefighter organization and city officials authorized the purchase of a fire wagon and hose cart for $400. The first fire station was built later that year for a cost of $1,350. Before the station was built, the bell at the old First Church served to warn the townspeople and alert the firemen. The ordinance provided for an engineer, two assistant engineers, and a fire warden to be appointed by the council. It also provided for as many fire engine men, hose men, hook and ladder, axe men, saw men and bucket company men as were deemed necessary.
The first noted annual inspection was directed at the stacking of combustibles within one hundred feet of a building being prohibited. As the city grew quickly due to the growing railroad expansion west, in 1859 an ordinance forbidding the erection of wooden buildings on Main St between Kellogg St and the Public Square and within 150 feet thereof was passed thus shaping the future of downtown Galesburg.
Multiple fire companies had been formed as groups but it was evident that it provided loose organization. Prairie Bird Engine Co organized on January 15, 1857, Tornado Fire Co and Steward Hose Co organized. On April 1, 1859 Pioneer Hook & Ladder Co and Chain Lighting Hose Co organized. It was decided to combine these companies to work in conjunction as Galesburg Fire Dept.
The city aldermen were named fire wardens for their respected wards. At this time, annual inspections were directed to provide safety rules for strong combustibles, much like todays fire codes.
1860’s
Records show that in 1861, GFD grew to 40 members. Membership fee was $0.50 with $0.10 monthly dues. As the department moved forward, needing a leader, Harry Sanderson was elected to be the first Fire Chief. Members were given red shirts as uniform.
In 1865, council appoints D.C. Brown as Chief and it is decided that the city will build a new engine house on the east side Prairie St very near E Simmons St. The engine company was called the Tornado Engine and Stewart Hose Co. #1. There were 40 members. The Erickson Engine and Marshall Hose Co. is also originated with 75 members. The Public Square and E Main St to Seminary is added to the fire limits on construction.
The ordinance of fire limits was extended as Galesburg grew. Needing a larger building, land was donated by George Brown, of Brown Planter Works so that an “engine house” could be constructed. This was a 24x36 masonry building constructed in 1868 at a cost of $2,180. This first documented site of a modern fire station was on the East side of S Prairie St (formally the West Theatre plot). The other building west of public square was sold. Council approved purchase of “the old academy bell” for the station. It was still customary at that time to ring the bell as an alarm of fire.
By the end of 1869, there were five companies listed with members. There were two engine, two truck, and one hook and ladder company to protect Galesburg totaling 182 members.
1870’s
By 1871, S.B Hoisington was appointed as the new Fire Chief. Galesburg was one of the few populous inland cities that had a credible volunteer fire department. “Galesburg may well claim honor of being one of the very few inland cities that has a credible volunteer fire department. There are no salaries, no firemen’s funds, no municipal appropriations, no subsidies except machines and appliances. The members as a general thing securing their own fund and procuring their own uniforms.”
The GFD purchases its first steam in 1873 and in 1876, the City Council passes the ordinance creating a license fee of two percent annually on foreign fire insurance companies to constitute a fund for firemen.
1878 Marked the year for a restructuring of the Galesburg Fire Dept. Membership numbers were set by city ordinance for each of the companies and consolidation of companies occurred. An ordinance required the fire department consist of a Chief, Assistant Chief, a Fire Warden whose salaries were set at $100 per year. The city ordinance set the number of members at a fire engine crew of 20-40 members, one hook and ladder crew of 20-40 members and three hose companies of 12-20 members each. Their compensation was fixed in the measure. Augustis Peterson is appointed as the Eighth Fire Chief in 1879. A “chemical engine” was in the department fleet at this time and was pulled by 3 horses.
1880’s
In 1882, the Galesburg population is 14,079 and the department roster totaled 110 members The appliances were one hand engine and two powerful steam powered fire pumps. The Tornado Engine and Stewart Hose House are located at 5 N Cherry St The No.2 Reliance Engine Co, and No 2 Hose Co are located on S Prairie St behind the Brown’s Corn Planter Works, and the Rescue Hook and Ladder truck is located at 8 South Prairie St. The pumps are connected by water mains to hydrants distributed throughout the business section of the city.
1890’s
In 1896 the Galesburg City Council votes to provide the Seventh Ward with a fire station and add two more firefighters to the force. The Brooks St Fire Station is born and is completed in 1900.
1900’s
By 1901 an updated salary for firemen increased to $60 a month after one year of service and the Fire Chief made $840 a year. Firefighters were granted to have one day in ten days with an annual 10 day vacation.
In 1903, two more positions are created for the fire department. At the end of 1903, the population of Galesburg is 23,000.
GFD suffered its first line of duty deaths in 1904 at the Galesburg High School fire. Located on the same block as the current public safety building. The Fire took the lives of firemen John Slater and Frank Stromstedt. It was Mr. Slater’s day off and he had in the evening attended the services at the First Baptist Church with his Wife and Daughter. He arrived on scene, throwing himself into the work with his whole soul.
Mr. Frank Stomstedt was not found dead until the next morning. He was at his home on N. Chambers when the first alarm sounded. When the second alarm for the C.B.&Q company sounded, he went to scene. Formerly a member of a GFD company, he immediately volunteered his services and assisted in various capacities. Just before the wall fell he was at the rear of the building and Fred Coakley shouted to him from the roof. At that time, he was holding the hose. From where he was found it was thought when the wall had began to fall he started to run north and was caught.
In 1905 the contract for the erection of the central fire station was let to Peter T. Olson for $23,373. This building is still standing and is home to the Iron Spike Brewing Co. The council also purchased a ladder truck at a cost of $4,000.
The striking Romanesque style building featured a watchtower lookout that was three stories high. The tower was also used for hose drying.
Becoming more organized, Rules for the conduct of the fire department were approved. Also noted were duties assigned to the firefighters. The first firefighter to slide the pole for an alarm was in charge of leading the horsed into place and lowering the harnesses. The other firefighters were tasked with lighting the fires beneath the steam boilers which supplied power for the pumps.
As the city grew north, an additional station was needed. In 1907, Charles Hawkinson was given the contract for building a fire station in the Sixth Ward. This would later be known as the Maple Ave. Station.
On December 7, 1908, the first building code ordinance was passed by the Galesburg City Council. Eight days later, an early famous fire occurred at the Holmes Building fire on the afternoon of December 15th. Numerous residents barely escaped including a woman who leaped from a fourth story window onto the roof of an adjoining building. Dr E.D Wing, a prominent physician in town had an office on the fourth floor. He was unable to escape by stairwell or elevator so he was forced to climb out of a window and stand on a narrow concrete ledge until firefighters raised an extension ladder to him.
With the goal if fire prevention and in response to the Holmes Building fire, building codes and fire safety ordinances were passed in 1908 and again in 1909. In 1910 and ordinance also regulated the sale and use of fireworks in city limits and salaries were increased.
1910’s
By 1911, the City now had three fire stations. Fire Department staff included the Fire Chief, Assistant Chief and a Captain, along with 11 firefighters that were stationed at Central Station. A Captain and one firefighter each that were stationed at Brooks St Station and the Maple Ave Station.
By 1914, the City of Galesburg population reached 24,000. The fire department added one extra firefighter to each station bringing the total to 21 firefighters. At this time, firefighters work almost every day with one day off per month. They received an occasional day or night off without pay and because of this full-time status, they practically live in the engine houses.
Propelling into 1917, five fire department horses were sold off and the first motorized apparatus was purchased. The council had also ordered a fire risk survey from its citizens. By 1918, the GFD implemented the platoon system to the organization.
1920’s
One of the costliest and most dangerous fires up to its time was a fire at the Galesburg Horse and Mule barn in 1923. The block-long structure was adjacent to the Galesburg Armory between N Broad St and N Cherry St. More than 200 tons of hay stored in the upper portions of the structure caught fire and workers were barely able to save all 20 horses that were kept there at the time.
By 1926, the Fireman’s Pension Fund was created by ordinance and a 15% increase was made to the salaries by 1928.
1930’s
By 1930, the fire department is increased to 36 members. All three stations were staffed with 2 shifts of six men. Each shift was 24 hours on, followed by 24 hours off constituting an 84-hour work week, and also subject to call back. Fire Prevention continued as a priority and the fire limits were extended to cover 32 blocks of the downtown area where buildings could not be wood framed.
The Central Station housed a 65 foot aerial truck with 235 feet of extra ladders, a 1,000-gallon combination chemical pump, an emergency car with 350 feet of hose, and a chief’s vehicle. Each outside station had a 750-gallon chemical combination pump.
The first mention of run reports occurs in 1933 where the GFD ran 217 calls in that year. On April 11, 1938, the Galesburg Firefighters joined the International Association of Firefighters and became IAFF Local 555. By the end of the decade, the Galesburg Fire Department began running an ambulance from the Central Station location.
1940’s
The GFD would continue to work the 84-hour work week through the 1940’s. There was little change or department upgrading due to World War II and the scarcity of funds and resources. Department inventory began to severely age and this carried into the early 1950’s. The firefighter gear consisted of a heavy canvas coat, a helmet and boots. None of the gear worn was considered fire resistant.
1950’s
In 1954, the Muscular Dystrophy Association teamed up with the IAFF to establish “Fill the Boot” and the Galesburg Firefighters participated the first year of this program. This is a continued tradition here at GFD and we continue to rank in the top 3 fire departments in the entire state for money raised for MDA.
We also see in the 1950’s, an ambulance service ran by the GFD. This service was to provide transport to the hospital only. An inhaler is purchased by the Firefighter’s Union with the intent of using it to assist firefighters overcome by smoke at fire scenes. This program slowly developed into assisting heart attack victims and people injured in accidents. Training began for firefighters that was done by the Red Cross through their Basic First Aid courses.
In 1955 GFD hired 6 additional firefighters brining the roster to 30. A while later, a council passed an ordinance to provide a 40-hour work week to police officers and a 74-hour work week for firefighters. This was reduced from the 48-hour police work week and the 84-hour firefighter work week. A Kelly day proposal was also accepted for GFD. This measure provided 72 hours off after working seven working days. This was the first reduction to hours worked since 1922.
In 1956 Galesburg firefighters completed additional first aid courses to provide minor medical care on scene. Additionally, the city reduced the firefighter work week from 74 hours to 63 hours, and then again in 1957 from 63 hours to 53 hours per state senate bill.
October 2, 1958 brought another major fire loss to the city with the library fire. It was claimed to be a “million-dollar fire” loss. The firefighters were challenged with low water pressure due to freezing cold temperatures that caused frozen fire hydrants and took an estimated 1.5 million gallons to extinguish. The fire tragically burned irreplaceable documents and some 200,000 books. Some of the documents included papers signed by Abraham Lincoln and vital city records. Six firemen were injured at the fire. The fire also occurred on a Friday evening, so the downtown area was full of shoppers and the library was experiencing heavy traffic from the public as well. It is said that over 5,000 spectators witnessed the fire.
On November 12th, that same year, an early morning fire destroyed the popular Peerless Market only a block from the library fire on the Northeast corner of Main St and the Public Square. Residents were saved from the upper apartment buildings by the GFD ladder truck stationed downtown.
After a rising number of tragic fires which included the loss of adult and children’s lives, Galesburg citizens were asked to vote on a Fire Protections Tax. This would add 15 more firefighters, replace outdated equipment, establish a formal training and inspection program, all for less than one cent per day. The fire tax did not pass. Faced to make financial cuts, the city then asked the public if fire and police should merge as one to become a public safety department. This too did not pass. GFD discontinued its ambulance services and staffing dropped below the current 31 personnel creating a risk of closing a fire house.
In 1959 there was a hard push to hire more firefighters after continued budget cuts. A separate fire tax was proposed to the citizens of Galesburg. Headlines in the Galesburg Register Mail read “Galesburg turns to citizens in fight for fire protection”. The tax was initially voted down. 1959 was also the year for Santa Claus to make his debut needing to be rescued before the Holiday Parade. This also, to this day is a long-standing City of Galesburg and Galesburg Fire Department tradition!
1960’s
As the 60’s began, the Fire Department continued to battle budget cuts with the exception of GFD’s first 1000 Gallon Seagrave pumper to replace the 1936 International at Maple Station. The work week for firefighters dropped to 64 hours in 1960 however, GFD still needed additional personnel. Insurance groups who covered the local area joined the support of the proposed fire protection tax. GFD staff dropped to 29 personnel from the 31 that they were supposed to have on staff. Finally, in 1960, after rejecting tax increase proposals for six years, Galesburg passed a special fire tax. The one-million-dollar tax would bring 1/10th of 1% of the city’s total evaluation.
In 1961 the Galesburg City Council approved the first Fire Prevention Code (1960 code from the National Board Fire Underwriters). This marked the official creation of the Galesburg Fire Prevention Bureau at a time when there was a growing number of fires in Galesburg. Fire losses amounted to $132,000 in 1960 but were tallied at $385,614 in 1961.
After a large blaze at Kiddie Korner in the Homcomb Building on Main/Public Square in which only 8 firefighters were on duty and total staffing numbers low, GFD Chief Wayne Nelson continued to plead to the city manager to hire more firefighters.
Finally, in February of 1962, the national board of fire underwriters and the Illinois inspection bureau recommended to council to hire 18 more firefighters moving the City Council to approve the hiring of 17. Bringing the Galesburg Fire Department to 49 personnel.
1962 also marked the development of a Galesburg-Knox county Emergency Disaster unit preparing for civil defense. Seven sirens were also added spread throughout the city.
In 1962 we see a more concentrated effort towards EMS training for firefighters. This really took hold, and was in great part due to the focus of Fire Chief Wayne Nelson. It was part of his comprehensive program to rebuild and revitalize the Galesburg Fire Department. A training program was also vigorously started focusing on all department equipment. Each firefighter spent approximately 220-225 hours per year in documented training of all types.
Two months after the initial swearing in of 17 firefighters, a fire raged and gutted the three-story labor temple at 52 N Prairie St on April 3, 1962. The Labor Temple occupied the top two floors with Louis Nyman Sporting Goods & Toy Store on the first floor. The fire threatened several adjoining buildings including the O.T. Johnson Store. Off-duty firefighters were called in as well as firefighters from Monmouth and the Galesburg State Research Hospital to assist.
The Galesburg Fire Department established the position of Deputy Fire Chief in charge of the Fire Prevention Bureau when they promoted Richard Smith in 1963. One of the first acts was the banning of the sale of explosives and large fireworks.
Also, in 1963, formations of an interdepartmental assistance program were formed with the western Illinois fire departments with became to be referred to as “mutual aid”. The National Board of Fire Underwriters improved the GFD rating from a Class 7 to a Class 4. Automatic fire alarm systems were beginning to be installed in new and some existing construction buildings and these alarms were tied directly to a phone at the Central Fire Station that was constantly attended by a junior firefighter.
By 1963, there were 48 firefighters on the GFD. The Fire Chief, The Deputy Chief of Fire Prevention, three Assistant Chiefs, six Captains, one Captain as a department mechanic, and 36 firefighters.
In September of 1965, the abandoned Galesburg High School building was destroyed by fire. The City of Galesburg later purchased the entire block from the school district. The plan was to eventually place a local government building there.
The 1966 Doyle Furniture fire was fought by 40 Galesburg Firefighters and officers with the help from Monmouth, Knoxville, Abingdon, and East Galesburg Fire Departments.
In 1968 GFD got two new 1250 GPM pumpers from Alexis Fire Equipment. One to replace a 1953 la France at central and one to replace a 1958 la France at Brooks St Station.
On June 21, 1969, the vacant Broadview Hotel fire occurred on the Northwest corner of the public square. At the time, the building was slated for demolition for an urban renewal project. It was the second time a hotel burned down at that location.
1970s
By 1970, demands for change of the 20th century resulted in more fire training and a majority of the department either held or were working towards certificates in Fire and Safety Technology from local Carl Sandburg College. The beginning of the decade also saw a change in leadership when after 11 years as Chief, Wayne Nelson retired and Ted Webber took the reigns as new chief. By the end of 1970, under normal circumstances, 15 firefighters were on duty ready to respond to structure fires.
In June of 1971, four additional firefighters were hired. One of them being Bernel Cowan, who became the first African American to work for the GFD. Also, in 1971, conversations began about building a joint law enforcement center along with a new central fire station. The Galesburg City Council began meetings with the Knox County Jail and Sherriff’s Office Committee to seek out state funds for a joint feasibility study on the new center. It was proposed to build it on the site of the old high school that was destroyed by fire in 1965.
One of two Packing Service Corp Warehouses caught fire on December 18, 1973. The warehouse was a major storage area for fiberglass, cork, and Styrofoam packing products. An entire department callback was initiated by Chief Webber and 44 firefighters were on scene fighting the blaze during an immense snow and ice storm.
In 1973, a home inspection program began being offered. Inspections were on a voluntary basis by home occupants. According to command staff there were approximately 11,500 homes in the city limits. There were 76 house fires in 1972 and most were preventable. By the end of 1974, construction finally began on a new Public Safety Building located at the current location.
The year of 1975 concluded with no fire fatalities and the property loss dollar amount was estimated $289,304 down nearly $100,000 from 1974. The Galesburg Fire Department was staffed at 49 personnel. Four were on a forty hour a week schedule and forty-five firefighters working the 24/48 schedule averaging fifty-six hours a week.
In July of 1976, the new City-County Public Safety Building opened at 150 South Broad St. The new 2.5-million-dollar building would save tax money because four departments could share communications, records, and training facilities. The “old” Central Fire Station located on East Simmons St became a community social center.
Intra State Telephone started the 911 system on January 7, 1976 although it was yet a nationwide standard. Under the new system, an emergency call is immediately answered by police department. The construction of the new Public Safety Building made that sound like a great option for dispatching not only Galesburg Police, but also fire and sheriff’s units as well. With the new system, the emergency call is automatically switched to the agency that is needed, law enforcement, fire, or ambulance.
After serving 25 years of service, Fire Chief Ted Webber retired, and Dale May Jr. was appointed Fire Chief on December 5, 1977. Also, in 1977, Dale Sundberg was promoted to Assistant Chief and become the department’s first dedicated training officer.
In 1978, the site for the new Brooks Street Fire Station was selected at the corner of Grand Ave and E Brooks St. In 1978, the minimum manning rule was implemented, dictating that 12 firefighters were on duty from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am and 11 firefighters from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm.
Upon Chief May’s appointment, the Galesburg Fire Department become heavily involved in expanding the role in Emergency Medical Services with Rescue 55 being added into the daily manning rotation in 1979. The year before, the GFD purchased it’s first set of extrication equipment and placed them on Rescue 55 as there were on average two vehicle accidents per month that require occupant extrication. Eventually Chief May pushed to get an EMT Certification added into the probationary firefighters’ requirements.
In 1979, the Galesburg Mental Health Center petitioned the City of Galesburg for city fire protection after the center slowly reduced its permanent staffing of 12 state firefighters a day to five which manned their fire station on the center property. The plan was to eliminate the medical center’s fire protection all together. At the end of 1979, the State facility went down to just one state firefighter to cover all 109 buildings on campus.
1980’s
At the start of 1980, The Mental Health Center again requested service from the GFD in which a legal issue arose debating the coverage. Eventually the City added an additional firefighter to the Maple St Station to assist with the coverage.
In September of 1981, the City leased the GMHC Fire Station for 25 years. The lease was part of a negotiated deal for the City to provide fire protection coverage of the hospital grounds. At the time, it was unsure of what the station would be used for.
In June of 1981 the new Brooks St Station was completed and crews moved out of the old station and into the new. The new Brooks St Station cost $300,000 dollars to build.
After the creation of the Assistant Chief of Training position in 1977, in 1981 a 40-hour firefighter was added as a Training Instructor position. At this time there were 15 firefighters on each shift. The additional 40-hour Training Instructor position brought the GFD total to 50 staff.
Due to a push for better hose testing and records across the board, including recorded training, and tracking maintenance on equipment and on the pumpers, the City’s ISO rating improved from a 5 to a 4 in 1982. For the first time, by the end of 1987, almost half of the department’s 2,035 calls responded to were medical calls.
On February 2, 1988, work was started on the newly given ground for the Galesburg Fire Department Training Site. This had long been a vision of Chief Dale May. The old Galesburg Mental Health Center fire station at the Hawthorne Center and five acres of land was given to the City. The department, with the assistance of the University of Illinois Fire Institute converted the training facility to the North Western Region of Illinois Training Facility.
On May 15, 1989 a large fire was reported at the former Arlington Hotel at 280 S Seminary St. This had been a worry of the department for many years concerning the vacant structure. All off duty personnel were called in along with Mutual Aid from Abingdon and Knoxville Fire Departments. A recent pre-planning of the building was detrimental in protecting surrounding properties.
1990’s
By the year 1993 there were 5 Assistant Chiefs and 7 Captains. One Assistant Chief in charge of the fire prevention bureau, a Captain in the bureau in charge of education, and three firefighters as inspectors. An Assistant Chief was in charge of Training and working with local industries such as Maytag and Butler Mfg. By the end of 1993, there was a restructuring, changing the shift Assistant Chiefs to three Battalion Chiefs. There were six Captains, a Fire Prevention Captain, and 37 firefighters.
In 1962, the call volume was around 300 per year. In 1993, it was 2,431 calls per year. The trend had been a growing number of medical calls the department responded to. There were 11 EMTs on the department in 1993 that operated on Rescue 55. There was much controversy at the time as to whether it was necessary with Galesburg Hospital Ambulance Unit in town. With GHAS moving to a new location north, expanding its territory further outside the City of Galesburg, and the need to accomplish response times, the department continued to push for expansion in the emergency medical services area. In 1993, EMS calls represented 50% of all responses.
An expansion and addition to the Training Site occurred in 1993, along with certifying all personnel to be Fire Apparatus Engineer. The City Council also approved the purchase of two pumpers at a cost of $352,664 replacing the aging apparatus at the Brooks St and Maple Ave Fire Stations.
Chief Dale May retired at the end of April in 1994 after 32 years on the department and 17 years as Fire Chief. When Dale May retired, the City Manager wanted to create a PSB Director that would be over both police and fire. There was also talk of combining both departments and cross training officers to do both jobs. Eventually, after the idea of the director position did not gain traction, Battalion Chief John Cratty was promoted to the be the next Galesburg Fire Chief on October 4, 1994.
In 1996, the GFD mandated that all firefighters had to be trained in emergency medical first responders, or EMTs. Rescue 55 had until then, responded to all EMT calls throughout the City. Now the City was broken into territories with Brooks St Station, Maple Ave Station and the Central Station all responding to their own territories. This also increased the types of calls that the department responded to.
Conversations began with the City and County in November of 1997 for the City of Galesburg to take over the Knox County Emergency Management Agency. City Manager Gary Goddard decided that it would be taken over by the fire department. Fire Chief John Cratty became the Knox County Emergency Manager.
On November 16, 1998, the City purchased defibrillators to be placed on all front-line fire/rescue trucks for the first time.
Conversations had picked up serious steam in 1999 with City Council to replace the Maple Ave Station, a structure that was originally designed for horse teams. In 2000, $1.4 million was made part of a $6 million General Obligation Bond. There was much back and forth between city council members in 2001 to agree on a site to build the new station. The move was necessitated not only because of the Maple Ave station being 93 years old and in need of well over $200,000 in repairs, but because of a 1970 study which showed that response from the station could not meet the four-minute goal to the further parts of the North part of Galesburg. The city had grown exponentially since that study.
On August 16, 2001 the GFD became a member of MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System), Division 31.
The new Fremont St Station was completed in 2002 at a cost of approximately 1.5 million dollars. After several days of moving, the last items were moved from Maple Ave to the Fremont St Station on November 25, 2002. The new station was built with the thought of attracting and accommodating female firefighters with private sleeping areas and a women’s bathroom and shower.
GFD sent Battalion Chief Tom Simkins, Captain Scott Warren and Firefighter Steve Selliers with hundreds of other firefighters from Illinois, New York City, and Montgomery County, MD. To help in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the City on September 5, 2005 through the MABAS system. Their main job was to repair the stations and homes of firefighters to get them back on the job.
On January 23, 2006, the old O.T Johnson’s building, located in the 200 block of E Main St caught fire along with the vacant Gross Galesburg building behind it. Galesburg firefighters responded to the fire at 1:30 am and later received mutual aid assistance from the Knoxville, Monmouth, and Abingdon fire departments. An adjacent structure was damaged on N Prairie St and later had to be demolished. Forty Galesburg firefighters and an estimated 15 firefighters from other departments, utilizing two ladder trucks and six pumper trucks worked from all four sides of the fire to protect exposures and save adjacent structures. A GFD Platform truck was damaged in the process.
In 2010 the GFD reorganizes and created four new Captain positions – adding three Captains to Central Station and added back the Training Captain which had been not filled for several years. This created a Captain position at each station on all three shifts. Battalion Chief Tom Simkins is sworn in on June 4, 2010 as the next Galesburg Fire Department Fire Chief. BC Simkins had been serving as the Interim Fire Chief since the retirement of Chief John Cratty on August 28, 2009.
Captain Derek Perry and Firefighter Joe Grodjesk on June 29, 2011, rescued a woman from a house fire without a hoseline and afterwards return to put out the fire. Both Perry and Grodjesk receive the Medal of Valor Award for their efforts from the Illinois OSFM.
On June 12, 2012, at 8:30 am, during the Third Shift Duty Day, the old Hawkinson Manufacturing building caught fire. To battle the blaze, an entire shift callback was initiated. One firefighter was injured when his crew was forced to bail out a second story window during an emergency evacuation.
On November 18, 2013, GFD's Technical Rescue Team was called upon by Illinois MABAS to assist the city of Washington, IL after the devastating tornado that ripped through the community. The six TRT members joined other TRT members from surrounding departments and spent hours combing through the wreckage to assist those trapped and ensure safe rescues.
Galesburg has 18 firefighters trained and certified for the Technical Rescue Team. Certification requires 300 hours of training in rescue from confined space, high angle, trench and collapse. Certification can take up to two years to achieve.
GFD topped 4,000 calls for the first time in 2014. It was an increase of 6.5% over the 2013 call volume. There were 42 firefighters on in 2014, down from 48 total firefighters in 2003.
After 34 years of service, Fire Chief Tom Simkins retired on October 25, 2019. Battalion Chief Brad Stevenson served as Interim Fire Chief until Battalion Chief Randy Hovind was promoted to Fire Chief on November 22, 2019. Chief Hovind took the responsibilities of Fire Marshal with him. A Deputy Chief position was created to assist with department operations and Battalion Chief Brad Stevenson was promoted to that position on the same day.
In early 2020, the world changed with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. On March 9, 2020, Illinois issued a Disaster Declaration for the COVID-19 Pandemic. On March 13, United States President Donald J. Trump declared a nationwide emergency. With the public facing shutdowns, masking, social distancing and supply shortages, the Galesburg Fire Department had to adapt to keep staff and community members safe. This included changing the way we responded on medical calls, close quarters in response vehicles, and daily life in the stations. Chief Hovind also operated as the Knox County Emergency Coordinator so the department took the lead on the COVID response for the county and developed the Knox County Unified Command Team response.
As PPE supplies ran short throughout the country, the Galesburg Fire Department established the Training Site as a Logistical PPE Center and the Staff Captain oversaw the Supply Group, assisting to get medical supplies and PPE to the areas in the County that needed them the most.
Since 2022, the department has seen many changes and growth, both operationally, and infrastructure wise. The department hired the first female firefighter for Galesburg in 2022. The GFD Training Site was renamed the Chief Dale May Training Site in honor of Fire Chief Dale May, who provided much of the work to procure the land where the current Training Site is located. Chief May was also a staunch advocate of training for firefighters. In 2023 the original training tower, that was built in 2004, was replaced due in large part to the efforts of Illinois Representative Dan Swanson. Also, in 2023, the department added three additional firefighters, one per each shift, to address the ever-growing overtime and call volumes, bringing the departments total personnel to 44. In 2024, the Galesburg Fire Department was able to add a Deputy Chief position when Captain Brock Schmitt was promoted to Deputy Chief. Deputy Chief John Seitz became the Galesburg Fire Department Fire Marshal, staffing that position for the first time in five years.
The Galesburg Fire Department will continue progressing forward with much needed infrastructure investments, such as updating the PSB Central Station Dorm room, built in 1976, to being co-ed for our current and future female firefighters. We will continue to strive to make the GFD a representation of the community we serve, and we will remain ready to meet the needs of the community that we are proud to serve.
