Whittemore Iowa

Whittemore Fire Department

(continued) ... Fire equipment - hoses, carts, ladders, etc. were stored in the building erected for a town hall and pumping station. The first fire truck was purchased in 1935. In 1948 a second truck was acquired, it was purchased primarily through subscriptions by farmers in the areea. Fire men purchased a thrid truck in 1956 and also an emergency truck equipped with resuscitator, gas masks, inhalator, first aid kits, stretchers and firemen's gear.
That same year a new combined City Hall and Fire Department was built on lots just south of the old town hall. A new fire truck and its equipment was purchased in 1966 and an ambulance was bought in 1974 for the Whittemore Emergency Squad. It was a valuable service to the community since Whittemore had been without a doctor for some time and are some distance from a hospital.
The firemen at that time were Gene Walker, Ray Betts, Ed Elbert, Harold Poppen, Wilbur Roeber, Maynard Roeber, Melvin Roeber, Dean Elbert, Charles Elbert, Elmer Ostwald, Allen Elbert, Delbert Wichtendahl, Charles Schultz, Norman Schultz, Mike Elbert, Jerry Meyer, Jerry Bormann, Ralph Koppen, Teddy Wagner and Donald Baas.
Members of the ambulance squad were Delbert Wichtendahl, Gene Walker, Ray Betts, Allen Elbert, Wilbur Roeber, Teddy Wagner and Edmund Elbert. Another member of the squad, Jim Kressin, was killed in a street accident in 1977. A new stretcher for the Whittemore Emergency Squad was donated by Mrs. Jim Kressin and family in memory of Jim.

This information was taken from the book "History of Whittemore - One Hundred Years", published in 1978 to commemorate the community's Centennial Celebration.

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