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History |
The first
fire
department
in Houghton
was
established
December 12,
1861,
creating the
Continental
Fire Co. No.
1.
The first
fire
fighting
equipment
was a hand
operated
pumper,
purchased
from the S.S
Smith
Company for
$225.00. The
first
motorized
fire
fighting
equipment
was not
purchased
until 1923.
In 1897, the
Houghton
Council
appointed
Louis
Voetsch as
the city's
first Fire
Chief who
served until
1914. The
following
people have
served as
Fire Chief
since that
time:
2. Ray
Eggleston
(1914 -
1942)
3. Si
Evans
(1942 -
1949)
4. Ralph
Voetsch
(1949 -
1964)
5. Gus
Colombe
(1964 -
1965)
6. Chas
Hornick
(1965 -
1966)
7. Jim
Chappell
(1966 -
1995)
8. Jim
Lightfoot
1995 -
current
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Present |
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A new Fire Hall was built in 1994 at the
corner of Sharon Avenue and Gundlach Road. The department's equipment includes one 1970
Seagraves 100ft Aerial Platform 4x4 Ladder Truck, one 1979 Mack Pumpers – 1000 GPM
pumpers with 550 gallon water tank, and one 1979 Chev. 4x4 Mini-Pumper with a 250 Gallon
Tank. 2000 - 1500 GPM Spartan Metro Pumper with a 750 gallon tank. The Houghton Fire Department also covers all of Michigan
Tech University property. The present
staff
includes:
-
Jim
Lightfoot
Fire
Chief
-
Lee
Hauswirth
1st
Assistant
-
Mike
Reynolds
2nd
Assistant
-
Al
Jurkanis
Captain
of
Apparatus
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and 20
Volunteers
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Fire
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Fire
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Fire Bell |
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