After the Fires, Newport's Young Businessmen Build a Fire Department
A city-hall meeting called by the Commercial Club elects Charles Luce chief and signs more than twenty volunteers, answering a season of business-district fires.
A meeting of most of the younger element of business men was held in the city hall last Thursday night to consider the question of organizing a fire department. The Commercial Club about a year ago advocated the formation of such an organization, but the matter lay dormant until the recent fires in the business center of town brought the need of an organized department to the front.
The meeting was called to order by Lee Berry, president of the Commercial Club, and S. J. Appleman was selected as secretary. There was a good attendance of property owners and those interested in the formation of a department. After some discussion the meeting elected Charles Luce as chief of the new department and Roy Wimber as secretary.
The following were elected as officers of the company: Charles Luce, chief; Dr. J. T. Phillips, 1st assistant; Louis Kirchan, 2nd assistant; Mike Fox, 3rd assistant; Roy Wimber, 1st sergeant; B. M. LeFevre, 2nd assistant; F. C. Jones, 3rd assistant; C. B. Turnbull, treasurer.
In addition to the officers the following men signed the roster of the new company: R. S. Anderson, H. L. Mitchell, Ben Fox, Joe White, Henry Schurch, J. K. Anderson, Hartman Ries, Lee Berry, S. J. Appleman, Wm. Krause, Joe Fea, Wm. Stadelman, George Neff, George Hynes, Dallas O'Harra, J. P. Berneck, C. T. Kellogg, W. J. Foster.
Another meeting will be held tonight, when the final touches to the organization will be perfected.
“The Commercial Club about a year ago advocated the formation of such an organization, but the matter lay dormant until the recent fires in the business center of town brought the need of an organized department to the front.”
Newport's first volunteer department was a direct response to fires that threatened the business core; today, volunteer and paid departments still depend on the same mix of civic organizing and public trust. The roster reads like a small-town mutual-aid network, a reminder that fire protection began as a subscription to neighbors.
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