100th Anniversary Celebration
Until 1923, any house or barn that caught fire in Poland would burn merrily to embers, unhindered except for the rather futile efforts of a bucket brigade. Every householder kept a bucket on the gatepost for just such emergencies. Summoned by the fire bell, he grabbed his fire bucket and followed by his excited children and dogs, ran to the fire. With other citizens, he formed a line from the creek or the nearest well to the burning building. Buckets of water passed from hand to hand and the empty buckets passed back along the line.
As we approach 100 years, a lot has changed for the District. The Department houses 15 apparatus including 3 engines, 2 ladder trucks, 2 squads, a tanker truck, a heavy rescue, a brush truck, 2 command vehicles, and 3 fully stocked ambulances. We have more than 55 volunteers, 16 of which are women. We have three stations to help cover both Poland Village and Township on both sides of the river.
In 2023, the District has a lot planned to celebrate how far we have come - including Open Houses at each of the three stations, a huge parade during Celebrate Poland, an anniversary dinner, and more. We are offering sponsorship opportunities to our Poland businesses to help us bring this upcoming year to life. If you have any questions about how you can participate, please reach out to Cheri Metzinger (cheri@polandfire.org).
If you wish to help monetarily, donations can be made through Venmo (@pfassociationwrjfd), through PayPal (info@polandfire.org), or by check (made out to the Poland Fireman’s Association). Be sure to include 100th Anniversary in the memo.
Anniversary ornaments are also for sale! Stop by the District Office during regular business hours to get yours.
Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you’ll join us in this milestone celebration!