Exploding box of fireworks on radiator in Polk in 1936, led to fire department formation

There is nothing like an unplanned fireworks demonstration to light a fire under a village to establish a volunteer fire department, which is exactly what happened in Polk in 1936.

Clair Spencer founded Spencer Fireworks in 1926, and built it into a successful little company located at first across from the Polk Methodist Church.

There had been fires in Polk before, but nothing as spectacular as New Year’s Day 1936, when a box of fireworks that had been set on a radiator caught fire.

Elmer Crossen grabbed the box and tried to carry it out of the building, but it exploded in his hands. He suffered burns, but by luck, no one was killed that day.

The incident resulted in two major blasts that leveled two main buildings and a garage at the plant. The explosions threw timbers and debris into the air. The church and several neighboring houses were damaged, and windows were broken in a score of houses within the village of Polk. Bits of exploded fireworks were found as far as five miles away.

More: Early 1900s football and basketball teams in Polk offered quite the competitions

After the ashes settle, Polk establishes a fire department

Clair Spencer paid for repairs to damaged houses and businesses. In the next few days, the Streit and Son hardware sold out of window panes and were kept busy replacing at least 226 panes of broken glass.

The first fire department on the scene was West Salem, which arrived in 25 minutes. The Ashland Fire Department arrived three minutes later. The village of Polk had purchased some firefighting equipment the previous fall, but it had not yet been set up for use.

Having your local fireworks factory explode is a great motivator to establish a fire department, which Polk did that very spring.

Floyd Streit was the first fire chief, and the first equipment was a chemical tank mounted on a Model T Ford chassis.

The following year, Stanley Miller became fire chief, and the department purchased a Model A Ford truck with a tank and pump. The equipment was stored in an old shed next to the hardware store.

In 1944, Polk acquired one of the civilian defense firefighting units that had been given to Ashland during the war, in case of bombing raids. The unit was mounted on a 1931 Ford truck, which was rebuilt by the volunteer firemen, including Chief Miller, who was a mechanic at the International Harvester shop in Ashland.

Call to war shrinks crew down to 10 members

At that time, the war had depleted Polk’s volunteer fire department, and there were about 10 active members. Seven members posed for a photo in the Times-Gazette, standing in front of the new equipment. They included four men and two teen-aged boys. Burl Irwin, who was in the army, served on the fire department when he was home on leave.

At that time, the department received no tax funding. They raised money through community events such as basketball games, pie socials, and movie shows. In 1947, a fireman’s carnival became an annual tradition.

The department served the Polk village and Jackson township, and in 1953 they agreed to cover the northern part of Perry township.

In 1949, a new cement block building replaced the old shed beside the hardware, with an addition built in 1954. In 1972, voters approved a levy to build a new fire station, and ground was broken in October 1974, on the former site of the armory. The department moved into the new building in May 1975. At a 1985 dedication, the building was named in honor of James Goon, who served many years as fire chief.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Exploding box of fireworks on radiator in Polk in 1936, led to fire department formation