Serving and Protecting Carol Stream Since 1947
| 1947 |
In April, a 1947 Ford fire truck was purchased by three residents who had to take second mortgages on their homes to buy the truck.
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| 1948 |
Women’s auxiliary was formed in an effort to support the Fire District financially. |
| 1951 |
The league became the Keeneyville, Cloverdale Fire Protection District and collected its first tax for fire protection in February. |
| 1954 |
The name of the fire district was shortened to Keeneyville Fire District. |
| 1956 |
Earl Tedrahn was appointed to the Board of Trustees. Len Pauling and Dick Kammes joined the volunteer fire department. |
| 1957 |
Judge Atten appointed three men to the fire district's first Board of Trustees: Earl Tedrahn, Dick Kammes and Shardon Pipkin. Earl Tedrahn was named President of the Board.
Jay Stream purchased land on Gary Avenue to start a housing development.
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Russell N. Merbach Richard P Kammes Joseph J Bird
| 1958 |
Following a special election, the land purchased by Jay Stream was recognized as the Village of Carol Stream. |
| 1960 |
Property in the development lay in three different fire protection districts (Keeneyville, Bloomingdale, and Winfield). A hearing was held at the courthouse in Wheaton to decide who would protect the new town of Carol Stream. Judge Guild awarded it to Keeneyville.
The District borrowed money from a Roselle bank to purchase a 1960 Ford fire engine from the John Beam Company at a cost of $17,628.01. The Carol Stream Company of the Keeneyville Fire Protection District was formed. Jay Stream made a deal with Dick Kammes that he would build a lean-to on the Durable Construction garage to house the 1947 fire truck. This was the first Carol Stream Fire Station and the first fire truck to serve the Village of Carol Stream.
Firefighters dismantled an old farm building on Kuhn Road and built a fire station on the site of the village’s sewer treatment plant. It was manned by volunteers. This fire station remained in use until the new station could be built in 1969.
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| 1962 |
The District annexed territory on the west side of the District, which extended the boundaries to North Avenue and St. Charles Road, north on the section line to Lies Road. The District boundary was 80 rods (rod = 5.5 yards) west of Kuhn Road with a line that ran north and south from North Avenue to Lies Road. The District purchased a 1500-gallon GMC tanker from Franklin Park. |
| 1963 |
The District passed its first bond referendum to purchase two new fire pumpers, a rescue truck and fire hose. |
| 1964 |
A dispatch system was started, and two-way radios were installed in the fire trucks. The fire district started the Fire Prevention Bureau, consisting of a Deputy Chief and 2 Lieutenants. |
| 1966 |
The District purchased alerting radios (Plectrons) for all firefighters. Prior to this firefighters were called by phone to tell them of an emergency. Earl Tedrahn volunteered to have a radio tower put at the Cloverdale General Store on Army Trail Road. Earl and his family took all the fire and emergency calls 24 hours a day. He volunteered this service for many years. |
| 1969 |
After passing a bond referendum for $185,000 in 1968, the District began construction of a new station, Station One, at 500 Kuhn Road in Carol Stream. This station also housed the District's administrative offices. |
| 1970 |
The District negotiated annexations with Bloomingdale and Winfield. As a result, the District became responsible for an additional 80 acres of farmland previously covered by Bloomingdale Fire District, as well as 40 acres on the corner of North Avenue and Gary Avenue that were previously part of Winfield. |
| 1973 |
Land was traded between the Bloomingdale Fire District and the Keeneyville Fire District to place most of Carol Stream into one fire district. The district's name was officially changed to Carol Stream Fire Protection District. Mike Tuman was hired as the first full-time Fire Chief, and full-time firefighters were hired. |
| 1976 |
After purchasing and renovating a Citgo gas station, the District opened Station Two (now Station 29) on St. Charles and Schmale.
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| 1978 |
On its second try, the District passed a referendum to sell bonds to create and fund an ambulance district. Paramedic services were then available to residents. |
| 1980 |
The Carol Stream Fire District annexed land that was within the village limits of Carol Stream but previously protected by the Winfield Fire District. At this point, all of Carol Stream was finally protected by one fire protection district. |
| 1985 |
Station Two was dedicated to Russell N. Merbach, in honor of his 11 years of service as a Trustee. |
| 1990 |
Following a referendum request, the Board of Trustees was expanded from three to five members. The DuPage County Chairman appointed the two additional Trustees.The referendum also provided that the Board be elected rather than appointed. |
| 1994 |
Construction of a third station began on Lies Road after voters approved a 1992 referendum to increase the tax rate to fund the project. Station Three (now Station 27) was occupied in September.
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| 1999 |
Richard Kammes retired after serving 43 years as a Trustee. |
| 2001 |
The Village of Carol Stream and the Fire District reached agreement to swap land so the District could construct a new station that would also serve as headquarters. The Village gave 9 acres of land on the east side of Kuhn Road to the Fire District, and the Fire District gave the existing fire station to the Village for use as a College of DuPage technology center. |
| 2004 |
Station One (now Station 28) was relocated to the new building at 365 Kuhn Road on October 14, at which time it was dedicated, Richard P. Kammes. In the same year, Station Three was dedicated to Joseph J. Bird.
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Fire Prevention Week is being celebrated