The following information was compiled from Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage (Johnston, 1979), Images of America Laurel (Kooistra-Manning, 2015), and various current and retired members and their spouses of the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department.
Our Beginning
The first mention of a fire department in a council meeting on January 19, 1909. During that meeting, a committee was formed to investigate the possibility of purchasing some kind of fire apparatus. On January 26, 1909, at another council meeting, a motion was brought to the floor to petition for bids on a "chemical-type" fire apparatus. On March 1, 1909, it was agreed to accept the bid from Knott Fire Apparatus Company for a fifty-five gallon chemical apparatus. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department was officially approved on April 20, 1909. C.T. Tharalson was appointed as the first LVFD Fire Chief. Charter members of the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department were: E. Yarbrough, B.E. Harris, Ed Barber, Otto Buddy, W.E. Edgardo, J.B. Platz, Thomas Middleton, H.P. Biggs, C.T. Tharalson, William Anest, C.L. Morris, and Eugene Foley. (Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage, Johnston, 1979)
Sounding the Alarm
The following excerpt was taken from the September 1, 1901 issue of the Laurel Outlook. It gives the mode in which the local firemen were notified: "In order to add to the efficiency of our local fire department, arrangements have been made to have the railroad roundhouse sound all alarms of fire. This will be accomplished through the assistance of the local telephone exchanges, both of which have agreed to inform the roundhouse as soon as the notice of fire is received. Citizens, therefore, should immediately notify the exchanges of any fire of which they have knowledge. Signals have been arranged for the various wards, and the roundhouse will give the location of fires in the following manner: First Ward, two short whistles; Second Ward, two short whistles, pause, two short whistles; Third Ward, two short whistles, pause, two short whistles, pause, two short whistles. The members of the fire department are certainly to be commended for the efforts which they are making for the protection of city property, and in this work they should receive the most hearty encouragement and cooperation." (Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage, Johnston, 1979)
In 1977, the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department, in conjunction with Mountain Bell, had a command telephone system which notified all thirty firemen at the same time by a series of blasts on the Civil Defense Sirens. This siren was removed from the current City Hall building in 2014 due to building damages caused by the siren's vibrations.
In the late 1990s, the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department equipped each of their firefighters with a Motorola Minitor Two-Tone Voice Pager that notified them of the emergency. This form of communication is still used today.
Today, in addition to the Motorola Minitor Two-Tone Voice Pager, our firefighters receive a text message and an I Am Responding app notification.
Previous Equipment
The first truck for fire fighting use in the department was said to have been one that was difficult to start. It was a crank-style, and the firemen dealt with the problem by building a high wooden platform to which a ramp was attached. The truck was kept upon the platform and when an emergency arose, one man was at the wheel while two men who were on the platform gave the truck its start down the ramp. Out the door it would go and with any luck it started and went on its way to the emergency. (Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage, Johnston, 1979)
Firemen, in times past, sponsored a dance each Thanksgiving week in the school gymnasium to raise funds for the fire department. The dance was carried on in ballroom style with people dressed in their best (even formal attire). With funds accumulated, a new truck (the second) was purchased as our funding through the City of Laurel was limited at the time. (Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage, Johnston, 1979)
In 1977, the major pieces of equipment that the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department operated were many and varied. Engine No. 1 was a 1964 Seagraves 1000 gallon per minute pumper built on a conventional cab International chassis that carried 500 gallons of water. Engine No. 2 was a 1951 Pirsh 750 gallon per minute pumper built on a vonventional cab International chassis powered by a Caterpillar V-8 diesel engine that carried 500 gallons of water. Engine No. 4 was a 1956 GMC Army 6 x 6 2.5 ton cargo truck that was converted into a grass and brush firefighting truck by the Laurel Volunteer Firemen. The total time volunteered to build this truck was five hundred and sixty hours. It was a completely self-contained fire truck carrying 1400 gallons of water and capable of putting out 450 gallons of water per minute. A new innovation at the time was incorporated by the Laurel Firemen was a sweep built on the front of the truck to enable the truck to contain the fire by circling it with a spray of water. This innovation was incorporated on the since retired Brush 1 and the current Brush 4. (Laurel's Story, a Montana Heritage, Johnston, 1979)
Our Retirees
Every firefighter that completes the State required yearly training hours receives one year of service credit. To become an "honorary member" of the Laurel Volunteer Fireman's Association, firefighters must have five years of service or more. To retiree from the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department, firefighters must complete ten years of service or more. To receive the full pension benefits, firefighters must complete twenty years of service or more. Below are our members that completed their twenty years of service:
Reece Price (1909-1943), Henry E. Herbert (1925-1946), Charlie Duncan (1928-1949), Russell Packard (1929-1949), Chet A. Herbert (1934-1954), Ken Walton (1939-1959), Dick Sterrett (1942-1962), Frank Hartley (1943-1964), Joe Larson (1943-1964), Chet Scott (1942-1967), Don Scheidecker (1947-1968), Raleigh Easton (1947-1968), Ernie Vogelpohl (1947-1968), Clinton Anderson (1947-1968), Ted Bundy (1949-1969), Clarence Herbert (1950-1970), Ken Olson Sr. (1953-1973), George Strand (1954-1974), Chuck Brouhaugh (1964-1984), Frank Smith (1964-1984), Bill Gremmer (1972-1992), Gaylord Easton (1948-1978), Chuck Rodgers (1969-1996), R. A. Black (1962-1982), Brad Wilder (1968-1992), Don Hedges (1967-1993), Marvin Carter (1970-1993), Jack Martin (1975-1995), K. Scott Walton (1961-1981), Dave Powers (1959-1996), Dick Metzger (1976-1996), Wayne Halvorson (1973-1996), David Gauslow (1973-1997), John Johnson (1976-1997), Ken Olson Jr. (1975-1997), Don Meyers (1977-1997), Earl Linger (1976-1997), Norman Orr (1976-1997), Tom Ludwig (1976-1997), Ralph Hoffman (1976-2000), Miles Walton (1976-2002), Blaine Grossman (1981-2002), Darrell Lee McGillen (1976-2007), Scott Wilm (1990-2011), Rob Harris (1978-2011), Butch Ripley (1991-2012), Gary Colley (1990-2013), Terry Ruff (1990-2013), Allen Gradwohl (1990-2014), Jason Shovar (1996-2019), Joel Barnhardt (1997-2019), Rick Gallegos (1999-2020), Kent Kelusa (1997-2022), Brent Peters (1999-2024).
Legacy Members
Legacy members are members that had relatives serve prior to them on the Laurel Volunteer Fire Department. These are the various legacy families that have dedicated time to protecting Laurel and the surrounding community:
Three members of the Herbert family, two members of the Walton family, two members of the Easton family, two members of the Gremmer family, four members of the McGillen family, two members of the Olson family, two members of the Fox family, two members of the Barnhardt family, two members of the Kulesa family, three members of the Bieber/Halvorson family, three members of the Hernandez family, two members of the McCleary family, two members of the Winchell family, two members of the Gotschall family, two members of the Herr family, four members of the Nagel/Metzger family, two members of the McIlvain family, and two members of the Scott family.
Past Fire Chiefs
The first Laurel Fire Chief was C. T. Tharalson in 1909. Records are unclear as to when his time as Fire Chief ended. The longest serving Laurel Fire Chief was both Gay Easton and Dave Powers, both of whom served 13 years as Chief. The current Laurel Fire Chief is JW Hopper and has served since 2023. There have been 34 Laurel Fire Chiefs since 1909.
C. T. Tharalson (1909), Reece Price (1909-1916), George Coy (1917), B. L. Price (1918), Reece Price (1919-1920), E. W. Snyder (1921-1922), J. Gary (1923), George Lonne (1923), O. H. Bundy (1923), H. C. Sorensen (1924-1925), E. W. Snyder (1926-1927), H. E. Herbert (1928), Bert E. Sherrow (1929-1930), Terrett (1931), Russell Packard (1932-1935), Reece Price (1936), C. A. Duncan (1937-1939), Earl Fuller (1940), J. L. Ward (1941), Kenneth Walton (1942-1943), Charlie Packard (1944), Russell Packard (1945), Clinton Anderson (1950), John Brohaugh (1951-1953), Gay Easton (1954-1967), Dave Powers (1968-1981), Dave Gauslow (1982-1985), Darrell McGillen (1986-1996), Stevens (1997-2000), Terry Ruff (2001-2005), Scott Wilm (2006-2008), Derek Yeager (2009-2010), Brent Peters (2011-2022), JW Hopper (2023-current).
