Some Things That We're Proud Of!
cart_1928_2000.jpg (34862 bytes)Troy's first piece of fire fighting equipment.  On July 13, 1928, the Troy Mayor and Board of Aldermen voted to buy 1,000 feet of Red Cross High Pressure fire hose from the Eureka Fire Hose Company at a cost of $1.30 per foot provided that certain considerations were acceptable to the company.  One consideration was that the company had to agree to ship small amounts of the fire hose over an extended period of time instead of shipping the entire 1,000 feet at one time.  The other consideration was that the company had to agree to provide to the town "free gratis" a hose cart and reel.  The Eureka Fire Hose Company agreed to the board's considerations and this hose cart, which was built by the Robinson Fire Apparatus Manufacturing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, became the Troy Fire Department's first piece of fire fighting equipment.  It was "acquired" the same year that Troy's original water system was installed.  We believe that this hose cart was probably built in the 19th Century.  In its day, it only carried three (3) pieces of equipment: hose, nozzle and hydrant wrench.  It was used by our Fire Department until Engine 1 was delivered in 1951.
ejw_cart.jpg (29261 bytes)During our Fire Station's Open House in April, 1996, Troy's second Fire Chief, Everett J. Watson, is pictured here as he reminisces about the days when he and other fellow firemen pulled this hose cart by hand to fires.  When this picture was taken, we were in the process of refinishing it.  We do not know how many times it has been painted, but we do know that it was repainted in 1953, 1975 and again in 1996.

In 1953, Chief Watson retired this piece of equipment.  At the time, there was not an adequate place in the fire station to display it.   In order to preserve the hose cart, it was disassembled and stored in the attic of  Troy's second Fire Station where it secretly remained for twenty-two (22) years until it was taken down, reassembled, painted, and placed on display during our Town's 150 Year Celebration that was held in 1975.

On several occasions, Chief Watson said "I've spent most of my life trying to take care of this hose cart so it can be preserved for the town so that future generations can see it.  Someday, Troy will build a new fire station and in that fire station a place can be built so that this hose cart can be placed on display for everyone to admire."

Thanks to his forethought, today it is proudly displayed in our new Fire Station as a constant reminder of how far we have come, and the dedication of those brave individuals that came before us.
ant1b.jpg (14861 bytes)These items are on display in the corner of the Firemen's Lounge.  This fire plug was originally installed in 1928 when the town's water system was installed.   It was replaced in 1986.  The brass nozzle was purchased in September 1928 and was carried on the hose cart.  After the hose cart was retired, this nozzle was carried on Engine 1.  In 1973 Chief Watson decided to retire the brass nozzle so that it too could be preserved.  The hydrant wrench was Engine 1's original hydrant wrench and was carried on the truck's floorboard in-front of the seat.  A new style hydrant wrench was purchased for Engine 1 in 1986; however, the original hydrant remained on the truck until 1996 until it was retired and placed on display in the fire station.  The pick-head axe was Engine 2's original axe and was retired in 1986 because of the condition of the handle.  The fire extinguisher was never used by our department; however, it was donated to our fire station.  For years it provided fire fighting capabilities at the Salant factory in Obion.

phone3.jpg (13532 bytes)At this time, we're  not quite sure when the dispatch system that utilized this telephone set was installed, we do know that this telephone set  was used until May 1985 when it was replaced with a radio/pager dispatch system.  During this telephone set's time, our dispatch system was comprised of six (6) telephones (like the one pictured) installed around town in firemen's homes.  In addition to those, another one was installed at the fire station and another one was installed in the city hall.  All eight (8) telephones were extensions and would ring at the same time.  When someone called the emergency number to report a fire, whoever answered it would gather the information from the caller and then set-off the town's siren by activating the switch located behind the telephone set.  Then, they would remain on the line and wait for someone to arrive at the fire station.  The first firemen to arrive at the fire station would pick-up the telephone there and say, "Where's the fire?" and the person who took the call would tell them where the fire was.  Of course, if a firemen answered the call he would take-off to the fire station leaving his wife behind to man the telephone!

The system worked by placing a "short" on the telephone lines when the switch was activated which would be detected by the electrical equipment at the fire station and set-off  the siren.  Once the siren was set-off it would "blow" for a period of two (2) minutes.  This system had two (2) big faults: 1) The siren did not have the ability to provide total coverage for the town.  2) Since its activation was summoned by a short on the telephone lines, several false alarms occurred.  Any time a telephone company repairman cut a cable anywhere in the Troy area the siren--not knowing the difference--would recognize the short and activate.

This alarm system was replaced in 1985 with a 110 watt Motorola high-band radio repeater which was used to activate pagers that the firemen carried.  When it was originally installed in 1985, the "old" telephone sets were replaced with touch-tone sets which were used to activate the radio system and communicate with the firemen.  In addition to the telephone sets, fire calls could also be answered from our two-way portable and mobile radios.   The main problem with this system was the fact that we could never be sure if anyone was available to answer the fire calls since there was no full-time dispatchers.

In 1994 the practice of utilizing fire phones in homes and hoping that someone was home to answer them was abandoned.  The Obion County Emergency Communications District (911) became the official full-time dispatch facility for the Troy Fire Department.  Their full-time dispatchers, state-of-the-art recording and communication equipment coupled with our existing Motorola high-band radio system provides an excellent emergency dispatching system for our department.

To enhance our radio coverage, our 110 watt Motorola high-band repeater station was relocated on September 10, 2000.  For fifteen (15) years it provided service from the old city hall building on the corner of  Main and Westbrook.  This building later became the Troy Police Department.  The water tank located at Obion County Central High School is the systems new home.  It's twenty-one (21) foot Celwave antenna is located on top of the water tank 165 feet in the air.
display.jpg (23996 bytes)This lighted display case holds several treasures from our department.   The switch box operated the town's first siren.  It was located on an old building on the south side of the square.  The old switch box, thought to be gone forever, was found in the attic of the old fire station the night the fire department was moving into our new station.  It had been there waiting for forty-three years.  Another item that Chief Watson had the forethought to hold onto.   Also displayed is our first air pack, a piece fire hose, a pair of firemen boots, three nozzles, all of which were carried on Engine 1.  A piece of fire hose and two nozzles are included in this display which were original items purchased with Engine 2 in 1972.  The oldest item pictured is the fire plug displayed behind the case.  It was installed in 1928 when the town's water system was originally installed.  It provided protection until the 1990's.
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