HANCOCK COUNTY — In the late 1890s, when organized firefighting was in its infancy in Sugar Creek Township, townsfolk used to ring the church bells and then pray citizens would show up with buckets.
From an all-volunteer fire service composed of about a dozen people in 1896 to 49 paid professionals, two volunteers and two civilian employees today, the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department is celebrating its 125th anniversary as a well-respected unit whose operations are studied by professionals nationwide.
Mark Mattis, volunteer chief, has 36 years of service with the department and served as chief from 1993 to 2001. Mattis was the logical choice to help look into the township’s history.
“We’ve come a long way from the surround-and-drown philosophy of those early days,” Mattis said with a laugh, referring to a technique that isn’t always effective in extinguishing blazes.
Mattis noted there are several reasons for the successful evolution of the fire service in the area, including a commitment to training that addresses the complexity of duties firefighters are now tasked with.
“There are some days when we’re out there now doing 12 to 20 runs a shift for medical reasons, accidents and fire,” Mattis said. “You can’t do all those kinds of runs with a volunteer department.”
The fire service began in 1896, when a group of citizens formed a formal fire department for the town of New Palestine. Twelve citizens filed articles of association with the local judge and created the New Palestine Volunteer Fire Company.
That same year, the town purchased a Howe hand-drawn pumper. The equipment was housed at town hall on Larabee Street. Firemen were paid 50 cents per hour to fight fires.
In the early years, water supply was an issue, so the town board ordered large cisterns to be constructed under the streets. The cisterns were used for a number of years. When Main Street was renovated during the early 2000s, one of the cisterns was uncovered near Main Street and Bittner Road. To the surprise of many, it was still in working condition, Mattis said.
A monumental moment for the department happened in 1906, when town hall and the fire station blew up in a gas explosion, destroying all the equipment and records. Over the decades that followed, well-kept records show how the department evolved, Mattis said.
“In looking back, it was really interesting to see the meticulous notes from all their meetings and how even in the 1960s they realized how important training was to building a good fire service,” Mattis said.
Long gone are the days when volunteer firefighters had to raise money and purchase their own uniforms and gear. Mattis is impressed with the dedication and camaraderie he’s witnessed for nearly four decades in the department, but he noted it wasn’t always that way.
With one station in New Palestine, another opened in Philadelphia. History shows the two units preferred to operate separately, even though they both served Sugar Creek Township. In 1968, New Palestine firefighters officially took on the name of Sugar Creek Township Station. In 1970, township officials attempted to unify both fire stations into one department. The unification was voted down, but both stations agree to work collaboratively. A unification was attempted again in 1986, but it also failed.
Rawn Walley has been a part of the fire department for 47½ years as a member of the volunteer staff. He and Mattis are the only two remaining volunteers still associated with the department. Walley said it was interesting watching the two separate stations in New Palestine and Philadelphia merge into one department.
“We used to have about 90 to 100 volunteers and ran as separate groups, even though we had the same trustee,” Walley said.
When Mattis became chief in 1993, he helped the department take the first steps toward creating a unified township fire department. The unification was completed in 1997, and it has been known as the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department ever since, complete with two stations and all officers appointed by the township.
Mattis credits township leadership for having the foresight to see the growth coming to Sugar Creek Township area and committing to creating a professionally trained corps of first-responders.
That included transitioning from relying mostly on volunteers to hiring more full-time firefighters.
“It’s been a blessing because we moved the transition at a slow pace,” Walley said. “While some might say the career guys pushed the volunteer guys out, that is not the case.”
Walley, who has worn many hats during his decades of volunteer service — which began in high school — noted the requirements for the full-time firefighters has changed throughout the years, and that’s been a good thing for the community.
“Back in my day it was a matter of who wanted to do a job and you did it, and while we had certifications, the requirements to do the job now are tougher,” Walley said.
Walley, who works for the IndyCar racing series, gets to work with other firefighters from around the state and said the Sugar Creek Department has a reputation as one of the best-trained units in Indiana.
“They know about us because of the intensity of our training out here, and we like that,” Walley said.
Bob Boyer, the township trustee, joined the New Palestine Fire Department 1978 as a volunteer and became the trustee in 2006.
Boyer credited the department’s leadership through the years for helping the department grow, including current chief Brandon Kleine.
“Chief Kleine is part of the Indiana Task Force 1, and when he goes out on assignments the things he learns he comes back and teaches to our current firefighters,” Boyer said, referring to the group of specially trained first-responders that assist with large-scale disasters, such as the condominium collapse in Florida.
Boyer noted much has changed in the fire service with the types of runs firefighters go on nowadays. Some 70% of runs are for medical emergencies, and firefighters have adapted to the changing demand.
“I jokingly say, ‘We used to grow corn in this area and now we grow houses,'” Boyer said.
He also boasts of the positive reputation the department has built not only in Indiana but nationwide. The national Fire Department Instructors Conference is held in Indianapolis each year, and firefighters from all over the United States come to Sugar Creek Township during the conference to study its training regimen.
Mattis noted the history of the fire department would not be complete without acknowledging its proactive approach and the addition of its life safety and public education program ran by Beth Gulley and the fire prevention work done by building inspector and fire investigator Randy Brandlein, a division chief.
“These type of programs make a huge difference in a community and go a long way in keeping people safe, and that’s our goal,” Mattis said.
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Sugar Creek Township fire chiefs over the past 40 years:
1981-1988: Ray Thie
1988-1989: Jerry Nulliner
1993-2001: Mark Mattes
2001-2006: Robert Rehfus
2007-2014: Gerald Morganthall
2014-2019: John Begovich
2019-present: Brandon Kleine
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Some key moments in 125 year Sugar Creek Township Fire Department History:
1896: A group of the town citizens decide to form a formal fire department for the town of New Palestine.
1899: The department has its first fire fatality.
1906: The town hall/fire station is destroyed in a gas explosion. The fire truck and all equipment and records are lost.
1938: The town purchases its last fire truck, a 1938 Howe Chevrolet that is still owned by the fire department today.
1939: Sugar Creek Township purchases its first fire truck.
1947: The fire department establishes fees for fires occurring in the township.
1958: The township opens a second fire station in Philadelphia in the old meeting house north of U.S. 40 at County Road 250W.
1961: Walter Hook, a Station 2 volunteer, becomes the first and only firefighter to die in the line of duty. He suffers an apparent heart attack at the scene of a house fire on U.S. 40.
1964: Sugar Creek firefighters assist on the Fountaintown nursing home fire in December. Over 20 residents die in the blaze.
1969: Sugar Creek firefighters assist Shelby County departments on the crash of Allegheny Airlines Flight 853. A mid-air collision between the DC-9 and a Piper Cherokee occurred over the small town of London. There were 83 fatalities and there were no survivors.
1981: Ray Thie is appointed first township fire chief having authority over both fire stations.
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