The Warsaw Fire Department will celebrate its 100th anniversary Friday night at their station at Main and Indiana streets. The open house will be from 5 to 9 p.m.
Captain Brooks Huffer said the celebration would take up the whole block around the station. There will be old fire equipment, new fire equipment, pictures past and present, memorabilia and firefighters past and present.
“There will be a 1912 and 1930s fire trucks on hand for the public to see,” Huffer said. “We will also have the trucks we use now out for the public to see.”
In addition to the open house, the fire department will hold a hog roast for charity. The dinner is $6 and includes pork, two sides and a drink. The proceeds will go to the Hoosier Burn Camp.
“The biggest reason we decided to do this event was for the burn camp,” Huffer said. “It was a department idea and we decided to go with it. We did not have a celebration for our 50th or our 75th, so we decided we better do it now.”
On top of food, the fire department will sell 100-year anniversary shirts for $14.50 and the proceeds also will be donated to the Hoosier Burn Camp.
There also will be firefighter hats for kids and smoke detectors for families.
In celebration of the rich history of firefighting in Warsaw, many members of the fire department have grown moustaches as a way to remember the history of those before them. Before technology such as ventilators and sophisticated breathing equipment, firefighters would grow their moustaches long enough to go over their mouth and they would wet them and use them as an air filter.
Many of the 36 firefighters on the force have grown their own moustaches for the celebration, but some will not keep them after the celebration.
“There will be a second party July 7 where we will have a shave-off party,” Huffer jokingly said. “Many of us will keep our moustaches because we have had them for a long time.”
