A small group of men got together in 1941 and formed a volunteer fire company, privately owned. We met once a month in the old Edinburg School building. We elected a fire chief, assistant chief and Secretary and Treasurer. Although we had no fire equipment, we would go over to Rootstown and drill with them once a month in case we had a fire in our township, we helped them out when they were called here for a fire. We found out that Harry Stockdale, who lived in Ravenna, Ohio, worked for John Bean Company in Lansing, Michigan, and he and another fellow built a fire truck. They were going around the area to demonstrate it. We called him for a demonstration and he agreed, if we would get a big pile of wood and douse it with oil and he brought the truck down for a demonstration. He used fog nozzles and it put the fire out right now. We started the fire several times and the results were always the same. We were sold on his truck. He agreed to sell it to us if we could get it out of government control. During the war the government froze all new trucks and equipment. So the long list of letters started. First to Washington, then to Columbus, then to Cincinnati and then to Cleveland OPA. We had Albert Caris the attorney write to Washington and Cleveland, but nothing seemed to work. We maintained it was used equipment because they were using it for demonstrations, but to no avail. They would not release it. Then I happened to mention it to a friend of mine in Cleveland, and he told me he knew the head of the OPA based in Cleveland. He said he would try to see what he could do. Three weeks later he told me to write another letter to the OPA mention his name, which I did. A month later they released the fire truck.

When it was delivered, my wife and I paid the first $500.00 down on it and asked the salesman if he could wait 30 days for the rest and he agreed. Purchase price was $3,600.00. We had no place to put it so we rented a garage at the corner of Routes 14 and 18 for a while. Then I heard that Dean Slack and Lon Pettigrew were going out of the auto repair business, which was located in the old part of the fire station. Mr. Grider owned the property so I went to see him and took out a lease on the property for $45.00 a month. We rented the house for $25.00 and split the garage in half and rented half to the trustees for $10.00 a month. Then every night we would take the fire truck and demonstrate it to cover the township to get donations. We got all but $800.00. We again asked the salesman if he would give us another 30 days and he agreed. Then I went to see John Evans, whom I didn’t know very well. He lived across the street from the cemetery on Route 14. I told him that they told me he has a lot of money that he didn’t know what to do with, so I asked him if he would let the fire company have $800.00 to pay for the truck balance and he said he would for one year without interest. But, he would have to have collateral. We called a special meeting and I asked if anyone would put up their property for collateral they said "No." So I mortgaged my farm for collateral for the $800.00. I didn’t want tolose the fire truck and and didn’t want to go back and have any fire equipment. It was a start for us and the township, and it gave us security. To me, it was worth the gamble.

Then in early 1943, Mr. Steve Rebic, then the township trustee, and also the fire chief of the old Edinburg Fire Company, went to Columbus to the trustees’ convention. While there, he asked the attorney general if it would be a conflict of interest being the fire chief and trustee at the same time, and he said it would be. After the convention, Steve Rebic, then trustee, came back home, and told us we would have to re-organize, that he couldn’t be fire chief and trustee because of the conflict of interest. So, we called a special meeting, explained it to the men, and the men nominated Elmer Smolk and Tom Owens. There were 12 men there, Elmer had 11 votes and Tom Owens got 1. Elmer immediately appointed Tom Owens assistant fire chief, a position that he held for 25 years, and we named it Edinburg Volunteer Fire Department. I then went to the township trustees' meeting and asked if they would like to purchase the fire truck. They said at that time that anything over $500, they would have to get bids on. I said we would sell it to them for $495, with the stipulation that they buy the township a big fire siren to go on top of the fire house, which they did. Then trustee Steve Rebic told the other two trustees who were Bill Weeks and Jay Gilbert, that the men favored Elmer Smolk to be the fire chief. Steve Rebic, trustee, made a motion that the trustees appoint Elmer Smolk.

This is how Elmer J. Smolk became the township Fire Chief for Life, a position that I held for 35 years.

Elmer Smolk

Fire Chief

1943-1978