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By Paula Pyzik Scott

You turn on the tap and the water flows all day, every day. Is there a fire? You call 911 and the Bluffton Fire Department comes in mere minutes armed with high tech trucks and immense water power.

But once upon a time, Blutton’s water supply and the ability to apply it to a fire were far, far different. On August 10 the Bluffton Ohio Historical Society and the Bluffton Fire Department recreated the moment in 1898 when firefighters tested the village’s first water system and shot two streams of water into the sky from hydrants at Main and Cherry streets.

It was a spectacle in 1898–captured in a photograph–and it was a spectacle in 2024. Some 250 people attended the demonstration and learned about the history of the Bluffton Fire Department from Fire Chief Jon Kinn and Assistant Fire Chief Nathan Jordan. Both men are third-generation Bluffton firefighters and spoke of growing up knowing they would be firefighters, too.

During the water pressure demonstration, Kinn noted that the Village currently has some 1-1.5 million gallons of water stored and that a downtown fire would consume “quite a bit” of that water. There were two demonstrations: firefighters drove up in Bluffton’s antique Studebaker fire truck and sprayed water from hoses hooked directly to the hydrants. Next firefighters drove up in the fire department’s 2017 Rosenbauer, Engine 106 and exhibited the flow and pressure capacity of its 1,500 gallon/minute pump.

The idea for the event was hatched by Bluffton hIstorian and Icon founder Fred Steiner and organized by Liz Gordon-Hancock with other BOHS members as the society’s inaugural event. When the photo recreation was proposed to Kinn he was very enthusiastic. The society soon discovered that it had tapped into an organization that knows and records its history carefully. 

And when the society talked about holding bucket brigade races, the Northwest Ohio Volunteer Firemen’s Association stepped up with the equipment to do that, too. Participants ranging in age from elementary school student to retiree took part. A team from Bluffton Scout Troop 256 won the competition by a margin of two seconds and took home the prize of gift cards for pizzas donated by Kira’s Flipside Grill and the Bluffton Icon.

Also on hand were displays of water pumps and early plumbing artifacts. Collector Keith Sommer demonstrated early fire extinguishers and had lengths of pipe made from wood as well as the tools to create the pipe. Dan Groman displayed a duplex steam pump on loan from the Cenovus Lima Refinery like those used by the municipal water plant in the late 1800s. A coal-fired boiler was needed to power the pumps.

Several antique fire trucks were on display. Mayor Richard Johnson awarded rosettes to the entries including Gregg Miller’s 1931 Ford Model AA from The Columbus Grove West Side Fire Department, Mike Friia’s 1949 American La France (ALF) 700 series which served the Holland, Michigan Fire Department, Dan Groman’s 1954 Chevy Dry Chemical Truck which served the Sohio Refinery and the Bluffton Fire Department’s 1923 Studebaker, a.k.a. #1 Bluffton.

Following these activities, Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce director Jim Enneking marked the historical society’s official “opening” with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Presbyterian Church’s gazebo.

The event also included old-time music by the Four Guys and a Gal ensemble, the National Anthem sung by Corinna Coppus, a Liberty-Benton Middle School student, sandwiches and desserts prepared and sold by Bluffton Presbyterian Church members as well as food and drink by several vendors, and a display for the Bluffton Release Time program which is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The 2024 Bluffton History Day was a magnet for photographers including BOHS members Marvin Foster and Mark Yoder. See additional photos and video with the following links:

Zac Kohli drone footage
https://www.facebook.com/zkohli/videos/851976867029651?idorvanity=224837705412078

John Estell video of water test
https://www.facebook.com/36003760/videos/pcb.1158658325363340/1166121954...

For more information including how to join the Bluffton Ohio Historical Society, visit www.blufftonforever.com and the society’s Facebook page. 

For more information about the Bluffton Fire Department, visit https://www.bluffton-ohio.com/fire-department