History

It wasn’t a fire but a fire scare that motivated the formation of the Eagle Fire Protection District. On a Sunday afternoon the Fourth of July weekend in 1946, a cry went up, “The Eagle Merc is on fire!” Within minutes every available hose from homes in the area was in use; however, it was the strong right arm of Mrs. May Russell on the pitcher pump handle and the “never-give-up” attitude of people who just wouldn’t quit on the bucket brigade that made it a fire scare rather than a disastrous fire. Yes, we lost the garage and the storehouse and a lean-to on the back of the Merc, but the results of the fire bombs furnished by W.K. Long, together with the arrival of the fire truck from Gowen Field, relieved the pressure on the pitcher pump and the bucket brigade. We saved the Merc and the Odd Fellows Lodge building. As a matter of fact, the men on the Gowen Field truck asked why we even bothered to call them.

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