The Beginning of the Wonder Lake Fire Department

As stated in a previous blog, Wonder Lake was created in 1929. Starting off as a summer vacation village, Wonder Lake had more and more people staying there to live. Twenty years later, in 1947, people had enough bad experiences with fires, a reliance on other towns’ firefighters, and spotty phone service to realize that they needed their own fire department. Before another town’s fire department could arrive, people had to rely on an inefficient bucket brigade. Some realized that if Wonder Lake was to be like any other village, they would need some basic utilities that towns had, such as its own fire department.

Public notice about meeting regarding the fire station appearing in the Jun 16, 1950 Daily Sentinel.

Led by local businessman, William Wright, a group of people got together to form the volunteer fire department in 1947. Calling together public meetings, some people who lost their homes to fires spoke. They stated the case that fires were horrible and that any measure that could be taken to mitigate damage. Not to mention the potential lives that could be saved. Wright spearheaded the campaign to pick up two valuable pieces of fire equipment. A 1924 REO Pumper and a converted Chevy 450-gallon oil tanker, were the first two pieces of fire equipment that the community had. William Wright was the one who procured them in December 1949. Now that they had the fire equipment, they had to find a place to store it. In other words, the village needed a fire station.

Picture of the original fire equipment soon after the fire station’s construction.

The hard part was actually deciding on what the fire station would structurally look like. The building was set to be constructed in a subdivision called Indian Trails on the east side of the lake. Originally the plan was to have three bays for fire trucks with an attached building that would have two floors. The first floor would be administrative and the second would have space for meetings. The large space would be more communal, being available for groups not affiliated with the fire department. Also, the space would be the home for the annual firemen’s party. Here is where the trouble started. Some people in the subdivision were concerned with the use of alcohol at the site, even though the fire department assured them that it would be a once-a-year event. Eventually, the fire station was constructed without the top level. The building measured 36×50 was made of concrete and had a heating unit in the back. In 1950, the department had 25 volunteers and 9 officers/directors. The building was paid for by bonds, most of which were paid off by a series of fundraising carnivals.

By 1960, the building had been paid off and there were three pieces of fire equipment at the department. Also, a building was put up on the west side of the lake with two trucks there. On the east side, they also had a rescue truck as well as an ambulance. Three years later, the east side fire station had been added onto. A large addition was put on the south side of the building. It included a kitchen, washrooms, a meeting room and a dining room. The addition was air conditioned and had a separate furnace from the garage area. This would help with costs as the garage area would no longer be need to be heated as much during the winter. In a short time, Wonder Lake had made huge strides in their fire protection.

Sources

  • “25 Volunteer Firemen Serve At Wonder Lake.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 25 Jan 1951, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Wonder Lake Firemen Are Given Building Right.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 20 Apr 1950, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Objectors Air Views At Stormy Meeting Tuesday” The Daily Sentinel. (Woodstock, IL) 21 Jun 1950, 1 & 5. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “News From Wonder Lake.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 27 Apr 1950, 7. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Second Story On Wonder Lake’s New Firehouse Stirs Boiling Controversy.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 19 Jun 1950, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Break Ground June 1 For New Firehouse.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 25 May 1950, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Fire Department Makes Great Strides.” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 22 Aug 1963, 23. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.
  • “Meeting Sunday To Organize The Fire Department.” The Daily Sentinel. (Woodstock, IL) 25 Jan 1951, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 8 Mar 2024.