HR0412 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0412 LRB094 12226 HSS 45827 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department is celebrating its 125th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, The Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department was established by the Mt. Olive Village Board on September 30, 1880; the Village Board of Trustees had a fire engine, hose, cart, and other supplies, and turned the same over to the organization to use and take care of; and

WHEREAS, On August 1, 1867, Rescue No. 2, consisting of 25 members, was admitted into this organization with their engine, "Little Giant", and other supplies; the organization was then divided into two bodies and one was designated as Division A and the other as Division B; and

WHEREAS, In 1917, the Village of Mt. Olive constructed a village hall and the Fire Department occupied the ground floor level; a bell tower was included in the construction to house a bell that would toll and alert the volunteers to a fire call within the city; and

WHEREAS, In 1966, the City of Mt. Olive purchased a building to convert into a new city hall, police station, and fire station; through the hard work of the volunteer department, the south portion of the building was converted into a fire station; the department had two offices, a meeting room, kitchen facilities, rest room, and six apparatus bays; a civil defense siren was placed on the roof to alert the public and was also used to alert the volunteer firemen in the event of fire call, replacing the ringing of the fire bell for fire calls; and

WHEREAS, In 1979, the Mt. Olive Township Trustees called a meeting to organize the Mt. Olive Area Ambulance Service, Inc.; an ambulance was purchased and housed in the fire station, and the crew utilized one of the offices in the station; and

WHEREAS, In April of 1986, the Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department asked the voters to establish a fire protection district; the vote passed in the Macoupin County Townships but failed in the Montgomery County Townships, so the new district was only formed in Macoupin County; with the transfer of equipment to the newly formed Fire Protection District, the volunteer fire department became the fire fighting force; and

WHEREAS, In 1989, the volunteer fire department began recruiting high school students into a Junior Fire Fighting program; ten years later, the fire district became a member of the St. John's Hospital Emergency Medical Services System; in 2000, the Mt. Olive Fire Protection District and the Mt. Olive Area Ambulance Service, Inc., were awarded a joint Illinois First Grant in the amount of $350,000 to construct a new station; the new station was completed in January of 2001 at a cost of about $350,000 in grant funds and about $20,000 in volunteers funds; and

WHEREAS, In March of 2002, the citizens of Montgomery County voted to annex into the Mt. Olive Fire Protection District, adding about 32 square miles to the coverage area for a total of 64 square miles of coverage; the same year, the City of Mt. Olive donated the old fire bell, that had been removed from the old city hall; this bell was placed outside the new station in a monument dedicated to all past and present fire fighters; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, and we honor all the members of the Department, past and present, for their heroic efforts to save lives; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department as an expression of our respect and esteem.