“Courage and Honor”

428 Lincoln Ave.  Box 86

Wamego, KS.  66547

 

 

            The Wamego Fire Department was organized in July of 1899 and granted charter to the Firemen’s Relief Association on May 2, 1900. The present day, two story firehouse located at 410 Elm Street was built in 1928 with living quarters on the second floor to accommodate three or four firemen.  While no firefighters occupy the station as living quarters today; the fire station has shared use as City Hall, Municipal Court, Boy Scout headquarters and Police station, complete with a four cell jail over the past seventy-five [75] years.

 

            The 1928 fire station has many memories within it’s walls and has served the hundreds of volunteer firefighters of Wamego as a place of honor and stability for many years.  This station today houses two ferocious fire engines, a 1979 300 hp. American LaFrance with a 500 gallon water tank, and pumping capability of over 1,500 gallons of water per minute and a year 2000 330 hp. Custom Contender built by Pierce Manufacturing Company.  The Pierce engine carries 1,000 gallons of water and has a pumping rate of 1,250 gallons per minute. The station grounds also house a personnel carrying 6-passenger 1985 Dodge van complete with medical treatment equipment and additional fire gear.  The old jail house, that used to hold criminals for wrong doings now plays host to a large SCBA air bottle filling station and miscellaneous storage for the Wamego Fire department. The Wamego Fire Department also has a dedicated 1990 Chevy water tanker truck that holds 1,500 gallon of additional water supply.  The tanker truck was, donated to the fire department in 2001 by the Farrell Gas Company.

 

            The Wamego Fire Department with its 104 plus year history as an organized fire department remains an all volunteer fire department with 23 dedicated trained firefighters serving the community of Wamego.  The Fire Department holds semi-monthly general meetings that include training in basic firefighting, pump operations, emergency driving, hazardous material incidents, high and low angle technical rope rescue, confined space rescue, auto extraction, disaster management and pre fire planning of area structures.  Training is and always has been an important factor in the success of the Wamego Fire Department.  Today the department has all 23 members trained to State certified FF I level and most are trained to the State certified level of FF II .  The department also has 5- EMT’s and 1-Paramedic on staff to serve our district.  The fire department members take an active roll in attending local and state held training classes offered by Kansas University Fire Training Institute.  The Wamego Fire Department firefighters truly hold the dedication of serving the community with courage and honor to protect and serve their community as a privilege of membership to the Wamego Fire Department.