From the Burnet Bulletin, 21 January 1932
Burnet City officials first of the week purchased a fire truck and soon a volunteer fire department will be organized. The truck cost $1100 and was a demonstration machine, the original price of which was $2800.
The machine has a tank that will hold 350 gallons of water, and also ladders, and an additional hose. The stream of water thrown would knock a man from his feet should he receive its full force at a short distance, and would extinguish any ordinary fire, especially before it gained too much headway. Another feature is that water can be pumped from wells or cisterns into the tank at the same time water is being pumped from the tank onto a fire.
Demonstrations showed that a heavy stream of water could be thrown on the highest building in Burnet.
The city of Burnet is to pay $900 of the purchase price, and Burnet County $200 of the same, for the protection of its property, which consists of the courthouse, jail, and county buildings.
We understand that the purchase of the fire truck and the organization of a fire company will reduce the insurance rates in Burnet by 3 percent. This savings in three years will pay for the fire truck.
From the Burnet Bulletin, 4 February 1932
Last Wednesday night a fire company was organized at this place.
The following officers were elected:
- J. H. Olney, President
- L. C. Clark, Vice-President
- O. A. Riggs, Secretary
- R. A. Simmons, Treasurer
- Herman Schnabel, Fire Chief
Mr. Schnabel will appoint his assistant chief, drivers, and men to handle the hose and ladders, etc.
For the next few weeks, the organization will hold meetings every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The truck siren will blow at 7:15 reminding the members of the meeting. The purpose of those meetings is to have drills and to become familiar with all the details of the week.
This organization was formed following the purchase of a fire truck by the city a few days previous. With the organization of our fire company and some additional work, a considerable reduction in Burnet’s fire insurance rate will be brought about–in fact, sufficient to pay for the truck and other equipment.
It is the plan to build a fire station shortly, and details for this part have not as yet been worked out.
From the Burnet Bulletin, 30 June 1938
Above is a picture of the Fire Hall and trucks of the Burnet Volunteer Fire Department. This organization was formed on January 27th, 1932, with the following present:
Bunk Gibbs, Herman Schnabel, O. A. Riggs, John Olney, John Tarver, Jim Tarver, Robert Simmons, Boxie Marx, Columbus Yonnie, Leon Shilling, Lee Clark, Regan Russell, Melvin Kincheloe, Clement Kincheloe, Ed Craddock, Bill Chamberlain, Clarence Hullum, J. W. Scott, W. C. Galloway and Fred Craddock.
At this meeting, the following officers were elected:
- John Olney, President
- Lee Clark, Vice-President
- O. A. Riggs, Secretary-Treasurer
- Herman Schnabel, Chief
Since its organization, there has been only one change in the official family of the fire department, that of the President. John Olney served in this position until his death when Ross Johnson was elected to the place, which he still holds.
Active Members 1938
Non-Active Members
Equipment
Hard Road to Travel
When the boys first organized they had to meet out in the open, and until they proved their value, the department did not meet with a great deal of encouragement. Through the driving power of Chief Herman Schnabel, the department finally built itself the two-story concrete fire hall that is shown in the picture. The members did a great deal of the work themselves in the erection of the building, taxed the members for the funds, and with the help of a few donations from the city and individuals, got the job done.
During the first year or two after its organization, the department was the butt of considerable ridicule, but the boys forged ahead regardless, and today it is probably the only organization in town that is endorsed and spoken well of by every citizen of the community. The boys have saved thousands of dollars worth of property for various individuals, and when the siren blows for a fire, the noise of the boys running to the hall from their different places of business sounds like a stampeded herd of cattle.
During the past 28 years, Herman Schnabel has been the recognized chief of fire-fights in Burnet, though there has been an organization for only a little more than six years during that time. He has always been on the job with whatever equipment he could lay his hands on, and the fire department of today would be lost without him at its head.