Title
To Recognize and Celebrate Box 15 on their 75th Year of Serving the Columbus Division of Fire, Central Ohio Fire Departments, and Communities in the City of Columbus.
Body
WHEREAS, on an early Sunday morning, March 30, 1947, with the temperature in the upper 20’s with 25-30 mph winds and heavy snowfall, Columbus firefighters were on the scene of a 3-alarm blaze at the Fruehauf trailer facility on Fletcher Street. Less than 24 hours later, they fought a 4-alarm fire at the Ohio Furniture Co. on E. Main Street. Max Haverman, a long-time fire buff, was at both incidents; and
WHEREAS, following that second major fire, Max approached Fire Chief Clarence Ogburn with the idea that the firefighters could really use some relief from the elements. He mentioned that there were other groups that helped the firefighters, the closest of which was Box 21 in Dayton; and
WHEREAS, Max, a pharmacist with the Wendt-Bristol Co. worked just a block away from Fire Station #3 (at S. 3rd. St. & Capital Alley) and was friends with most of the firefighters at the downtown stations. Chief Ogburn was receptive to the idea and gave Max the go-ahead to come up with a plan; and
WHEREAS, three months later, on Tuesday, June 24, Max and 14 other people met at Columbus Fire Station #4 (then located at Russell & Hamlet Streets) for the first time and decided to form up as a group. The initial intent was to “support Columbus Fire and Columbus Police in every way possible.” They named it Box 15 - “Box” referring to the (then) common fire alarm boxes located on nearly every street corner of the city, and “15” referring to the number of people in the initial group; and
WHEREAS, initially, Box 15 members were asked to help haul hose, move obstructions, run errands, or do anything useful in addition to providing sandwiches and hot/cold beverages. In 1950 Box 15 expanded its scope and offered to respond to major incidents throughout Franklin County. Later Box 15 response area would include Del...
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