Department History

In 1947, Woodhull Fire Department Trustee Fay Bell was instructed to start procedures to form a fire protection district.

On June 17, 1948, the local fire department was dissolved and Clover Township Fire Protection District was formed by a vote of 51 in favor and 15 against. The voters had spoken.

In July, 1948, Circuit Court Judge Richards appointed Harold Holmes, Carl Herndon and Fay Bell to serve as the district's first trustees. Carl Herndon was replaced by Henry Faulkner, who in turn was replaced by Reginald Bergstrom. Harold Holmes was replaced by Dean Litton and Fay Bell, the longest serving trustee in our district's history, died while in office and was replaced by Kenneth Martin.

In the first year of the district (1948), $2,965 was collected as the district's portion of property taxes. By 1964, the tax base had increased to $6,335.77. Assessments for 1981 were $23,000 and in 1982, the tax base jumped to $33,000 compared to $119,000 in 2015.

On May 28, 1949, the district purchased a fire truck from the Village of Woodhull for $250.

On June 6, 1949, the fire district formed its fire department with 13 able-bodied volunteers. J B Anderson was named Chief, Earl Elliott as Assistant Chief and Dale Johnson served as secretary/treasurer for the fire department.

On September 24, 1949, a new two-ton truck chassis was purchased from Luallen's. The body was built by Gene Morris and Alexis Fire Equipment Company at a cost of $4,649 and delivered to Clover on November 15, 1949.

In March 1950, a bond referendum was passed to issue $15,000 in bonds to build a new fire station and to purchase another fire truck.

On May 7, 1951, a one-ton truck was purchased from Luallen's for $1700. The body was again built by Alexis Fire Equipment for $3,675.30 and delivered on August 22, 1951. The new fire station was a cement block structure 30 feet by 42 feet and was located just east of Division Street at East 2nd Avenue. The building was constructed by Gene Woolley at a total cost of $5,400 and completed on November 12, 1951.

On May 17, 1951, a used Ford chassis was purchased for $450. The body was built by Alexis Fire Equipment for a cost of $3,765 and put into service on August 28, 1952. In July, 1953, maps of the entire fire district were purchased.

On August 24, 1954, a warning siren was purchased for $313 and mounted on the roof of the east side of downtown. The siren now resides at the fire station as a memorial to past, present and future firefighters. On January 14, 1961, the District took delivery of a 1960 Ford Alexis-built pumper, replacing the old Ford tanker. The cost of the new truck was $10,100!

On May 20, 1969, a Chevrolet chassis was purchased from Luallen's for $5,776. Alexis Fire Equipment built the body for $10,000 plus trade-in.

On April 13, 1979, a used 1974 Chevrolet van was purchased from Alexander Lumber Company for $3,300. The van was outfitted with air-packs, protective clothing and other emergency equipment and responded with the fire trucks on all calls.

In December, 1981, the old fire station located at East 2nd Avenue was sold on sealed bids to Woodhull State Bank for $10,255. At the same time, firefighters moved into the new fire station at East Highway Avenue. The 80 feet by 60 feet Cuckler steel structure was constructed by HLR Carlson Construction at a cost of $70,000. Firefighters finished the interior of the building that included a meeting room, kitchen and rest rooms.

In January, 1982, three FM mobile radios and an FM base radio were purchased for $3000 from Gem Electronics in Monmouth, IL. They replaced citizens band radios that used Channel 9 as the emergency communication channel. The fire department was averaging 24 calls a year. The ISO combined, class rating at that time was Class 8 for the village and Class 9 for rural. As a reference, Class 1 is the very best class awarded by Insurance Services Organization and Class 10 represents no water source/no coverage. 

Also in 1982, the Women's Auxiliary was resurrected after many years of inactivity. Their purpose was to raise funds for additional fire equipment. At their first meeting, Sandy McDowell was elected President; Jill Larson, Vice-President; Kim Goodrich, Treasurer and Connie Eiker, Secretary. To raise money, the women started out having bake sales. Then, they organized our very first pancake breakfast, using our kitchen's stove and electric pancake griddles. As a result of the women's efforts with subsequent fundraisers, they were able to purchase portable radios, pagers, turnout gear and loose tools. In 1986, they spear-headed the fundraiser to purchase our very first set of hydraulic rescue tools (Jaws of Life).

The next , new truck wouldn't come until 1989; a fluorescent red pumper. The color was considered ahead of its time, though it has been very popular in Europe for many years. The Chevolet Kodiak chassis was purchased from Wight Chevrolet in Williamsfield, IL and the body was built by Alexis Fire Equipment for a total cost of $105,000.

In March, 1991, Clover Fire began lobbying our state and federal representatives for an emergency crossover in the median of Interstate 74 between the two, east/west rest areas. By May, 1991, the crossover was approved and then constructed at I-74 MM 28.5.

In May, 1995, Clover Fire underwent an ISO Classification audit. Our Combined ISO Class at the time of the audit was Class 8 for the village and Class 9 in unhydranted and rural areas. In October, 1995, word was received that the ISO Combined Class would be Class 6 for the village and Class 9 for rural.

On June 27, 1998, a banquet celebrating the 50th anniversary of the formation of our fire district was held at the Homestead Restaurant in Woodhull, IL. Commemorative medallions were presented to all of the guests, including past firefighters, current firefighters, past trustees and current trustees, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Morris, Galesburg FD Chief and Mrs. Cratty; guest speakers State Representative Don Moffitt, Mayor Lloyd Carlson, Jeff Morris of Alexis Fire Equipment, Galesburg FD Battalion Chief John (Tyke) Jordan and keynote speaker Assistant Chief Rick Lasky of Darien-Woodridge Fire Department. Congratulatory letters from President Bill Clinton, Governor Jim Edgar, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Lane Evans, State Senator Todd Sieben, Secretary of State George Ryan, Illinois Fire Chiefs Association President Tom Allenspach, Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts President Richard Baier and State Fire Marshal Tom Armstead were read. It was a special night for Willis Luallen, Glen Kasparie, Merrill Brown and Dale Johnson, who joined the department in 1948; the year that the fire district was formed and served for many years.

In August, 1998, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Galesburg Regional Fire Training Site. Clover Fire, Western Illinois Firefighters Association, State Representative Don Moffitt, State Senator Carl Hawkinson and former Galesburg FD Chief Dale May assisted Galesburg FD and Chief John Cratty in securing the very first training site outside of facilities in Champaign, IL. Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, training was held for 82 firefighters.

In September, 1998, delivery was taken on a Freightliner Alexis-built engine with 5-person cab, 1500 gpm mid-ship pump with top-mount controls and painted iridescent mother-of-pearl white over fluorescent red at a total cost of $198,000. The state-of-the-art engine was dedicated to those who had served their fire district.

In November, 1999, Chief Art Goodrich participated in the Illinois Volunteer Fire Service Summit, a first-of-its-kind in the nation. The summit was videocast to selected state universities and community colleges. Many recommendations from the summit became House and Senate bills that strengthened the Illinois volunteer fire service.

On October 13, 2000, Clover Fire responded to the largest vehicle accident scene in its district's history. The accident was caused by a field fire that was blowing across the eastbound lanes creating "white-out" conditions. By the time traffic was stopped, 16 cars, semis and pickups were involved. The incident resulted in one fatality and 14 victims transported by ambulance.

In March, 2001, State Representative Don Moffitt became the first honorary member of Clover Township Fire Protection District, due to his tireless and unwavering support of Clover Fire, other area fire departments and the Illinois Fire Service as a whole.

In July, 2003, Trustee Art Goodrich was invited to serve on the state committee that would write the rules creating, then governing the Fire Truck Revolving Loan Fund, also known as the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan Program. Also serving on the committee was Chief Peter Vina, Don Moffitt, Chief John Cratty, John Kohlhepp, Simony Schwartz, Larry Smith, Dave Foreman and Chief James Grady.

In December, 2005, the first female firefighter joined the fire department. Kassi Cowser, daughter of Captain Larry Cowser made district history in what had been a department populated by "all able-bodied men".

In 2006, we purchased a 1993 Ford Alexis-built heavy rescue truck from Chillicothe IL Fire Department at a cost of $125.000. This is our first professionally-built rescue. The others were built by the department's volunteers.

In 2009, an International all wheel-drive Alexis-built pumper was delivered at a cost of $298,000.00 and painted in traditional fire truck red. This engine was partially financed through the Zero Interest Fire Truck Loan program.

In June, 2015, an ISO audit was performed. In November, 2015, the results of the audit were received. Within the village, Clover Fire received ISO Class 5. The rural classification is ISO Class 5X. Since 1982, call volume has tripled.

In October, 2015, the AlWood Fire Explorer program was finalized. Sanctioned by the Boy Scouts of America, the program welcomes anyone interested between the ages of 14 - 21 from Clover and Oxford Townships to participate in a structured setting where they will learn life-saving, firefighting skills. The inaugural group of Explorers are Ethan Ashby, Anthoney Brown, Quentin Reckers, Breck Shannon and Jacob White.