It would be entirely appropriate on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016, to wish the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department --- organized on Dec. 5, 1877, a "happy birthday" --- the big 139th.
On the evening of Monday, October 29, 1877, the ungainly structure (Chariton's first schoolhouse) had gone up in smoke as a chunk of Chariton's population stood helplessly by and watched it burn to the ground.
No doubt a fire department eventually would have been organized in Chariton, but that big blaze was directly responsible for launching an institution that remains a pride and joy of the community.
As a result, the Chariton Volunteer Fire Department organized Dec. 5, 1877, when Engine and Hook and Ladder companies were formed. It was equipped with a Silsby steam fire engine purchased for $3,500, two hose carriers and 1,500 feet of hose purchased for $1,900 and a hook and ladder wagon and apparatus purchased for $625.
That all of this equipment, embarrassingly, went up on smoke on Sept. 13, 1883, when the fire house burned, but Old Betsy II --- still the CVFD's pride and joy --- arrived during the first week of December, 1883.
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