Local

Greg Lopez, a Republican running for governor, stops by Holyoke last Friday. — Johnson Publications

1890 — When fires broke out in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the cry for help went out to friends and neighbors, who quickly formed a bucket brigade, keeping the fire from spreading to other buildings rather than extinguishing it. In 1890, Mayor G.W. Garland issued an urgent plea to the young men of the community to “join up” and form a volunteer fire department. Fire Chief Garland asked the Holyoke town board for a fire bell, and the board purchased a bell and three extension ladders to reach the top floor of two-story buildings. A hose cart and hoses were also purchased and were manually pulled to the scene of the fire when the local dray man could not be located to pull the cart with his team of horses. But quite often, the firefighters were too late to do much good in extinguishing the fire. Holyoke Fire House No. 1 is pictured on July 4, 1890. — Source: Phillips County Museum