Fire Station No. 2 Jax, framed print
“Fire Station No. 2 Jax"
20 x 16 framed print
Price $95
Fire Station # 2 is located at 1355 North Main St. and opened in 1909. It is the oldest fire station in Jacksonville. A fixture in Springfield neighborhood for 113 years.
The following is a story by Bridget Murphy of jacksonville.com.
Most of the stories I've got I can't tell you I can’t a guy named Joe DeLoach confided Thursday in the bay of Fire Station #2.
Luckily for the listener, the retired fire lieutenant kept talking anyway, as did dozens of other firefighters who gathered for the Springfield station centennial celebration.
Here's one story DeLoach 64 settled on as it fit for print. Back in the 1980s school children often came for tours at the station at Main and Fourth Street. Tradition dictated that one of the friendly firefighters showed them how to slide down one of the brass poles. So, on that day, the firefighter geared up in a coat, pants, and helmet. Then he added another touch. The screams started before he was halfway down the pole when the second graders laid eyes on his gorilla mask. By the time he slid to the floor, the entire class, and their teacher had bolted to the middle of Main Street. From here on out DeLoach said, we did it with a closed door.
For 100 years those doors have been coming up and down as brave men and later women rushed into the city to help whoever needed it 24 hours a day seven days a week and we've been saving lives, said former engine 2 Captain Billy Sands. He retired in 2001 after 34 Years on the job.