... in response to Dave H - - - 101 Dalmations ?, posted by Windmill Boy on Aug 3, 2001Hi WB,
We weren't allowed to have dogs in the city where I worked. Several of my friends' stations in the City of Miami did. Once when I asked about "Sparky," I was told they were on Sparky III. It seems that the other "Sparkys" had been run over by the fire trucks and killed.
Dalmatians are often deaf, so they sometimes don't notice the sirens or loud noises. Most dogs would get annoyed and howl when the sirens started. Other people would disagree with me and say that Dalmatians are stupid. This may be how it all started. Perhaps this attitude caused the owners to turn their dogs loose, since they wouldn't "listen" or seemed aloof and hard to train. Dalmatians would wander the streets and often come into a warm fire house in the winter when the door was open, seeking warmth, food, and human companionship. Dalmatians need to sleep indoors and become depressed without human company. They are also playful, even tempered, love children, while at the same time good watchdogs. Some guarded the fire house when the men were away on fires, while other dogs answered the alarms with the firemen and guarded the equipment. Dalmatians have an excellent memory, have a good nose for smoke, are intelligent, loyal, hardy, neat, clean, love water, don't usually howl with the sirens, and were good with the horses. Before the development of the internal combustion engine, fire trucks were usually horse or human drawn. With the invention of the heavy "steamers" and larger trucks, horses were used because they were much stronger, quicker, and didn't require gathering enough people together to pull the apparatus. Dalamatians had been known as carriage dogs and ran beside the horses keeping them calm. With all of these qualities, they seemed a natural for the fire service. Firemen recognized these benefits and enjoyed their companionship. Thus, the dalmation was "adopted" into the fire service. The Dalmatian remains a symbol of the American service out of tradition.
While their services are no longer needed in their traditional manner, Dalmatians help fire fighters relieve stress through their companionship, affection and play. They used to ride on the hose bed on the top of the truck, while the men rode on the tail board. OSHA now makes fire fighters ride inside the cab and Dalmatians often ride along on non emergency calls. Should an emergency arise, they would be along for the ride.
Most of the fire poles are gone, due to OSHA regulations and the fact that many new fire stations are now one-story. One day we were showing a group of nurses the fire poles. When we turned around, one was shooting down the pole in her slippery uniform. When she hit bottom, she broke her ankle. I hit bottom hard occasionally in the middle of the night, when my timing was a bit off. I would usually jump and grab the pole near the bottom. Fortunately I didn't break anything.
Dave H.
