By Tori Walker
The Ledger
LAKELAND, Fla. — Driver engineer Johnny Register stood among a number of historical Fire Department relics Saturday afternoon, sharing his knowledge of each piece.
Register, along with countless others, were at Lakeland Fire Department Station 1 on Saturday to celebrate the department’s 100 years of progress and hard work in the Lakeland community as a career fire department.
The department’s centennial date is Tuesday but the centennial celebration was held Saturday so the community could join in on the fun.
Holding up a bucket, which looked more like a cone, Register described how far firefighting has come over the years from passing buckets full of water to shooting it out of a high-power hose.
More than half of the historical relics belonged to Register, who said he started collecting about 25 years ago after his wife found an old fire department ribbon at a local antique shop.
“That’s when it all started, she didn’t know she was creating a monster,” he said with a laugh.
The historical display, which allowed people to see antique helmets worn by firefighters and photos of LFD’s progression through the years, was something Janel Vasallo worked on for more than eight months.
Vasallo, the Fire Department’s spokeswoman, said Register and a retired driver/engineer, Anthony Bush, both collect historical pieces and allowed them to be displayed at the department’s celebration.
“Everything for this has been in the making for about a year,” she said.
Several kids looked upon the instruments that appeared foreign to them, all wanting to know what their purpose once was.
Register’s favorite piece being displayed?
A lantern with a red globe used as a flashlight in 1907.
“The red globe represented that it was the driver of the truck,” the driver/engineer said.
Leaping Lena, a 1938 Pirsch Fire Engine that members of the department brought back to life, was unveiled at the celebration.
Department members revved up the engine and shot water out of its hoses while the crowd cheered from the side.
The celebration also had live presentations, free cake and food, a photo booth and other fun activities for kids who were running around in plastic red firefighter helmets.
Chief Gary Ballard said it’s important to show how far technology has progressed in 100 years, because it represents all the Fire Department is capable of doing for the community now.
Ballard said over 100 years ago, a fire service was started with volunteers, buckets, a ladder and an ax.
After three major fires around the year 1915, Ballard said, the city saw the need for more protection.
And the Lakeland Fire Department was born.
Ballard, who is in his 39th year at the department, said he has had the pleasure of witnessing first hand the changes the organization has undergone.
“We have changed to be a highly-trained professional organization,” he said. “Technology has changed us and we have seen change in diversity.”
Ballard said firefighters are no longer just firefighters — they go to medical calls, traffic crashes and help people trapped in situations they can’t get out of.
“It’s progress,” he said. “We are not the same department we were in 1916.”
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