Emblems reflect a fireproof pride

Firehouses' logos promote cohesiveness

By KELLY WELLS kwells@journalsentinel.com, Journal Sentinel

Friday, January 2, 2004

The firefighters at the Milwaukee Fire Department's Engine 28 share their firehouse with a pig; the Ladder 3 crew may soon share their digs with Snoopy; Engine 5 is home to a stocky bulldog.

Pets are not allowed in the city's firehouses, but logos unique to each house are, and many firefighters have warmed to the idea of department-approved mascots adorning engines and ladder trucks, not to mention T-shirts and walls.

The logo program officially started a few years ago after fire officials noticed firefighters at several houses had slapped stickers and decals on equipment as unofficial logos. The department's special rescue teams already had patches specific to each team, and the idea of department-approved firehouse logos was born.

Deputy Chief Neil Lipski, who approves the designs, said the emblems serve to bring the community into the firehouses and give new hires something to connect with. Many of the logos feature neighborhood names or symbols, such as that of Engine 27, Ladder 5, located just off Park Place on the city's east side. The logo on the side of the equipment is the cartoon man from the Monopoly board game, wearing a fire hat in place of his traditional top hat and a wielding a fire ax instead of a cane.

"It's a company pride thing," Lipski said. "It brings a little more cohesiveness in."

Firefighters agree. Most who work in houses with a logo say that it not only promotes pride within the crew, but acts as a display of pride to the public.

Firefighters typically collaborate on an idea, then recruit one of their own or a friend or relative to make a sketch to be submitted for department approval, Lipski said.

"You have to make sure that everything that gets on the trucks is appropriate," he said.

After the designs are approved, the logos are printed and applied to the rigs. Firefighters in each house pay for the logos themselves.

"It doesn't cost the city a dime," Lipski said.

Some firehouses also have had T-shirts made with their logos, but firefighters are prohibited from wearing the shirts during their shifts because they are not part of the department's uniform. Still, the custom threads are a hot commodity among the crews.

Not every firehouse in the city has a logo. Some simply haven't put much thought into the idea; others don't have one because the firefighters can't seem to agree on what the logo should depict.

The logos that do exist, though, are as varied as the duties the firefighters perform.

The equipment at Engine 28, 424 N. 30th St., bears a picture of a wild boar, with flames and the words "Piggsville Pride" surrounding the creature. The animal himself wears a sinister grin accented by a large tusk.

The mounted head of a wild boar, complete with tusks, sits on a wall in the firehouse next to the overhead door, watching the men and women come and go. One of the firefighters brought it back from a trip a few years ago, and it has been at the house ever since.

A bulldog wearing a fire hat and holding a fire hose in its mouth is painted on the front door of Engine 5's quarters, 1313 W. Reservoir Ave. "Home of the Reservoir Dogs" is written beneath the beast. The dog also adorns the side of the engine.

Engine 21, 2050 N. Palmer St., used to have a bulldog mascot representing the "Brewers Hill Bulldogs," but the crews are in the process of changing it. Their new decals will show two cards -- an ace and a jack -- representing blackjack. While corresponding with the engine number, the blackjack hand also signifies that "the house always wins," the firefighters there say.

Firefighters at Engine 23, Ladder 14, 2130 W. Oklahoma Ave., are preparing a logo for their house, dubbed "paradise in the park" because of its idyllic location. The firehouse actually sits on a roadway in a county park. The logo will include a Tasmanian devil and two palm trees. Firefighters here joke that it will make their colleagues from other houses jealous.

Other logos are more traditional, such as those found at Engine 30, Ladder 12, 2903 N. Teutonia Ave. The engine bears a Maltese cross, long a common symbol of fire departments, with an eagle holding a hose and a fire ax. The sections of the cross read "pride," "honor" and "dedication," and a banner beneath the cross reads "We lay it on the line 24/7."

The house's ladder truck displays a crest with "MFD" written in the middle and fire axes that read "honor" and "pride" crossing the crest. A banner depicts the neighborhood's name, Williamsburg Heights.

Several other firehouses across the city also have logos that depict various versions of Maltese crosses.

Other logos include dice, sayings written in Spanish, patriotic symbols and a tribute to fallen firefighters. As long as the words and graphics are not offensive, it is up to the firefighters to decide what mascot will identify and unite them. Lipski said he thinks the logos do just what they are intended to.

"At times, things can be somewhat disheartening, but you always know you're working for that team, that company," Lipski said.

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