| History Page 2 |
James “Jim” Bolton 1940 - 1963 In a barber shop on the corner of Walnut St. and Sterling Ave., the men in the area would gather to discuss local news and happenings. Of major concern to William James “Jim” Bolton, the owner of the barbershop, and his customers in 1939 was the fact that the City of Joliet would no longer provide fire protection to the areas outside the corporate limits. From informal meetings held at the barber shop, to a very organized meeting held at A.O. Marshall in 1940, the citizens to the east of Joliet decided to organize and support a volunteer fire department. At this meeting, “Jim” Bolton was elected Chief of the newly formed department. Chief Bolton was the first of three Chiefs to serve the department. Chief Bolton served the department for 23 years until his untimely death in 1963. Besides being instrumental in the formation of the new department and serving as its first Chief, he also taught Red Cross basic first aid classes and gave safety talks to various organizations. Ending his barbering career, Chief Bolton went to work at the Joliet Arsenal where he became Assistant Fire Chief. At the time of his death he was employed at U.S. Steel Co. in Gary IN, where he was a fire inspector for thirteen years. Besides his firefighting activities, Chief Bolton was a special deputy for the Will County Sheriff’s Department and worked many hours as a part time deputy at the Bel-Air Theater. Chief Bolton provided great leadership in his years of services to the department. Two of his most important achievements were the formation of the Fire Protection District in 1959 and along with several area Chief’s, formed the Desplaines Valley Fireman’s Mutual Aid Association. The Fire Protection District, when formed, provided two benefits. One was that the departments would receive tax dollars from businesses and homeowners based on assessed evaluation of structures in the new district. Secondly, many areas of the South and West in Joliet Township would now receive organized fire protection. The Mutual Aid association provided back-up equipment and manpower when a department’s own resources were fully utilized at an incident. These back-up resources could be called to the scene of the incident or as a fill- in at a station to provide coverage in case of another incident. Seventeen departments were included in the charter membership of the organization. Chief Bolton was an inspiration, not only to the department and its members, but also to the citizens, other departments and civic and political associations in the Joliet Area. |
| OUR FIRST CHIEF |
