ELIZABETHTOWN — The dedication of one of the longest-serving volunteer firefighters in the county was recently celebrated by friends, family, neighbors and colleagues at the Elizabethtown Fire Station on East Legal Tender Road.
Ivan Shinolt became one of the first 20 original firefighters when the Elizabethtown Volunteer Fire Department was founded. The date was June 1, 1956, and Shinolt had just turned 15.
But one week from today, he will mark his 65th year with the same volunteer department, Elizabethtown Fire Department Chief Tom Nienaber said.
“Because I was so young at that time, I was very limited on what I could do,” said Shinolt, 79, who recalled an era when volunteer firefighters received mostly “on-the-job” training.
His long-time friend, Gene Wint of rural Azalia, said the young Shinolt had expressed concerns that he was just getting in the way when he started at age 15. Nevertheless, the teen kept hanging out at the fire station, and the adults eventually took him under their wing, Wint said.
Over the subsequent decades, Shinolt would essentially learn to do every job within the department, including fire chief, Nienaber said.
In the 1950s, volunteer firefighters were not trained emergency medical technicians or paramedics, did not go out on medic runs, and weren’t dispatched to accidents as they are now, Shinolt said.
“Back then, we might have had 50 runs in a year,” he said. “Now, it’s about 300.”
The only call that has dropped over time are chimney flue fires, Shinolt said. That’s because most Sand Creek and Rock Creek residents now rely on gas or electricity, rather than coal or wood, as their primary source of heat, he said.
Shinolt would become involved with many business ventures and other forms of community service as the years went by. After working 10 years for what is now Cummins Inc., he made a slow transition into becoming a full-time farmer, Wint said.
One of his fondest memories as a firefighter was a 1957 fundraiser that garnered $2,000 for an additional tanker engine for the Elizabethtown department that could hold up to 1,600 gallons of water, Shinolt said. That was twice the capacity of the department’s only other tanker.
Like many veteran firefighters, Shinolt’s worst memories involve the death of children. In his case, it was a February 1988 mobile home fire that killed four people — including a 4-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy.
While he now rents out his farm, Wint says Shinolt still operates a grain-recovery service for accidental spills. Past ventures have included operating an extensive grain system and owning a fleet of trucks, Wint said.
Shinolt also owed the town’s Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F) Building at Second and Railroad St. until it was destroyed in a $100,000 fire in April 1996.
After extinguishing the blaze with his fellow firefighters and examining the damage, Shinolt’s two-word reaction was simply: “Things happen.”
“Ivan has always known how to take things in stride,” Wint said.
In 1981, Shinolt applied for a beer and wine permit for a new restaurant that he was planning to open in Elizabethtown. But when his application was denied, Shinolt said he never reapplied and turned his attention to other interests, especially his farm.
“Ivan is a workhorse, and he has been working for (the fire department) every minute he can,” Wint said. “The farm used to come first, but whenever that fire bell rang — boy, did he run!”
And after 65 years of service, Shinolt will still respond to every call if it is possible for him to get there, Nienaber said.
“Even if it’s between 1 and 5 o’clock in the morning, he’s there,” the fire chief said.
But age eventually brings limitations. Shinolt no longer actively tries to put out the blazes with his 27 fellow firefighters, and was forced to start walking with a cane after injuring his ankle several months ago, the fire chief said.
“But it sure doesn’t seem to have slowed him down,” Nienaber said with a laugh.
Shinolt still drives one of the fire trucks during calls, and operates different mechanisms on the truck if needed, the fire chief said.
He also works on maintaining the fire engines when they are not in use, and fills out run reports to ensure the paperwork is always properly filled out, the fire chief said.
Nienaber says he’s grateful to still have Shinolt on his team, adding that he sets an positive example for younger firefighters on many different levels.
“He’s a volunteer who sticks with his responsibility, and is willing to go the extra mile — no matter what,” according to the chief. “No matter what the hour is, and no matter the weather, he’s always around.”
Why has Shinolt remained an unpaid firefighter for the same amount of time most people exist between their birth and retirement?
The farmer and entrepreneur will reveal himself to be, as Wint puts it, “a strong man with a very big heart.”
“Whether you are helping to put out a house fire, or out on a medic run, sometimes you are saving a life,” Shinolt said. “Anytime you can help somebody else … well, that’s what we are all here for.”
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The organization of what would become a volunteer firefighter group in Sand Creek Township was started in 1954. While sponsorship was originally undertaken by the Conservation Club, the volunteer department was legally formed separate from the club one week late. At that time, a chief and other officers were elected.
The formal dedication of the first Elizabethtown Fire Station took place on Oct. 21, 1955 with an oyster supper served to about 300 people. Constructed of concrete blocks, the town’s first fire station was 26- by 40-feet in size. It housed a truck furnished by the Bartholomew County Rural Fire Department with an 850-gallon water tank.
After several months of recruiting volunteers, the Elizabethtown Volunteer Fire Department became operational on June 1, 1956. At that time, it served both Sand Creek and Rock Creek townships, as well as parts of Clifty and Columbus townships. In 1957, a larger tanker was acquired with nearly twice the water capacity.
Fundraising began in October 1974 for a new four-bay fire station in Elizabethtown that was already well under construction with private funds, and the firefighters moved in before the end of the year.
The current 6,527-square-foot fire station was last renovated in 1999.
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