Firefighter training is essential. Chief Cowsert
personally scrutinizes this practical training session at Hog's
Creek. Hog's Creek was located on the north side of Tenth Street,
west of Tamiami Trail North.
James R. Cowsert became the fourth chief of the department in
January 1, 1953. He was well prepared to fill the chief's shoes
when Knowles retired. After all, he had already done so. Knowles
had resigned from the department January 19, 1934 and went to
work for the Ringling Circus as a truck driver. At that time,
Cowsert was appointed fire chief. Knowles was later rehired and
reinstated as chief by the city commission, thus, forcing Cowsert
to accept a demotion. Knowles again announced his retirement on
April 7, 1952 upon which Cowsert became the acting chief. Cowsert
became the probationary chief on July 1, 1952, and once again
fire chief.
Born in Mississippi and raised in Tarpon Springs, Cowsert
spent his childhood helping his "Papa" in his many
business endeavors. Papa operated a dry goods store that supplied
provisions for the sponge boats that operated from Tarpon
Springs. Papa later built the first motorized sponge boats,
naming one of them James after his son. James helped in the dry
goods store, cared for the family garden, and worked at Papa's
livery stable. The livery stable had a contract to haul kerosene
and gasoline for the Gulf Oil Company. James hauled the fuel in
ten-gallon cans first using a horse and wagon then a Model-T Ford
truck, which James used to haul cans to towns as far away as
Clearwater.
James Cowsert wed Catherine Edwards in Tarpon Springs and
honeymooned in beautiful Sarasota. They enjoyed the pristine
beaches and each others company before returning to Tarpon
Springs and moving in with the Cowsert family. James's father had
started a busline, which grew to be quite successful. James
worked in his father's garage maintaining the buses and driving
occasionally along with the future fire chief Harry Knowles.
Troubles arrived when James and Catherine separated and James
became ill with typhoid fever and was laid up for several months.
James Cowsert moved to Sarasota in 1924 and was appointed
assistant chief by Knowles on November 6. Cowsert, along with the
rest of Sarasota, experienced the boom of the 1920's and the
extremely difficult financial times that followed while working
along side Knowles.
Cowsert had a true love for the fire department and his
firemen. They considered him almost like family. He knew every
fireman's wife and children personally and stopped by their
houses to visit when a family illness occurred. His fatherly
concern for his men earned him the nickname "Pops".
In spite of his friendship with the firemen, Cowsert ran a
tight ship. He did not tolerate disobedience or insubordination.
In fact, he once fired a man on the spot for having a beer in the
station refrigerator. Dorothy Tuynman said, "It seemed that
Chief Cowsert was always at the fire station. He would go home
for supper and then come right back. He loved the fire
department". Dorothy, affectionately known by the firemen as
"Mother", was the department's sole secretary for many
years. The men recollect that, "Cowsert might have been the
chief, but Mother kept the place running".
A report of a brush fire at the old circus headquarters was
received on a hot summer afternoon by the fire department. The
circus headquarters was located near Oriente Avenue, now Beneva
Road north, and Glen Oaks Boulevard. A single engine with two
firemen responded from the Fourth Street station. The remaining
firemen looked to the east and watched the column of
light-colored smoke diffusely rising. The firemen reported their
arrival by radio and went to work. Back at the station, the
firemen noticed the column of smoke turned thick and black.
Nobody seemed concerned because brush fires were routine calls
that time of year and generally did little harm. Several hours
had passed when the two withered firemen walked into the station
carrying a fire extinguisher and a nozzle. The chief and firemen
looked aghast when they heard of their drama. It seemed the fire
engine was positioned to fight the brush fire in an area of
unburned brush. The old International engine stalled, thus
stopping the pump, and was rapidly consumed by the fire. The
black column of smoke was the engine and its load of rubber hose
burning. The firemen had only enough time to save themselves
along with the extinguisher and nozzle. The two hitched a ride
back to the station while clutching their meager trophies on
their laps.
Firemen learned to attack future brushfires from the already
burned side of the fire for two reasons. First, the fire is less
likely to sweep over the firemen and destroy their apparatus.
Second, rattlesnakes were slithering ahead of the approaching
fire in an attempt to escape the heat and smoke. Early firemen
carried burlap sacks on the engines and captured the serpents
using their rakes. They delivered them to a local pet store and
received 75 cents per foot for each rattle snake. The snakes were
then used to created antivenom.
Sarasotans, keenly aware of the dollars that the tourist trade
brought in, developed many businesses on the islands west of the
city. Bird Key, St. Armand's Key, and Lido Beach continued to
attract Sarasotans and tourists alike. Chief Cowsert, therefore,
invested $18,440 for the construction of an additional fire
station at 47 North Adams Drive to better care for the northern
guests and residents of the keys. When its doors opened on
November 1, 1955, Sarasota's finest were ready for action.
Although emergencies were few, the department was ready none the
less.
By 1958 Sarasota's resident population had increased to 37,500
and the number of alarms that the fire department responded to
increased accordingly. In addition, Sarasota's population grew
tremendously with the arrival of the annual winter tourists. In
order to keep up with this increase, the city dedicated $93,000
of a 4.7 million dollar bond issue passed that same year to the
construction of a new central fire station.
The new fire station and administration headquarters opened
its doors on January 7, 1960. The station was nearly double the
size of the Third Street station which it replaced, and was
constructed just one block north at 1445 Fourth Street.
The Fourth Street Station featured air-conditioned living
quarters and administrative offices. The dormitory room had its
twenty-four bunks strategically arranged for speedy travel to the
apparatus floor. During the daytime, each bunk was crisply made
with pale green blankets, which the firemen used in the evening
if they were lucky. The administrative offices of the
department were designed for a rapidly expanding business with an
even faster growing clientele. The fire department faced a
multitude of challenges in addition to the mere increase in
number of alarms. State and federal standards progressively
became more stringent. The department gradually expanded its
administrative staff to support the ongoing firefighting efforts.
The department also met the public's need for expanded services
such as fire prevention education and emergency medical services.
The kitchen was another feature even closer to the hearts of
the firemen since twenty-four hour shifts caused stomachs to
rumble more than once. Firemen would routinely volunteer to
double as cook, buying groceries from a common fund into which
each man contributed. Meals were generally a time to relax and
enjoy each other's fellowship. It was one of the few times when
quiet would interrupt the boisterous and lighthearted comradery.
Sunday brunch became a tradition that is still enjoyed today. The
typical menu of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, grits, toast,
orange juice and coffee satisfied the heartiest of appetites. All
meals, of course, were subject to interruption when duty called.
Cowsert opened the northside fire station at 3530 Bradenton
Road on January 25, 1960, thereby increasing the number of
stations to four. Its construction was completed three weeks
after the opening of the fire headquarters on Fourth Street and
was financed under the same bond issue. Cowsert justified the
need for the northside station by offering shorter response times
to the north end of the city, which had a majority of the city's
wood-framed structures. It also placed a station within a
reasonable distance to the Ringling Museum of Art, Ringling
Mansion. and other expensive northside attractions.
Changes in technique and equipment also came to the
department. Cowsert stated that he had, "never been
seriously burned because in earlier days a man was considered a
fool if he went inside a building to fight the flames. Back in
those days, you stood outside the building and pumped water and
chemicals on the blaze until it was drowned." Consequently
water damage generally exceeded the damage caused by heat and
smoke. The combination of the superheated atmospheres, acrid
smoke, and toxic gases such as carbon monoxide prevented firemen
from entering burning structures.
With the arrival of the canister mask --- otherwise known as
the filter mask --- in the 1940's, firemen were able to enter the
burning structures and apply water directly on the seat of the
fire thus causing less water damage. The canister masks contained
a mask connected to a canister that filtered out smoke particles
and carbon monoxide. The canister was used until it was hot
indicating that it was expired. Canister masks did not filter out
a number of harmful and toxic gases. Canister masks were replaced
by self contained breathing apparatus, beginning in 1958, which
contained a 30 minute supply of compressed air.
One of the most memorable fires of Cowsert's career was the
West Coast Lumber blaze on January 7, 1957. The fire burned for
nearly seven hours and threatened stores of lumber and nearby
bulk fuel tanks. The nighttime blaze required a mutual effort by
the Sarasota Fire Department and the South Trail Volunteer Fire
Department to extinguish.
Cowsert retired July 12, 1966 after serving the department for
more than 41 years. Announcing his retirement, Cowsert said,
"I doubt that I'll be able to stop myself from following a
fire engine's siren".
I have contacted the author of "Buckets and Brawn", Wayne Welsh, and
received permission for you to copy paragraphs from the book also if it
would be helpful. If you do copy material verbatim, please include a credit
to the author,
"Wayne A. Welsh",
and to the publisher,
"Sarasota Florida Information Center, http://www.sarasotainfo.com"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Welsh
Sarasota Florida Information Center
http://www.sarasotainfo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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