In 1932, Thelma the fire horse died at age 37. In its June 27, 1932 edition, Time Magazine reported Thelma served for 27 years as the ``private fire horse of Archie Goodwin, private fireman of Auburn, N.Y.'' According to Time: "A sleek, black pony, Thelma was too small to be a real fire horse. So was her master. He was rejected by Auburn's fire department because he stood only 5 ft. 2 in. He turned his barn into a miniature fire station, installed a gong which registered all city alarms, bought a small buggy which he painted red. Then he bought Thelma, trained her to run from her stall at the sound of the gong.''
The NATIONAL FIRE JOURNAL is a web log - AKA ``blog'' - written and edited by Vinny Del Giudice, who served as a volunteer fireman and EMT with the Arlington County (Virginia) Fire Department from 1985-1992. Your editor - a member of the Arlington County Fire Department Historical Society - also publishes blogs about the Arlington County (Virginia) Fire Department, the Springfield (Ohio) Fire Rescue Division and others. E-mail: wb2kqg@arrl.net (This is a hobby. Suggestions welcomed.)
In 1932, Thelma the fire horse died at age 37. In its June 27, 1932 edition, Time Magazine reported Thelma served for 27 years as the ``private fire horse of Archie Goodwin, private fireman of Auburn, N.Y.'' According to Time: "A sleek, black pony, Thelma was too small to be a real fire horse. So was her master. He was rejected by Auburn's fire department because he stood only 5 ft. 2 in. He turned his barn into a miniature fire station, installed a gong which registered all city alarms, bought a small buggy which he painted red. Then he bought Thelma, trained her to run from her stall at the sound of the gong.''
