“Cap”

An Opinion Column

By Sara McDermott

It stands on E Avenue and 5th Street N.W.  In its day it served as Fire Station #2 for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department.  It has been restored now and houses a business, but its walls certainly must contain a history of the bravery and dedication of its firefighters, some who came to this country seeking a better life, and stayed to contribute time, work and talent to their adopted country.

My grandfather was such a man.  We McDermott kids grew up on the west side of the city, sometimes walking by the building that had been the workplace of our immigrant grandfather.  A big handsome Irishman, Captain John F. McDermott, or Cap as his friends called him, came to America in 1888 when he was 19 years old.  He began a career with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department in 1898 and was promoted to captain in 1918.  During his career he served first at the Riverside hose company and later at Station #2 on E Avenue.   To say that he contributed to the development of his adopted country understates it.  He brought an amazing work ethic with him, living to the age of 90 years and working almost to the end.

I wasn’t born until 1936 so he was always just Grandpa McDermott to me, but he must have cut quite a figure in the earlier years when he and is contemporaries fought local fires with horse drawn carts and no modern water-pumping equipment, firemen sometimes having to simply pour water on large fires to extinguish them.

During Cap’s career one of the worst fires in Cedar Rapids history broke out at the then named American Cereal Mills (now the Quaker Oats plant) in 1905 when an explosion devastated the plant and sent sheet-iron plates, broken loose from the 112 foot elevators, floating into the air.  Charred oatmeal cartons were found as far away as Fairfax, and firemen had to be stationed on flat roofed buildings throughout the city to protect them from sparks and small fires.

Two other large fires tested the mettle of Cedar Rapids firefighters during the early part of the 20th century.  The Clifton Hotel fire in 1903 and the Douglas starch works explosion in 1919.

Guests at the Clifton Hotel were trapped in their rooms as the fire that started in the basement was swept up open stairways.  Seven people died before the fire could be put out.

The Douglas starch works explosion was called the greatest catastrophe in Cedar Rapids history in 1919, taking into account the fact that many more explosions followed the first blast.  Fires burned throughout the ruins for days, requiring firemen to revisit the scene to pour more water on the flames.

Cap didn’t stop contributing when he retired form the fire department.  As a child I remember him working at the Paramount Theater taking tickets at the door to the hall of mirrors.  Later he worked in the kitchen at what is now Mount Mercy University.  He always worked.  He gave of himself.  He gave to us, his grandchildren, and to the betterment of this country.

No-one needs to remind me of how much immigrants in America have contributed to its greatness.  It is not an exaggeration to note that, in reality, this country was built by the people who came here seeking, not only a better life, but with a desire to contribute the means necessary to achieve it.

When I drive by that old fire station on 5th Street it is with deep appreciation for, and thanks to, the people who worked to save and restore it to its present condition.

I think Cap would be proud to say he worked there.

Note:  Facts concerning the fires in the early history of the city were obtained in an undated article from an early newspaper available at the Cedar Rapids History Center.