The IFCA Bell

If you’ve attended various association functions you may have seen the bell that’s featured on this issue’s cover.  The bell has been displayed prominently at our Annual Conference, Banquet and many times the Annual Symposium.  Some of you may have wonder why?  It is a part of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association’s history.

The apparatus bell was a gift from Chief Behrend and the Bloomington Fire Department to the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association at the very first IFCA Conference which was held in Bloomington Illinois in 1951.

Inscribed on the base of the bell is each President’s name and the year he served and the locations and year of each of the Association’s Annual Conference.  The bell resides with the President of the Association during their term of office.