The Phoenix Fire Department doesn`t have a lot it can brag about.
Its firetruck is 10 years old. It barely has enough gear to outfit six firefighters. Its all-volunteer crew is paid only $3 a member per call. And when it needs to buy new equipment, it sponsors carnivals and raffles.
But there was one thing that the department in this poor south suburban community of 2,200 could always take pride in:
It had one heck of a fire dog. One who even had something of a national reputation.
Now, even he is gone.
Phoenix, the department`s 10-year-old Dalmatian mascot that was a favorite among local schoolchildren, hobnobbed with more celebrities than Spuds McKenzie and was the only dog to make the 1992 National Firefighters Association calendar, has been poisoned.
”The word around town is that someone had a problem with me and so they took it out on the dog,” said distraught Fire Chief Joe Bulik. Bulik, a volunteer with the department for 31 years, took over as its chief in March 1991. He said his attempts to enforce discipline were resented by some.
”The dog was tied up next to his house (inside the fire station) when I found him on his side, so I don`t think he could have gotten into anything on his own,” Bulik said. ”But right now I can`t prove anyone did it for sure.” One thing is certain: Phoenix was poisoned, according to veterinarian Robert Dodson at the South Holland Animal Clinic, where Bulik rushed the dog when he found it ill on Good Friday.
But Brandon Turner, a firefighter cadet captain, said just about everyone on the 25-member volunteer force is ”upset” about the dog poisoning.
”It would take a very mean person to do that,” Turner said. ”It made me angry. That dog didn`t do anything to anybody. He was very friendly. He always greeted you when you came in the door, and now we all miss him.”
The exact origin of Dalmatians is unknown, but the breed draws its name from the Adriatic coastal region of Dalmatia.
They have been fixtures in American fire departments since the 1880s, when they ran along horse-drawn firetrucks to help calm the skittish horses and keep other dogs away from them. Indeed, their rapport with horses is believed to date back to ancient Egypt, as evidenced by engravings depicting spotted dogs running alongside chariots.
When fire stations discontinued using horses and wagons, they kept their Dalmatians as mascots. Out of concern for his safety, Bulik said, Phoenix never went out on calls, even though he always got excited at the sound of a siren.
In fact, on the rare occasions when Phoenix would wander away from the station house, all the firefighters had to do was sound the alarm and Phoenix would come running and jump on the truck.
”I still don`t know what we`re going to tell all the kids,” said Fire Lt. Chris Soderlund, whose own 2-year-old daughter liked to stop by to visit Phoenix and feed him dog biscuits.
”When field trips of kids would come to the station, they didn`t want to see the truck, they wanted to see the dog,” Soderlund said. ”And he loved playing with them.”
However, Phoenix`s favorite thing to do, and what he was famous for, was riding the department`s firetruck in the 20 or so local and Chicago parades the department joins each year. That`s where he encountered everyone from Mr. T to then-Vice President George Bush, former Illinois Gov. James Thompson and a host of mayors and politicians.
”He just loved parades,” Bulik said. ”He was just like a kid. He would get all excited a couple days before when we would be getting ready by washing the truck and giving him his bath the night before. He would climb right up on the truck himself and stand at attention. He even knew how to balance himself on the curves. It was like watching a dog on a surfboard.”
Bulik said crew members would deliberately position ”Phoenix`s truck”
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at the end of the parade so they wouldn`t cause a traffic jam when they slowed down because everyone wanted to wave at Phoenix.
”This upcoming Memorial Day parade is going to be the first one in 10 years that Phoenix won`t be on our truck,” Bulik said softly.
Even if the department gets another Dalmatian, replacing Phoenix is going to be difficult. `It just won`t be the same,” Bulik said.
Phoenix was a gift to the department from the former wife of boxing champion Muhammad Ali when the town`s new station (paid for by federal funds) was dedicated 10 years ago. The firefighters paid for the dog`s food by recycling aluminum cans.
For a while, it appeared that the department, which can`t afford to buy new coats for its firefighters, wouldn`t be able to buy a $400 puppy, Bulik said.
But since word of Phoenix`s demise has spread, the station has received about 10 calls from people from all over the Chicago area, including from Woodstock and Evanston, who have offered to give the department Dalmatian puppies.
Bulik plans to call the new dog Phoenix II. But it won`t have to fill the old Phoenix`s boots.
Bulik has taken Phoenix to a taxidermist.
”Some people have told me it`s sick or cruel or crazy to stuff him, but I want him to remain with me as my buddy,” said Bulik, who plans to display Phoenix at the station next to his desk.
”When I go, he will go with me.”