In November of 1967 Roy Bakerand and several other fire
buffs from the area responded to a fire in Providence
R.I. located at the corners of Wayland Ave and Gano St,
The fire involved a storefront and the firefighters were
going to be on scene for a few hours. At that time
refreshments for the firefighters were obtained
from the old red bridge dinner by Baker and the other
buffs from an organization to support firefighters who
were dispatched to fires that would have the firefighters
on scene for long periods of time. It was at that point in 1968 that the Special
Signal Fire Association was born. A station wagon served as the mobile
response vehicle in the beginning and hot coffee was picked up at the Dunkin
Donuts that was located in downtown Providence.

Response times tended to be slow due to the time needed by the fire department
to notify the Special Signal. A member or members had to mobilize and then pick
up or prepare the coffee and other beverages. In April of 1969 the Salvation Army
came together the members of the S.S.F.A. In their endeavor to improve services
to the emergency responders a mobile Canteen Truck was purchased. On
average the Canteen Truck responded to 12 major fires per year and only
responded to large fires in Providence.

Firefighting was just as dangerous in
1968 as it is now, however the
equipment carried and worn by the
firefighters today is much more
sophisticated and places more a
demand on the body. Just carrying
the added weight of a Scott Air pack
places a firefighters body in in
fighting the fire of today. These
services provided include the
replenishment of lost body fluids and
extends to the feeding of responders deployed for long-term events.

In 1992 Paul O'Rourke, a Providence police officer, began to oversee the
Salvation Army Canteen Truck operations and changed the name over to
Salvation Army  Fire  police Rehab Unit. O'Rourke recruited other police officers,
firefighters and other people with other valuable skills to provided the staffing
needed to provided for immediate response of the canteen to an event 24 hours
per day seven days a week 365 days a year.  As an indicator of our services, in
2006 we responded to over 550 runs.  The Salvation Army began to reorganize
the method of operation of the Rehab Truck and began to coordinate closely with
O'Rourke which resulted in more funding and immediate access to supplies when
needed, especially in a major event. It became a standard operating procedure
that any event that exceeded four hours the Rehab Truck would prepare meals for
the responders on scene. In addition the rehab unit had at that time 60 members
to staff 2 trucks a 2002 Grumman (Rehab 2) and 2006 Grumman (Rehab 1)..

The Rehab Trucks continued to
operate successfully in the above
mentioned manner, however during
2007 the Salvation Army began the
process of decreasing the services
being provided by the Special Signal
Fire Association and the Rehab
Trucks. The Salvation Army wanted
to restrict the area of service to the
general Rhode Island area and finally
wanted the Rehab Trucks to respond
to only two alarm fires or more and to
also change the menu.  The Special Signal Fire Association and the membership
expressed their dissatisfaction with these changes.

The Rehab Trucks, over the years, had become a common factor at all
fires and emergency incidents and the emergency responders, along with victims
relied heavily on their services.    Inquiries were made to the Salvation Army as to
the reason for the restrictions and their primary reason was due to budget
restrictions.  The members of the Special Signal Fire Association offered to offset
the costs to operate the Rehab Trucks from their organizations funds however the
Salvation Army refused the offer.  During the beginning of May of 2009 the
Salvation Army terminated the Rehab services being conducted by the Special
Signal Fire Association by virtually locking the members out of the building.
During the termination process the Salvation Army was able to keep the building
that the Rehab Trucks were being operated out of along with the two Rehab
Trucks.  The building was initially sold to the Salvation Army by the Pawtuxet
Volunteer Fire Company for the sum of one dollar.  The membership of the
Pawtuxet Volunteer Fire Company were also members of the Special Signal Fire
Association, who assumed the duties of the Rehab Trucks.

The members of the Special Signal Fire Association may have been down but
they were certainly not out.  The membership planned to continue services utilizing
their own vehicles.  This fix was only to be temporary however.  As word spread,
mostly by the media, of the action taken by the Salvation Army and the potential
loss of this valuable service, many offers of assistance to continue the services
were received.  The most prominent was from Mark Ryan, owner of Able
Restoration Inc. from Rockland Mass.  Ryan agreed to immediately do the
following to restore the level of service provided:

• Provide new quarters, fully equipped
• Purchase and provide a truck for temporary use (1996 Ford E-450)
• Purchase and provide a new and fully equipped and outfitted canteen truck
  that exceeds the capabilities of the previous Rehab Trucks (2009 Freight
  line Chasse with a Utilamaster body extra wide and extra length)

By the end of May 2009 the services were fully restored and the Special Signal
Fire Association was fully operational region wide. The Special Signal Fire
Association, thanks to the membership, Mark Ryan and other donators, has
become stronger and it is projected that the services will be of a better quality. 
This is a donator driven and funded organization, the level of services dependent
on the donations received. The future years for this organization looks bright and
that is not only good for the organization, but for the emergency responders and
victims as well.