Fire Chief's Ghost

Thank you people here for letting me join. I appreciate the opportunity to try to share some of the sightings I've had of ghosts since I was around 8 or 9, exactly when I'm not entirely sure. I've been reading this site since May this year and decided recently that maybe I should try and post some of my experiences.

I trained for and joined the Detroit Fire Department in summer of 1973. And was posted at Ladder 15, one of the oldest companies in the Westside of Detroit, MI. My dad and pop were as pleased as I was a 3rd Generation Fireman. They were twice as pleased when my twin Austin graduated the same day. (Austin was killed in 2004 fighting a fire in an abandoned house along with 6 other men in ladder 24).

When I started at Ladder 15, we had a great old chief called (named changed for privacy) Allan Hallows, he was a year off retirement when I started. But he was soon like another family member. He was kind, had a great since of humour and was a brilliant Lasagne Cook. He made us all feel like he cared about us, his charges. And he never acted like he was better than us just because he was the Station Chief.

About 6 months into working at the station we were busy cleaning the trucks when the Chief was checking the hoses when he suddenly went over on his side, right there in the truck hold Allan died of a sudden Heart Attack. He was buried with full honours the next week. We did all we could to help his widow Michelle and his 3 kids Susan, Joanne and R. Obert. And went about mourning the great man. It broke our hearts. But we didn't realise that Allan wasn't quite done with us just yet.

Firstly at least once a fortnight on the nightshirt Allan used to cook we would come into the kitchen to smell what smelled like Allan's famous lasagne, when no one had even been near the kitchen since lunch and they had sandwiches at lunch, no lasagne for days. And the ovens were empty and cold. There was no lasagne in the place but we could smell it clear as day. Allan had been our only lasagne cook.

Secondly, the new Chief couldn't ever Sleep in his office cot on nightshifts as someone kept him awake all night trying to climb into bed or push him out of bed. He locked the Chief\'s door and wore the chain on a chain around his neck. He had the only key and there was a chain inside the door. No one else could have got in at any time with no key. The lock was old with that decorative styled key that couldn't be easily copied. Also the new Chief wasn't the tidiest guy in the world and would often leave papers all over his desk in a mess. Often he would go down to lunch or out to a call and lock the door. When he came back the messy desk was neat as a pin, papers and folders all put up right. Some filing that needed doing done and done right. It started making us wonder what the hell was going on.

Lots of other crazy things that would happen were lights and TV left on would be turned off if left on when we went out on call (no one was left at the station at the time). The emergency calls room would often have calls answered and we'd be dispatched to calls when no one was at the station to take them and we had the calls diverted to the Chief\'s wife's house while we were out. This was before we got a new dispatcher. Allan's wife had been but retired when Allan died. It stopped when we got new dispatch officer Lorna Cassing.

Lorna got a fright one day, she was setting up for first shift (Marie Kelly and Bonnie Wells did the other shifts), and after setting up she went out to get coffee in the kitchen, she came back hearing a man\'s voice answering the dispatch. This was impossible as the door had been locked by her when she got her drink. She had the only key in the station at the time on her (the other two were with the other dispatchers at home!). She was worried and ran to the door and quickly unlocked the door, and hastily pushed it open. The room was completely empty. Only someone on the other end of the call saying thank you for taking the call! When she asked the caller who she was talking to (the dispatcher was now in shock), and the lady said "That nice man, Allan." The dispatcher was so shocked after we explained who Allan was. She was a hair off quitting until we told her about the old Chief. And like the rest of us soon got used to Allan being around. And like us liked him, as. He would off watch the dispatch when the girls were busy.

He was sometimes seen too, walking the halls from his office to the kitchen or truck bay watching us cleaning the trucks or playing pool. He hung around until Ladder 15 merged with 24 and 28. I went to 24, with my brother and became Captain. The old Ladder 15. Building was a Mechanics for a while and an Ambulance station. Then they tore it down, by then it was condemned. Now an Apartment Building stands in its place with a convenience store on the ground level.

I sometimes wonder if he is still there or if he's moved on yet. Since his wife has passed on now. And son Robert is a good Fireman too at Ladder 41 in Ann Arbour, MI. I like to think he is up in heaven at that great Firehouse in the sky. Cooking his famous Lasagne, and my Dad, Pop and twin Austin are there too.

Allan was a great man. And he deserves a good after life... All of us who knew him still miss the great Chief so much.

Thanks for reading this. Sorry it's so long.

FirehouseDracula.