| SFD History: In The Beginning |
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That old‑fashioned American institution, the bucket brigade, seemed to serve the town of Seattle well. From its beginning as a sawmill town in 1852 until 1870, Seattle led a charmed life when it came to major fire losses.
In 1870 a group of leading citizens looked at Henry Yesler's great mill, the frame clapboard buildings, and the wooden sidewalks, realized the potential for fire, and saw the need for protection against it. In July of that year they formed a volunteer hook‑and‑ladder company. They had buckets, ladders, and axes, but no vehicle to carry the equipment. There was a crude water system, which served the business district and the wharves, but no hydrants. The first fire ordinance passed by the City Council required each household and business to provide a 40‑gallon barrel full of water for use by the hook‑and‑ladder company. Failure to meet this obligation resulted in a $10 fine for each day the household or business was in violation. The volunteers were none too thrilled about the idea of lugging all the equipment on their backs through the hilly, often muddy, streets. They asked the City Council to purchase for them four buggy wheels and they would build their own wagon. The Council refused. The volunteers quit in disgust. It wasn't until 1876 when a fire destroyed T.P. Freeman's store on Commercial Street (now 1st Avenue South) just south of Mill Street (now Yesler Way) that the citizens were stirred into the creation of a more formal volunteer fire department.
On July 6,1876, a group of citizens met, wrote a constitution, and elected officers, thus forming Seattle Engine Company No. 1. Money for equipment was obtained by subscription. A Hunneman end‑stroke, hand‑operated pumping engine was purchased, used, from the Sacramento Fire Department. Hose and a hose reel were borrowed from the Port Gamble Fire Department across Puget Sound. The apparatus was housed in a shed at the rear of the Hinckley property on the southwest corner of 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street.
By 1878 there were sufficient funds to purchase a new steam‑operated pumper. For $3,500 the volunteers obtained the steamer from the Gould Company of Vermont. The third‑size steamer, which could pump 550 gallons a minute, arrived by ship on February 1, 1879. The steamer was uncrated and assembled on the wharf. A large rat had been boxed in with the steamer and, as the crate was hammered away, ran for freedom, disappearing under the pier pilings. The volunteers paraded the steamer through town and capped the day with a gala celebration, which included a feast hosted by the ladies of Seattle and a dance at Yesler's Hall.
Seattle's luck with the element of fire ran out on the evening of July 26, 1879. About 9:00 p.m. a fire was reported on the second floor of the American House, a frame hotel at Yesler's Wharf, The volunteers were called quickly and responded timely. The steamer was put to work drafting from Elliott Bay. However, the liner of the suction hose came loose and plugged the pump's intake. Fire spread across the street and to the big mill on Yesler's Wharf. Along with some of the seamen from ships in the harbor the volunteers brought the old hand pumper to the scene and got it operating. Eventually the steamer was back in action and, with help from the seamen and other citizens; the fire was under control by 2:00 a.m. on the 2 7th. About four blocks of small businesses, warehouses, and the sawmill were destroyed. The fire did have a good effect, however. It resulted in the passage of an ordinance setting fire limits in the downtown area, within which no new building could be constructed with exterior walls of wood.
In September of 1882 a second, but smaller, steamer was purchased from the Gould Company and a second volunteer fire company, Washington Engine No. 2, was formed. For a time all the apparatus was stored at the Hinckley property shed, but two new fire stations were being built. The new City Hall opened in February of 1883 on 2nd Avenue South between Yesler Way and Washington Street. Included in this big building was a fire station. The Washington Engine was moved there. Later in the year the Seattle Engine moved into a new brick Fire station on the south side of Columbia Street between Front Street (now 1st Avenue) and 2nd Avenue. |
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