A historical repository for the North American Fire Service

Time line for 1801 to 1900. Roll over pictures for more information.

1901-2000 ►

1801
	First post-type hydrant, Philadelphia.
	The "Fire Company of Axeman" becomes the first volunteer fire company formed in Charleston, SC. They change their name is "Pioneer" in 1861 to reflect themselves as being the first to utilize steam power in the Holy City. SIDE NOTE - Other fire companies in Charleston, SC and their creation dates. • 1816: Eagle Fire Engine Company • 1819: Vigilant Fire Engine Company • 1826: Charleston Fire Engine Company • 1826: Phoenix Fire Engine Company • 1829: Aetna Fire Engine Company • 1838: German Fire Engine Company • 1839: Marion Fire Engine Company • 1840: Palmetto Fire Engine Company • 1842: Hope Fire Engine Company • 1849: Washington Fire Engine Company • 1861: Niagara Fire Engine Company • 1865: Stonewall Fire Engine Company • 1865: Hook and Ladder #1 Company • 1865: Hook and Ladder #2 Company • 1866: Young America Fire Engine Company • 1869: Ashley Fire Engine Company * • 1869: Union Star Fire Engine Company * • 1870: Hook and Ladder #3 Company * • 1870: Comet Fire Engine Company * • 1870: Promptitude Fire Engine Company * • 1870: Prudence Fire Engine Company * • 1870: Union Fire Engine Company * * indicates black volunteer fire companies created from the previous "ward engines" established by the city and the Board of Firemasters. The ward engines were run by two white foreman and 30 slaves from the respective ward prior to the end of the Civil War.
1803
	First hose wagon and hose company, Philadelphia.
	First apparatus gong, Philadelphia.
	First apparatus siren, Philadelphia.
	Volunteer fire department established in Cincinnati, OH.
1805
	June 11th, Most of Detroit, MI destroyed by fire.
1806
	In the aftermath of a devastating fire in Philadelphia, PA hydrant inspections begin.
1807
	First metal-riveted leather hose made by James Sellars and Abraham Pencock in Philadelphia. This was as a result of higher pressures created by more modern engines.
1808
	First two-wheel "jumper reel" developed.
1809
	First fireboat (Engine Co. 42) was hand rowed and hand pumped for New York, NY.
1810
	First professional firefighting organization formed in Paris France by Napoleon Bonaparte. To this day the fire brigade in Paris France is run by the French Army.
	October 9th, fire destroys 194 buildings in Charleston, SC.
1811
	Philadelphia Hose Company formed in Philadelphia, PA.
	Philadelphia diverted water from storage trunks in the street for use in fighting.
	May 31st, Fire destroys 250 buildings in Newburyport, MA.
	December 26th, the first major fire deaths recorded for Richmond, VA occurred at the Richmond Theater. 75 lives were lost including then Governor George W. Smith.
1812
	First four-wheel hose reel.
1813
	December 30th, British troops aided by local indians burned Buffalo, NY in retaliation for an incursion of American Forces a few weeks prior that resulted in the burning of a Canadian settlement.
1814
	August 24th, British troops marched on Washington, DC during the War of 1812 and burned the White House as well as most other government buildings.
1816
	Richmond, VA organizes the Richmond Fire Society for the purpose of rendering mutual aid.
1817
	Standards for manufacturing of leather hose appear.
1818
	First female firefighter, New York.
1819
	All New York engines retrofitted with suction capabilities, now that strong suction hose is available. No more dumping water into apparatus by hand.
	First booster tank, Boston. Quickly abandoned because of complaints of "foul play" from other volunteer companies due to the rule of "first water".
	Philadelphia organized a special fire patrol group to perform salvage work.
1820
	January 11th, Savannah, GA fire destroys 463 buildings with most of them being dwellings.
1821
	Rubber-lined cotton-web fire hose patented, America.
1823
	First firefighter's strike, Boston.
1824
	Metal wire framework added to fire helmet
1828
	Fire helmet redesigned by Henry T. Gratacap with longer rear brim and curved sides, New York.
1829
	Steam fire engine invented in London by John Ericsson and John Braithwait.
	Cincinnati, OH burns 33 buildings and almost all of the downtown area.
1830
	First railroad to evolve into major system. Apparatus can now travel for competitions and mutual aid.
1832
	First fire horse, New York.
1835
	New York burns, $20M, worst urban fire since 1666.
	February 16th, fire destroys St. Philips Church and 63 homes in Charleston, SC.
	June 6th, fire destroys 400 buildings in Charleston, SC
1836
	New York volunteer brawling becomes increasingly violent.
	Fire helmet brim bent downward and metal attached to top edge, New York
1837
	June 10th, Broad Street Riot in Boston. Firemen fight Irishmen all day.
	First volunteer fire company formed in Milwaukee, WI.
	The present day Boston, MA Fire Department organized.
1838
	April 27th, a fire in Charleston, SC starts in a fruit vendor store at King Street and Beresford Alley (now Fulton Street). It burned eastward and destroyed most of the Ansonborough section. The fire resulted in the destruction of over 1200 bulidings and cost than $5 million in damage. Most of the fire crews were black slaves (ward engines) who, according to white officials, had little "interest in saving the property of white citizens".
1839
	First insurance patrol, New York.
	Mobile, AL burns. 600 buildings.
	First electric telegraph fire alarm system installed, Boston.
	First rubber fire hose.
1840
	Red flannel shirt adopted as fireman's uniform, New York. Later spreads across the country.
1841
	First American steam fire engine, New York, used only a few months.
1845
	Philadelphia burns destroying over 900 buildings.
	Dr. William F. Channing of Boston invents the fire-alarm telegraph.
	April 10th, Great Fire at Pittsburgh; 982 buildings burned, mostly dwellings.
1846
	July 13th, Fire in Nantucket, MA destroys 300 buildings an end to the town's whaling supremacy.
1848
	Albany burns, 600 buildings.
1849
†	May 17th, St. Louis, MO burns destroying 430 buildings and 23 steamboats. Captain Thomas B. Targee was killed trying to blast a firebreak.
	San Francisco, CA fire results in $12 million in property damage. Caused by arsonists, vigilante groups are formed to patrol the city and watch for more arsonists.
1850
	Fire destroys 400 buildings in Philadelphia and kills thirty-nine people.
1851
	Cincinnati, OH suffers major fire while volunteer firefighters riot.
	Buffalo, NY burns destroying 200 buildings.
	Philadelphia, PA burns destroying 400 buildings.
	May 4th, was the day of the worst of six big incendiary fires that swept San Francisco between December, 1849, and June, 1851. This one destroys almost the entire city.
1852
	First successful steam engine built, "The Uncle Joe Ross", in US by the Latta Brothers and Abel Shawk.
	First fire-alarm telegraph central office and street box system inaugurated at Boston.
	Patent issued for first sprinkler-perforated pipe system. This was the first recognized installation of fire protection equipment.
1853
	Cincinnati becomes first fully-paid fire department.
	December 27th, the Great Republic, biggest clipper ship ever built, burns in New York on eve of her maiden voyage.
1854
†	August 30th, the first recorded LODD's for Richmond, VA occurred when 2 firefighters were killed at a building fire.
	April 23rd, an early morning fire on Hayne Street in Charleston, SC spread to 8 buildings and factories causing nearly $200,000 in damage.
1857
	Louisville KY and then St. Louis MO become second and third fully-paid fire departments.
1858
	October 25th, Richmond, VA establishes a paid fire department.
	Crystal Palace fire in New York, NY
1860
	January 10th, 115 victims died in the Pemberton Mills Fire in Lawrence, MA.
	February 2nd, the Elm Street Tenement Fire in New York City kills 200 and results in laws passing requiring fire escapes on buildings.
1861
	Milwaukee, WI establishes a paid fire company.
	Washington, DC fire department becomes a fully paid organization and installs a fire alarm telegraph.
	New York City firefighters organize the first Fire Zouaves regiments and leave for the battlefront.
	December 11th, large fire destroys most of central Charleston, SC. It cut the city in two burning from river to river and destroying hundreds of homes. The first use of a steam engine in Charleston was at this fire by the Pioneer Steam Fire Engine Company. The fire destroyed 540 acres and over 500 homes. Losses totaled $8 million. As a result of the fire occurring eight months into the Civil War, the Burnt District as it became known, remained in ruin for for over a decade. General Robert E. Lee was in town on an inspection tour and watched the blaze from his room in the Mills House Hotel.
1863
	Fire extinguisher patented.
1864
	Chemical fire engine invented, France.
	January 5th, first blacks were hired by the Richmond, VA Fire Department. One was hired as a stablehand and the other as a fireman.
1865
	New York forms fully-paid fire department.
	February 17th, during General Sherman's "March to the Sea" Columbia, SC is mostly destroyed by fire. To this day it is unknown who set the fire. Union troops were popularly blamed during re-construction but evidence suggest Confederate troops may have set fire to cotton bales adopting a rudimentary "scorched earth" policy. The fire quickly spread to adjacent buildings and consumed most of SC's capital city.
	February 17th, fleeing Confederate soldiers set fire to warehouses with supplies in Charleston, SC at the Northeastern Railroad depot. The resulting fire spread to an ammunition dump where an explosion killed 250 people and horribly mutilated 100's more.
	April 27th, the SS Sultana explodes in Mississippi River and kills 1450.
	May 26th, an ammunition magazine exploded in Mobile, AL killing untold hundreds and injuring even more.
1866
	July 4th, the Great Fire in Portland, ME destroys 1500 buildings. The fire was started by a firecracker.
1868
	First successful aerial ladder invented by Daniel Hayes, San Francisco. The official name was "The Hayes Hook & Ladder and Fire Escape Combined".
1869
	September 6th, a large fire broke out on Carey Street in Richmond, VA. Many businesses were destroyed at the cost of more than $250,000.
1870
	Rubber, cotton-covered hose developed.
	Philadelphia forms fully-paid fire department.
1871
	Quick horse hitch likely invented, Saint Joseph, MO.
	October 8th-9th, Manistee, MI is destroyed by fire.
	October 8th-9th, Port Huron, MI is destroyed by fire.
	October 8th-9th, Holland, MI is destroyed by fire.
	October 8th-10th, Great Chicago Fire destroying 4 square miles and killing hundreds.
	October 8th-9th, The Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin destroys 1.5million acres, 12 towns and kills between 1,200 and 2,500 people. An accurate count of the dead could not be confirmed due to the destruction of vital census records and the loss of ENTIRE town populations. This is the largest loss of life by fire in United States history.
	October 12th, Windsor, Ontario Canada destroyed by fire. NOTE - All of the fires that occurred at this time are collectively known as "The Great Fire of 1871" or "The Great Michigan Fire". The origins of the fires are unknown, but the damage was worsened by a number of factors. Uninterrupted drought plagued the Midwest into early October and winds were strong. When the wind increased and shifted direction, fire fighters were unable to control the flames any longer. Vast tracts of forest burned for a week in parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. Within hours, a number of Midwestern cities and towns were alight and reduced to charcoal and ash. This would occur again in 1881.
1872
	Automatic sprinkler patented, Abington, MA.
	November 9th, "The Great Epizootic Fire or The Great Fire of 1872", Boston, MA. Many fire horses died or were unfit for duty from the epizootic equine virus. Fire broke out in the leather district and quickly spread. Firemen and civilians had to hand draw fire apparatus to the fires. The fire consumed 776 buildings, 30 fatalities, 20,000 unemployed, 1000 homeless, and cost upwards of $75,000,000 for the loss. More than seventy fire insurance companies went bankrupt as a result.
1873
	Hanging horse harness invented, Cambridge, MA.
	First iron-hull steam fire boat, Boston.
	International Association of Fire Engineers holds first convention and adopts standard hose coupling size.
1874
	First high-pressure water system for fighting fires installed in Rochester, NY.
1875
†	On September 14th, an aerial ladder demonstration in New York, NY at the Tweed Plaza goes horribly wrong and three firemen are killed. Their names were Chief William H. Nash of 4th Battalion, FF Phillip J. Maus of Hook and Ladder 6, and FF William Hughs of Engine Company 9.
	July 24th, a disastrous fire occurred in Charleston, SC along Gadsden's Wharf destroying 4 piers and 50 buildings. The fire damage was valued at $250,000.
1876
	December 5th, the Brooklyn Theater Fire occurred resulting in the deaths of 295 people.
1878
	First water tower developed by Greenleaf and Logan. It had been built on a converted farm wagon in Baltimore. It consisted of 50-foot mast sections assembled at scene and raised by cranks and gears.
	First fire pole created by Captain David B. Kenyon, Chicago, IL. It was 3" in diameter and made of sanded wood with an oiled finish. The first use of this pole by firemen was on April 21st, 1878.
	May 2nd, a flour dust explosion in Minneapolis, MN at the Washburn "A" Mill killed 18 and injured hundreds. The 7-story brick mill was leveled.
	Seamless cotton hose appears by this time. The hose is also capable of being packed flat, unlike rubber hose which required rolling on a reel. Hose wagons are developed to transport the new hose.
1880
	First brass fire pole was created by Captain Charles Allen of Engine Co.1, Worchester, MA.
	Frederick Grinnell improved upon the automatic sprinkler. Insurance companies lowered premiums to businesses installing Grinnell sprinklers
1881
	September 5th, "The Great Thumb Fire", also known as the "Great Forest Fire of 1881" or the "Huron Fire" destroyed Sanilac, Lapeer, Tuscola, and Huron Counties. The fire killed 282 people and the fire loss was estimated at $2,347,000. This was reportedly the first natural disaster served by the American Red Cross.
1882
	January 1st, Charleston, SC becomes a fully paid fire department, disbanding nearly 25 volunteer fire companies, one of which had been protection Charleston since 1801.
	Pompier scaling ladder patented, St. Louis.
1886
	August 31st, an earthquake registering between 6.6 and 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Charleston, SC and lasted just under a minute. It destroyed or damaged over 2,000 buildings, cost over $6million, and killed between 60 and 110 people. One reason for the massive destruction of buildings was the haphazard way of the rebuilding of effected areas of the fire of 1861. 4 new fire stations were built in 1888-1889 as a result of this event of which three are still in operation to this day. They are Central Station (Engine Co's. 2 & 3), Cannon Street (Engine Co.6) and Huger Street (Engine Co.8). Main Station (Engine Co.1) was closed in the 1970's and to this day their remains no Engine Co. 1 in the Charleston Fire Department. This is a photo of Engine Co. 5's house being repaired from the damage. The steam fire engine, an 1870 3rd size Amoskeag Harp frame #334, that ran out of this house and fought the fires is still in existence with Greenwood City Fire Department in upstate SC.
1889
†	The Boston, MA Thanksgiving Day Fire goes to 8 alarms with mutual aid costing the lives of four firemen and one retired fireman.
	June 6th, a fire destroys 31 blocks in the center of Seattle, WA as well as along it's waterfront .
1893
†	July 10th, 12 firefighters were killed in a fire in a cold storage warehouse at the World's Fair in Chicago, IL. A small fire took hold in the chimney area on the cupola of the roof of the building. Firefighters raced to the top of the building without the knowledge that fire had dropped below them through the wall and had taken a strong foothold below them. They were trapped and all but on chose to jump 90' and accept his fate as it was given. Four of the dead were Chicago Firefighters and eight were of the Exposition Fire Brigade.
1894
	The Roxbury Fire destroyed 216 buildings including a fire station. As a result the Board of Fire Commissioners was replaced by a single Fire Commissioner.
1898
†	February 5th, at 0355 hours Box 412 at Causeway and Lowell Streets was pulled by Patrolman Sheehan for a fire at the George Bent Bed Company at 116-126 Merrimac Street. A heavy snow hampered FF's and the fire raged to a 3rd alarm within 20 minutes. At 0515 hours with the fire just about under control, the 5-story building groaned and shed its top floor into the others causing a complete interior collapse killing or mortally wounding 6 firemen. District Chief Egan was found about 1000 hours and right behind him was Captain James Victory of Engine Company 38-39. Both men were alive when brought out and were given the "Last Rights" by Father Finnegan of St. Mary’s Church in the North End. They both died a short time after. Hosemen Patrick Disken and Hoseman John Mulhern were found dead about 1010 hours. The last two men, Hoseman William Welch and Lieutenant George Gottwald were found dead at about 1145 hours. Ironically Lieutenant Gottwald suffocated from being covered with feathers. Three of his great grandsons are presently on the Boston Fire Department.
	February 26th, a terrible fire at 160 Church Street in Charleston, SC caused the deaths of 7 people. Sadly those killed were the wife, 4 children, and two brother in-laws of Firefighter Theodore Knickmayer of Engine Company 2. He was on duty at the firehouse when the fire was called in. He arrived in time to see police officers carrying out his children, burned and dead.
1900
	June 30th, fire sweeps through the Hoboken, NJ water front killing 400.
	September 8th, the Hurricane of 1900 makes landfall in Galveston, TX resulting in over 6,000 killed. Among the dead were 10 sisters and 90 children from the St. Mary's Orphan Asylum.