This essay was originally published in the 1946 OCHS Yearbook. Please note that this essay was published over 80 years ago. While still useful for general education, language may be outdated and at times offensive. The Oswego County Historical Society does not stand by the language used in this essay. To view the original document, please visit NYHeritage.org.
Paper Read Before Oswego County Historical Society at Oswego February 21, 1946, by Alderman James R. Jackson of Oswego.
It has been an interesting study and educational as well, to look for and find many interesting things concerning Fires, Fire Department Activities and Fire Prevention Methods used in Oswego, from its inception in 1828 as a village, down until the present time. And I sincerely hope that it may be an interesting history for you of the Oswego Historical Society to preserve and pass on down to oncoming generations.
The Fire Department was and is necessary to the development of our city and its effective work in controlling conflagrations of such size at times that the whole city seemed in jeopardy, made much of the past history of our city possible. And to realize and learn how our Fire Department has developed in late years is a goal which all residents of Oswego might worthily seek to attain.
It has been my pleasure to talk to some of the old volunteer firemen who served Oswego well in the last century and who have since answered “the last alarm,” and also to visit with to day’s firemen and see for myself the present day methods of fire fighting as they are successfully carried out by our present day fire fighters.
And to the “old vols” and the present members of the Oswego Fire Department from Chief Monty Lass down to the newest members in the ranks, I owe a personal debt of gratitude for courtesies shown me in my endeavors to bring this story to you tonight.
Early Equipment Crude
When Oswego was just a small hamlet of a few homes with a store or two and a couple of churches, there were men, then as now, who in a small way, acted as firemen. They had no trucks, no hose, not even the old hand carts or pumps to pull, nor did they have uniforms, helmets, rubber clothes and other equipment, such as we associate with the well equipped fire fighter of today. Their “apparatus” consisted mainly of an old bucket or pail with perhaps a ladder handy. Some may have had axes for wood cutting but that was about the limit of the villager’s fire fighting equipment. There was no organization even. Only the thought of helping one another in case of fire motivated the fire men. This, of course, was before 1828 when Oswego became an organized village.
However in 1828, after some homes had been ruined by fire, the village fathers held a meeting and, after some discussion, took action that paved the way for the organization of Oswego’s first Fire Department. Four fire marshalls were named and these marshalls, or wardens, the first ones to be named fire district officials, if they may be called that, were: Henry Eagle, Francis Rood, Thomas Amhler and William Kniffen. Their emblem of office was a seven foot stick painted red with the words “Fire Warden” painted thereon.
These four men acted as chief firemen and fire prevention officers. Their duties consisted of the inspection of homes and business places, in regards to hazards about fireplaces, chimneys and rubbish accumulations. In case of fire, these men had absolute authority over the citizens. To disobey their orders usually meant a fine of two dollars, and that was real hard money in those days.
Quaint Fire Ordinances
These Fire Wardens also established local fire laws, and regulations for each citizen to follow. Each citizen was required to keep at least one bucket for fire purposes in his home ready for instant use. If he had more than one stove or fireplace, then his requirements were one bucket for each stove and fireplace in his house. These buckets, usually of leather, were hung in a real handy place, so that when an alarm was given, verbally of course, the owners could grasp them and rush to the fire scene to aid in the formation of “a bucket brigade.” These “bucket brigades” were formed by having two lines of men (and sometimes the women helped out too), the one nearest the supply of water (river, well or creek), would dip in his bucket, fill it, pass it to the next man in line who in turn passed it to the man next to him, the procedure continuing until the bucket reached scene of the fire when the man nearest the fire would douse the water on the blaze, hand the bucket to the nearest person on the return line, and grab a full one and repeat the operation. We can well wonder how this man withstood the heat (or cold) as a house or store burned to the ground, as they frequently did in spite of all efforts to save them.
First Fire Company in 1830
In 1830 the first fire company was formed in Oswego village, and some advancement was made as to fire fighting equipment and methods. Practice meetings, at which tested methods of fighting the spread of flames were discussed, were held in a tavern owned by a Mr. J. Raynor. It was located on Water street. One’s mind need not be stretched too far to imagine what a meeting night was like at the tavern and one can imagine “the boys” could really enjoy a fire drill inside the warm, comfortable tavern.
Rules and regulations, adopted at the early meetings, related to inspections to be made by the fire wardens. If construction was not just right, judged from the standpoint of fire hazards, plan alterations were made and recommended changes were carried out, even as in our present day. And we should remember that when these recommendations were made, and are made even today, it is all for our own collective good that the changes are ordered.
In the first fire company W. G. Adkins was made “Fire Captain” (whose duties were similar to those of our “chief” today) and J. C. Case, clerk.
First Great Fire
The year 1830 also witnessed Oswego’s first highly destructive blaze, the block bounded by what are now West First Street, West Cayuga, West Second and West Seneca Streets, being burned over with all the buildings that had been standing there on. One can imagine the efforts made by the then only existing fire company whose members carried water by bucket from the river in their attempt to check the flames. And only by hard work and help of the villagers, was the fire held within the confines of a single block.
Hue and cry by citizens was immediately set up for a new cart and fire engines. But it took another hard fire in 1833 before Oswego was to get these. On December 1, 1833, Oswego received its first fire engines which were pumps operated by hand and back power of several men ranged alongside the rocking pump. By this date, too, alarms were being sounded on the bell of the First Presbyterian church which stood in West Park.
In 1842, the Oswego Fire Department was reorganized and incorporated according to state law. New wardens were appointed, ten responsible citizens and community leaders. They were: Ell Warner, Luther Weatherby, Timothy Pitkin, Samuel Halsey, Joseph Wellington, Joseph Wilbur and Alpheus Stewart. Their duties were similar to those performed by the preceding wardens, with the exception of the fact that they governed the fire companies as they were formed, acting in a capacity similar to that in which our Commissioner of Public Safety today acts in regards to matters pertaining to the Fire Department.
Many Changes In 1850
In the years following the disastrous fire of 1850 when a large portion of the east side, then generally called “East Oswego”, business section was burned out by a fire which destroyed also part of the lower bridge, the city began buying more equipment. Due to this fact there was more interest shown in the department and the city was getting much better protection, due to the increased interest taken in its fire department and its problems by the average citizen.
In 1850, the city bought its first Button fire engine, and that year also brought more and better changes. Oswego had at this time seven volunteer fire companies with a total membership of over 400 men. There were four hand powered pumpers, two hook and ladder trucks, and the new Button engine. The first fire chief presiding over the enlarged and better equipped department was John McNair, a prominent citizen and warden of fire in preceding years. He was well qualified for the position.
At that time there was a strong rivalry between the members of the volunteer companies and it is said many fights, due to this cause, grew out of these rivalries. Fights were frequently caused by two companies reaching simultaneously the same supply of water at the same time. As the hydrant men would make the hydrant and struggle to gain control of it fists would fly and more often than not a third company would take water while the others were “at it again.”
Firemen’s Social Functions
All equipment was still hand drawn in the 1850s and firemen of those days also participated in a rivalry as to which would enter the best looking cart or engine in the then frequent parades of the volunteer companies. At various times in the year, banquets were arranged by the fire companies for their members as a means of holding their interest in their companies. The big events of the year came when “Firemen’s Balls” were held by each of the volunteer companies during the winter season. The dance programs for these occasions were really a work of art and the “Times press” and “Palladium press” surely wrought wonders for the “boys” at dance times. The dances were usually held in public halls. I have several programs of dances given by Niagara Hose No. 3, Halcyon Hook & Ladder Co., Smyth Hose No. 8. Many of these dances were held in Mansard, Richardson and Fitzhugh Halls.
Through the courtesy of Hubert and Brosmer, I am able tonight to tell you something about the Insurance Companies operating in Oswego and the attitudes they adopted in the years gone by concerning the Oswego Fire Department.
When insurance companies first began insuring homes against fire loss, they also took an active interest in fire departments. This was only natural, for the better the fire department, the less the fire losses for the insurance companies to pay. The old line companies, many of them still in business, really contributed much toward fire protection and fire department systems in the old volunteer days.
Insurance Company Activity
But of course, in the early days of fire insurance, not everyone could afford to take it out because of high premiums. And so many fires naturally developed in the homes of people who were uninsured that the insurance companies, especially those that contributed financially to fire departments marked the homes that were insured by them.
So when fire broke out, the “old Vols” responding to the alarm would work “like mad” when they found an “insured” marker on the house, and it was charged that when there was no marker on the home that in many instances the firemen’s efforts to check the flames were less strenuous. This especially happened in New York City where many fire companies were organized by the aid of insurance companies. However, I was told the “old timers” in Oswego never gave ground for such complaints, but that they would pitch in and help to put out the flames, regardless of fire markers.
You will see the replicas of these fire markers tonight. And I may say for the insurance companies of the present day that they have done a lot for modern fire departments. The National Board of Fire Underwriters, an organization made up of fire insurance companies have laboratories and pass on building codes, electrical wiring and fixture standards, test them, and in general tell us what is safe to use and what is not.
Reorganization Of 1855
Again in 1855 the fire department was again reorganized to better the protection of the city which, growing rapidly, now had many flour mills, lumber and ship yards, cooper shops, malt houses, and iron works. Lumber was being shipped to Oswego from Canada and Michigan. Many lumber yards were found at the river’s edge and also in the harbor area in general. Grain elevators occupied the east side of the river from the lower bridge half way to the lake. There were also elevators on the west side of the river, but fewer.
In fact more dangerous conditions for a conflagration then existed than exist today, for grain, malt and lumber all burned readily and Oswego had only a few fire engines, mostly hand operated and a fire in a grain elevator or cooper shop or wood shop where barrels, shooks and tubs were made meant that the firemen had to “save the cellar.”
In the reorganization of 1855 men, who were in business in Oswego and who could be called “first citizens”, were named fire wardens replacing those named previously. Wardens named in 1855, bearing names somewhat familiar to us, were: John Dyman, Matthew Soulon, Dick Tobin, Lawrence Johnson, John Hujman, John Comes, James Ryan, James Malone, Volney D. Burr, Sylvester Abbott, Nathan Roberts and William Stewart. Their duties were similar to those performed by the preceding wardens, namely, making rules and regulations for governing the volunteer companies and citizens to abide by in case of fire and also laws in relation to fire prevention. One can, by hearing of the fire department’s growth, learn much of the growth of the city. From the river mouth it had now extended south as far as Utica street and farther on either side of the river.
First Horse Drawn Engine
Oswego citizens received their first glimpse of a real horse drawn steam fire engine in 1867, when the city bought and accepted a “steamer” bought from the Pawtucket Fire Engine Co. This engine was a horse drawn engine but was also equipped with rope and reel for use in case no horses were available. This engine was sent to No. 5’s house.
According to information given by one of the “old Vols” the men upon reaching the engine house on the occasion of an alarm, started, more often than not drawing the engine, not waiting for a driver with horses to come and offer his services. In those days a teamster was hired to haul the engine but he was permitted to keep the team in his own barn, when he was not working with them as a teamster. Can you imagine waiting for a team at 3 o’clock in the morning ?
In 1867 the department was made up of six engine companies and two hook and ladder companies. At this time, the chief, then called “chief engineer”, had two assistant chiefs. All from the chief down were volunteers, and great credit is due them for their interest in seeing that the citizens had a real fire department.
Fell Through Bridge
In speaking of the rivalry between the firemen previously referred to, another story of rivalry is brought to mind, as related by John Schurr, father of Joseph Schurr, now a driver in Engine Co. 1. John belonged to Cataract No. 4 which was later to become Engine No. 2 and still later Chemical Co. No. 1. Its fire house was located in East Second street, next to the building now occupied by Dain’s undertaking establishment and stood near the Gerrit Smith Library until it was torn down about two years ago. It seems this company used to use the old railroad bridge in going to fires South of Utica street on the West side of the river. On one occasion an alarm was received from the vicinity later occupied by the Long’s Chocolate Works at West Second and Utica streets. In proceeding to the scene of the fire the “gang” took their hand drawn hose reel up East Second street and around the Library building, and down the hill to First street and headed over the railroad bridge, bent upon beating to the scene of fire the No. 7s (Dewolf Hose) which was located in the present No 1’s house. All was well till John Schurr skipped a tie on the railroad bridge and dropped between the ties and stuck fast there while the “gang”, engine and all, continued onward, passing over John and leaving him there alone. He was finally able to extricate himself.
Volunteers at Pinnacle in 1875
In the year 1875, the volunteer department had just about reached its peak, as to efficiency, and the number of active companies of which Oswego could boast. All were uniformed and really did their stuff before the public on parade or in exhibition drills at conventions as well as fighting fires at home. Uniforms consisted of black shoes, blue trousers, black and white belts trimmed with red, belts of course, being leather, red shirts (flannel) and dress blue caps with square visor or peak. Fire and parade helmets were made of leather. At fires, the men could determine to what company each belonged to by the name of his company which appeared on the front piece of the helmet and also by the belts that were worn.
The chief, assistant chiefs and captains had white helmets and white belts with red and black lettering. The men had black helmets with red and white lettering. Some of these practices still continue in use today in the department.
The Volunteer Companies
A list of the volunteer fire companies and the locations at which their apparatus and social rooms were maintained, follows:
Herrick Hose No. 1 and Eagle H. & L. No. 2 – West Second St., in present Hook and Ladder House.
Frontier City Hose No. 2 – Corner West 4th and Utica streets (Tracy Stone’s drug store).
Niagara No. 3 – On East Bridge St., between Second and Third; later moved to what is now Engine No. 3 at East Sixth and Bridge streets.
Cataract No. 4 – East Second St., near Library.
Kingsford No. 5 – Kingsford Starch Factory, West First St.
Victory No. 6 – East Tenth near Utica (Dinty Moore’s Restaurant).
DeWolf Hose No 7 – West Second St., now No. 1’s House.
Smyth Hose No. 8 – West Oneida near Ninth street, now a dwelling.
Sam Sloan No. 9 – West Utica near D. L. & W. Round House.
Page Hose No. 10 – East 10th and Mitchell streets
Halcyon H. & L. No. 1 – With Niagara Engine No. 3 at East Sixth and Bridge streets, now Engine No. 3.
Of the foregoing companies three had steam engines, the rest hand drawn hose carts and hook and ladder trucks.
Firemen’s Equipment
Equipment of the older volunteers consisted of leather hose, seamed with copper rivets, and provided with brass butts and brass play pipes. Hand engines had brass reduction pipes or nozzles or discharged the water into buckets for use of the bucket brigades. Hook & Ladder carts carried several sizes of ladders and long hooks used for pulling down plaster and walls. Thus the name Hook & Ladder. These carts also carried heavy rope, axes, and lanterns and torches, used by their respective torch boys for lighting the way at night through the still gas lighted streets.
Later, cotton jacket, rubber lined fire hose came in and was a decided improvement over the old leather hose which was stiff and hard to handle, especially in the winter.
An “old Vol” and friend now gone who told me many happenings in the old days was “Race” Callahan. Race was actively interested even to the last in the fire department. And to him, I owe a great deal in gaining a knowledge of the old time way of fire fighting.
In the old days if one hollered “McGuire”, it meant fire, and as soon as the cry “McGuire” was heard, the nearest church would be sought and the bell rung as an alarm. In the last years of the volunteers, efforts were made to ascertain the ward in which the fire was located; then, the number of the ward was struck on the church bell summoning the various companies, or on the bell of the clock in the Old City Hall between 1838 and 1870.
Famous Fires
It has been said, it was a familiar sight to see the men hauling the hose carts or ladder trucks to a fire stretching out a half a block ahead, pulling by means of long ropes the old carts down the street, running as some said, “Hell for leather” or “Hell bent for election”.
And so one can imagine what the old “vols” did and what fire fighting was like. Ladders were not much over 20 feet in length and were ordinarily long enough to reach most upper stories with the exception of churches and business places downtown, some of which were four or five stories in height.
Having learned of the early history of the Oswego Fire department, let us retrace our course a little to ascertain something about the fires which they were called upon to subdue. In 1830 the first destructive fire as previously stated came in the same block as the Neal O’Brien Lumber yard fire of 1945 which so many of us then witnessed. The year 1837 saw the loss of Gilbert’s Flour Mills, Parker’s Machine Shop and the Carrington Furnace Factory. In 1853 most of the east side business section from Oneida street north to the coal trestles and from the river to Fourth street, including a part of the bridge located on the site of the present lower bridge was destroyed by fire. In 1858, a bad fire consumed the Emmons and Ontario Flour Mills.
As time went on Oswego became noted for its lumber yards, starch factory, iron, cooper shops, flour mills, grain elevators, breweries, malthouses, most all of wood construction, factories that were wood frame built in those days being without automatic sprinkler systems to check fires before they could get a real start. Fire engines had come to be horse drawn and as 1875 arrived hose carts and hook and ladder trucks were also very largely horse drawn. In 1860 hydrants had come into use with the establishment of the city’s water system. There were also many wells, the river and numerous creeks supplying the department fire enrequired (SIC) than the mains of the water company could supply.
Paid Department In 1876
The need of a paid fire department began to make itself apparent at this time. Men now organized to fight fire. In 1876, Oswego, feeling the need of a paid department, with firemen constantly on duty 24 hours a day took steps which resulted in the organization of our present paid fire department. And so we leave the “old Vols” with many thanks to those fellows who for years protected old Oswego in the past. To them we can give great credit. They were firemen because they loved and lived fire fighting 24 hours a day, their compensation being only the sense of a feeling that a good deed was well done.
Many of the old volunteers were young men when the paid department was organized and some of the most promising of them were naturally appointed to positions in the new department. As the old department was abandoned the new paid men took over its equipment that was needed and with four engine houses, started operations. Of today’s fire stations, No. 1 is that formerly occupied by DeWolf Hose, No. 7; No. 2 was formerly the home of Cataract Hose Co. No. 4; No. 3 was formerly the home of Niagara Hose Co. No. 3; Hook & Ladder. No. 1, was formerly Herrick Hosp and Eagle H. and L., No. 2.
Warsop First Paid Chief
Chief George Warsop, the first chief of the paid department, came from the ranks of the old volunteers as did “Bob” Blackburn, “Billy” Williams, “Boney” Nettles, Mike O’Gorman, “Billie” Connell, “Ad” Gorsline and many others.
At the outset paid men were on duty 21 hours out of 24, with three hours off each day for meals, breakfast, dinner and supper. A number of men were also made “call men” and slept in the fire houses from 10 p. m. till 7 a. m. The regular men were supposed to have one day off in eight.
As one old regular now retired told me, fire fighting was a dis ease then, for not every one cared about putting in 147 hours a week and then have to lose his day off if someone turned up sick. About 8 to 10 men slept in each station at night, the call men going to their places of private employment daily after going home to breakfast. They would report again at 10 p. m. that night. Fire men were paid about 10c an hour or $55 per month.
No fireman was allowed time off on Christmas or the Fourth of July, because of Christmas tree candles (remember them) and fire crackers and 3rd of July bonfires (at midnight). So one can see even though other men at work used at that time to labor sometimes 12 hours a day and some longer, the Fire department was no picnic either, for, as has been often said “firemen seldom saw their families growing up.”
Elevator Fire Of 1892
One of the first serious fires to be combatted by the paid department was that which attacked the grain elevators which lined lower East First street from the lower bridge north. As related to me by Henry Weigelt, now passed on, who was then driver of the 44 “Hooks”, he was seated out in front of the firehouse, thinking of going to bed when Box 12, located at East First and Bridge streets, started turning in an alarm. He pulled the horses and was hitching, when the other men at the station came sliding down the pole. Pulling out in the night, he swung into Bridge street, and from the bridge he could see fire in one of the elevators.
After a struggle which continued all night and well into the next day, their lives endangered by falling walls, the firemen finally conquered the fire, which left nothing but smoldering rubble in its wake where the day before had stood half a score of grain elevators. That fire happened on May 20, 1892 being discovered at 11 p. m.
Robert G. Blackburn was chief at the time having succeeded Chief Warsop a number of years earlier. Under Chief Warsop, the box alarm system had been installed. Many other improvements were also made under both Chiefs Warsop and Blackburn. The department soon became one of the most efficient in the state for a city the size of Oswego and in fact, better in proportion to size, than cities much larger than Oswego.
Large fires other than those attacking the elevators during the time of Chiefs Warsop and Blackburn were those at Rathbun Lumber yard in lower West First street about where the Montcalm Dock Company’s holdings are now located; the Pardee House from which Chief Blackburn was carried out unconscious from smoke; the Empire Mills, where he was caught beneath falling walls with others; the Holbrook Block, the” Ringling House, which stood on the site now occupied by the New York Telephone Company’s building, and the East Side Methodist church which stood on the site in later years occupied by A. C. Hall’s bakery.
Other fires which can be recalled by many of you included Kingsford Starch Factory in 1904 in which Fireman John Dempsey was seriously hurt and Fireman Dougherty was killed by falling from a ladder, and the Standard Oil Box Shop and Diamond Match lumber yard fires.
As the city grew, the fire alarm system also grew, along with the water works system until nearly every block came to have a fire hydrant, a fact which proved of major importance in increasing the efficiency of the firemen’s efforts.
Chemical Co. Comes In 1886
In 1886, the Chemical Company was formed from Engine No. 2, located at the same station. A new chemical engine was bought in Chicago and proved a success gines with water when more was from the start. Many can recall the members of the old company, namely “Boney” Nettles, foreman; “Cal” Pero and “Jackie” Wooks, pipemen, and Henry Fogarty, driver. They had a handsome wagon, all brass and copper trimmed, and it sure was a job to keep it shined up. When the chemical was placed in service, one steam fire engine was placed in reserve.
The newly formed chemical company could handle some pretty good sized fires without help from the engine companies. It carried 80 gallons of chemical consisting of water and soda mixed with a bottle of sulphuric acid (which was dumped when needed). The acid and soda formed a gas that forced the water from the tanks through the hose to the fire. This chemical wagon carried about 250 feet of hose and was used most extensively where there were few or no hydrants and at all fires detected in an incipient stage.
A Museum Piece
When the Chemicals’ fire house was abandoned in 1921, the engine was sold to Orwell where it was later picked up by an agent of Henry Ford and now reposes in Ford’s Museum, namely, Edison Institute. Greenfield village, as a fine example of the old type of ornate, horse drawn chemical wagon.
In 1895 two new horse drawn Hook & Ladder wagons were bought for the Oswego department. One a Hayes 65 Aerial with a 10 foot detachable ladder, the whole ladder reaching 75 feet in the air. The other was a Seagrave City Service truck with ladders up to 50 feet in length and carrying lath hooks, ropes, lanterns, and all modern equipment of that time. For some years Assistant Chief Dashnau drove these wagons and was later made captain of the Hook and Ladder Company.
Motor Apparatus
For several years prior to 1917 Chief Blackburn tried to “sell” to the fire commissioners then directing the affairs of the department the idea of purchasing motor equipment for the city. Several efforts were made and finally in 1917 at a taxpayers’ special election, motor apparatus was voted. Later it was procured from the American LaFrance Fire Engine Co., Elmira.
Two combination trucks called “triple combination” by reason of the fact that they were built to do the work that three pieces of horse drawn equipment had formerly been required to perform, namely the steamer, chemical and hose wagon.
One motor driven engine, assigned to Station No. 1, carried 1,000 feet of standard 2 and 1/2 inch hose, more hose than a horse drawn wagon could carry, a 1,000 gallon rotary pump (more gallons per minute than our heaviest steamer), and 50 gallons of chemical and 250 feet of chemical hose. The other stationed at Engine 3’s house carried 1,000 feet of 2 and 1/2 inch hose, had a 350 gallon pump and carried a chemical hose. Each motor truck also carried a 12 foot roof ladder, a 20 foot extension ladder, and all necessary smaller equipment.
Shortly after the purchase of this new equipment the Chemical House was closed, its equipment sold, and the men assigned to the other houses.
Chief Blackburn Retires
After working hard to bring about the motorization of the department, Chief Blackburn re tired, but he was on hand to see the new trucks delivered and took a real pride in having had a part in seeing the department modernized. After the modernization became effective, the steamers were junked and the hose wagons and harnesses were sold, thus ending one of the most colorful periods of the Fire department, namely the horse drawn apparatus days.
And in replacing the horses, one cannot well let the horses go without telling something about them. It seemed for a time after the change became effective that when the horses went, the life went out of the department. And who cannot recall, who remembers the horses, seeing them at full gallop, pulling the apparatus and men at breakneck speed through the streets and around corners. It was an inspiring sight, just as seeing the department today going by with siren screeching and bell clanging quickens one’s heart beats and starts his blood flowing more rapidly.
Role Of The Horse
The horses were ordinarily fed at 6:30 a. m., 11:30 a. m., and 4:30 p. m.; then bedded down for the night at 8 p. m. And if the driver was a little late at meal time, the horses usually protested, by kicking gently against the stall doors until they were fed. Even in the dead of night, when man and horse were asleep, when the gong sounded an alarm, the horses were over the door plate and on their way in about 45 seconds. Today anywhere from 30 to 45 seconds are required to receive an alarm and get the motorized apparatus into the street. And the department in the “horse and buggy” days could get to a fire within two or three blocks of the fire house just as quickly as the motors can cover the distance today, but on the long runs the motorized equipment enjoys a distinct advantage.
When an alarm was received, the captain usually “got the phone” or “got the gong” and counted the taps of the sounding box as the rest of the crew hooked up the horses. One would snap the collar while another would snap the reins, and someone else the belly band; then all jumped on the wagon to replace shoes with boots, much dressing being done enroute to the fire daytimes. At night, firemen slept in their under clothes and shirts, just as they do today when on duty, but with boots inside of pant legs on the floor. On receiving an alarm the fireman would jump from bed, pull on his boots, pull his pants on, snapping their fronts and slide down the pole which descended from the sleeping quarters to the apparatus room below. The same process was then gone through with as in the daytime the total difference of maybe 10 or 20 seconds being added in responding at night to the time required for the firemen to prepare himself for the dash to the fire in the daytime.
Department In 1923
Chief Blackburn lived to see several occasions when the motors made quick runs and helped to stop serious fires which in the absence of speedy arrival by the firemen at the scene otherwise might have gotten beyond control. In 1927, Bob, as he was affectionately known by the men, passed on. His successor, Chief Joseph Hennessey, appointed just after the purchase of the motorized equipment, also took great pride in his department. He had worked for years under Chief Blackburn, both as driver of the hose wagon and steamer, and also as captain of Engine Co. No. 1, at whose headquarters Chief Blackburn had his office. Among Chief Hennessey’s most serious fires was that of the Northwestern Elevator in March 1922 when the last of Oswego’s old time grain elevators burned. Chief Hennessey was stricken with pneumonia after the elevator fire at which he got soaking wet while working without a helmet. He stuck with the fire, went home with a bad cold and later developed pneumonia. After a long rest, Chief Hennessey returned to work, caught cold again, and during a second attack of pneumonia, his heart gave out. He died in 1923 after many years of service in the Fire department.
Lass Enters Department
Our present chief, Monte Lass, then assumed charge of the Oswego department. One of Chief Blackburn’s most apt pupils, he had been well instructed by Blackburn, who lived to see Monte take charge of the department. Joining the department as a “call man”, Lass had been appointed a “regular” in 1921, and was assigned to the Chemical House, with older men. His promotion was rapid and he soon became captain, then assistant chief, then chief.
One of the most drastic changes during the regime of Chief Lass was the change over from the single platoon to the two platoon system in 1926. The new system resulted in the creation of two working shifts in the department, one for night, the other for day service, the shifts rotating about every four days. The men worked thereafter an average week of 72 hours, with some part of each day home with their respective families. The night “trick” works 14 hours, from 6 p. m. till 8 a. m., and the day trick from 8 a. m. to 6 p. m. The men generally take their dinners with them to the fire station or send out for them on the day trick, and some cook their own meals at the noon hour. Adoption of the two platoon system was one of the greatest improvements in working conditions ever made in fire departments. It provides time home for the men and they are thus able to enjoy their homes and families. What a job it was before the two platoon system came – on duty twenty one out of twenty four hours, sometimes for 16 straight days. And over 147 hours a week!
At the present time, at 72 hours a week the firemen are paid $1,800 per year plus a $200 a year bonus. Their pay averages 55 cents an hour. The job may look easy, but after a few years in the department it takes the vitality out of a man. And to go into a real smoky fire is something else again. And everyone cannot stand the punishment either. Some can take more than others.
A pension system is provided by the city which enables the firemen to retire on part pay after a period of years.
The men of the department are allowed 15 days vacation a year. This is about the only time when a fireman can really go and come as he pleases. At all other times he is on call 24 hours a day. Nor can he go out of town on his time off duty even on a short auto trip without reporting and getting per mission from the chief.
The Alarm System
Of course the first alarm system we know anything about was the “holler” system. There being no bells, fire alarm boxes and not even a church bell or a steam whistle here when Oswego first came into being, when a fire was discovered, the one who discovered it at once yelled “Fire”! which usually brought help as soon as possible from his surrounding neighbors. Then when churches were built with bells installed, someone conceived the idea of using the church bell as a fire alarm, and this plan was put into use and continued until a bell was installed in the Market House clock tower in 1838 after which that was used to sound alarms.
As the city grew, was divided, and wards were established, someone else thought it would be a good idea to sound out the number of the ward in which the fire was located on the bell as soon as the location of the fire was known. At the start the one giving the alarm would ring the bell as rapidly as he could, then toll out the number of the ward (such as 7 times for the fires in the 7th ward). This system was carried on for quite a long time until the electric box alarm system came into use in Oswego in 1876.
Utica made alarm boxes were then placed throughout the city, especially at the most strategic points of fire hazard. First boxes were located at East and West First and Bridge streets, throughout the heavy population centers and the manufacturing sections. By the pulling of these boxes the location of the fire was immediately made known to the firemen. Under this system, gongs were put in the engine houses, and boxes were installed throughout the city. A battery system with switch board was located at Engine House No. 3, where a fireman was instructed as to the care of the batteries and board, also the re pair and maintenance of the system. When a box was pulled such as box 12, the response would come like this: The mechanism would open the circuit and close it once; after a few seconds pause, the alarm would cause it to open and close a second time, these impulses, causing the gongs to hit once, then twice, as 12, so the box from which the alarm was being turned in would be identified as 12. The exact location made known, horses were hooked to their equipment and men and apparatus were on their way in seconds, compared to minutes delay that often resulted before the box systems were put in. Of course the boxes were greatly improved as time went on. as were the switch boards and other things connected with the system.
Gamewell Repeater Installed
In 1891 a Gamewell repeater system was installed, after which several alarm circuits were established. In other words, the one single alarm system was divided up into four districts, and the repeater would take the alarm as it came in on, say, circuit one, and would repeat it on circuits two, three, and four, and the various gongs on these circuits would also sound out the alarm. Gongs were also placed in houses of the call men, though they were not as large as the “20” engine house bells they worked the same as big ones and were scattered all over the city. Also, the newer type boxes would repeat the alarm four times in a row instead of sounding only a single time.
Again in 1930, a new Gamewell switchboard with room for ten circuits was installed; also new batteries and a transmitter and accessories. Since then the new Gamewell boxes have been and are being installed as fast as the appropriations will permit. Many of the old style “Utica” boxes are still in use locally and are over 65 years old. In the so-called high value and manufacturing sections, new boxes have already been installed. They are vastly different from the old style boxes. By opening the keyless door and pushing the button inside, the new box automatically functions for four rounds or sends in the alarm to fire headquarters four times. In the Engine houses, the gong taps off the alarm four times, and a tape system also simultaneously punches a tape giving the alarm, so that every box alarm is received in two ways at once, both by gong and tape. I have seen instances when circuit trouble arose and the gong was put out of order by a broken wire when the alarm came in properly over the tape alone, the watchman getting it, calling the company and a response being made in seconds.
In some of our manufacturing plants, private boxes have been installed. These boxes are exactly the same as the others only they are located on private property and are only used when fire is discovered on that property. For instance, the Oswego Shade Cloth Co. has two alarm boxes installed in its buildings. When these alarm boxes “come in”, the boys know, not only the exact location of the fire, but that they really have a job and usually a good one, a work often lasting for several hours.
In speaking of the new type boxes, we should not forget the old ones. The old type have a little glass door to break open to gain access to a key to open the main door, then, a hook to pull down the full length of the slot and then let go. This type box also sends in the alarm in four times.
More Alarm Boxes Needed
The city alarm system now has about 85 boxes. There are sections of the city, however, that are not protected by boxes and a survey would probably indicate that the city should have at least 40 more boxes so that no one should have to go more than two blocks in any direction to reach a box. The reason? Well, you wouldn’t care about answering your door bell at 3 a. m. some morning because you might think it was someone drunk trying to get in. And then after some minutes’ delay to find out that one of your neighbors was at the door, wanting to use your phone, and that valuable time had been lost waiting for you to let him in to call the Fire Department. But where there are not conveniently located alarm boxes, such a danger always lurks.
I have known of instances in which Fire Department officials have asked for equipment, only to be flatly turned down. The citizen should remember that shiny fire trucks do not necessarily make an efficient fire department. It takes all kinds of tools of many types to equip properly a fire department. There are over 1,000 kinds of fire department tools, nozzles and ladders that may be added to the equipment of modern fire trucks.
On The Night Shift
Many of us do not realize it but at night when most dangerous fires develop, not over 12 men with three trucks answer a first alarm and generally it is only ten men. The night of the Neal O’Brien lumber yard fire last summer 11 men answered the call, but they were soon reinforced by the “off shift” who were called in to work at 1 o’clock that morning. In time of any serious emergency, the “off shift” may be called in. The “off shift” was called in for the Checkerboard Feed Mill, Oswego Soy Products Corporation, Christ church and other fires of large proportions in recent years.
One recent night ten men answered an alarm from the Church of the Evangelists and we all read in the newspaper about how it was “a mighty fine stop.” Thick smoke, hard to get at cellar and boiler room, and yet the boys made it and the church is still standing. A few years ago a similar thing happened in Oswego, the same day that eight firemen lost their lives in Syracuse in the Collins Block fire. At Christ Church in Oswego the firemen also had a battle, for three hours and a half, yet the fire was stopped. About six lines of hose were used, but, not a stained glass church window was broken nor a thing damaged on the altar.
Damage? Well a new floor, new hymn books and prayer books to replace those damaged, and a new paint job in the church, also five men sickened by smoke poisoning, but all recovered. And that was a good stop! That is only one. There have been many more good stops, but usually nothing much is ever said about them. If you do a good job you like to be told about it. Remember, so do these men, too!
False Alarms
More firemen are killed and injured in responding to calls which turn out to be false alarms, than are killed in responding to actual fire calls. Oswego has lost one call fireman killed by a fake call from Box 46, at that time located at West Eighth and Utica streets, with several other firemen being injured. A citizen and several firemen were injured and an auto mobilist killed in another call which proved to be false, from the former State Normal school This same call cost the city a new truck and the loss of one fireman who had to retire on pension as the result of injuries.
In 1916, while responding to a call from Box 46, Callman James Murphy was crushed to death when Engine 3, going west, ploughed into the rear wheel of the horse drawn Hook and Ladder truck at West Second and Bridge streets. A good many people were on the street as the stores and movies were just letting out. Some smart aleck, going home, had pulled the box, little thinking of what the result of his thoughtless, but senseless, act might be. The tillerman of the Hook and Ladder, Frank Tupper, was thrown up and over a trolley wire in this same accident, landing on his shoulder. A fracture resulted which caused the loss of the use of his arm so that he had to be pensioned. The driver was uninjured luckily. Several of the men on No. 3 engine were cut and bruised but fortunately no one on this machine suffered permanent injury.
In the Normal school call, the driver of the automobile was killed when he failed to heed a police man’s warning and drove in front of No. 3 engine and both machines were totally wrecked. This accident took place at East First and Bridge streets at night. There have been numerous narrow escapes on the way to other false alarms. Why anyone will pull a false alarm must be wondered at.
Modern Department
Of course, the modern motor fire apparatus has everything that preceded it wholly outclassed. For carrying equipment, for carrying hose, ladders and men. One pumper today takes the place of a steamer, a hose wagon, and a chemical wagon which in the days of horse drawn apparatus would have required at least ten men and six horses. The modern aerial takes the place of two Hook and Ladder trucks of the horse drawn days, a city service wagon with equipment and an aerial truck.
Oswego has at the present time three triple combination pumpers and a Hook and Ladder truck. The Hook and Ladder truck carries a 75 foot all steel, 3 section aerial ladder on a turn table and can be used at any height, from 30 feet up to 75 feet, and at an angle from 45 to 90 degrees. The truck also carries all small equipment, axes, lanterns, hand lamps (electric), lath hooks of various lengths, deluge sets, pails, extra nozzles, cellar pipes, “Y” connections, Siamese connections and many other tools, as well as 288 feet of service ladders. These service ladders are from 10 feet up to 55 feet in length. The aerial truck also carries a turret pipe mounted on its aerial so that it may be used as a water tower to advantage. It is a big improvement over the old truck which carried half a dozen ladders, a few tools, and which had to be drawn by hand. The new aerial was bought in 1939 and is already 7 years old.
Six Hose Lines From One Engine
The most modern pumper, Engine No. 1, bought in 1936, can carry 1,500 feet of 2 ½” hose, has a 100 gallon water tank connected to its pump, has a booster line of 250 feet of 1 1/2 inch hose for small fires, can pump 1,250 gallons a minute or better, has 12 cylinders, can carry much equipment such as axes, brooms, shovels, rope, nozzles, and clothes for the men. By Siamese connections, six lines can be laid from this machine, modern in every way, although not so streamlined as the newer machines.
Engine No. 3, a smaller machine, is over 20 years old having seen continuous service since 1926. It replaced the engine wrecked in a false run as previously related. It carries a 750 gallon rotary pump, 1,000 feet of 2 1/2″ hose, has a 40 gallon chemical tank, carries ladders, a 12 foot roof and 20 foot extension, as well as a complement of small tools, practically the same as Engine No. 1 carries. Although still in service, it is beginning to show wear and tear and will some day have to be replaced by a modern machine. The reserve pumper is now stationed in No. 1’s house and is used as a fill in for the other pumpers when they are out of service for repairs. It has a 1,000 gallon pump, a 40 gallon chemical tank and carries 1,000 feet of 2 1/2″ hose as well as 250 feet of chemical or booster hose. This truck is nearly 30 years old. It has worked on various big fires, but its longest continuous run was 24 hours or nearly so, at the old Chicken Feed Factory fire at the foot of East Ninth street, on the site now occupied by the Fitzgibbons Boiler Co. Again it was operated continuously for nearly 12 hours at one stretch at Hessler’s Foundry fire about a month afterwards. It has pumped many times since for from one hour to five or six at various other fires. This truck was completely overhauled some years ago and as a reserve piece of apparatus, it is well worth keeping.
Ambulance Service
The Fire Department also controls the Ambulance Service afforded to citizens 24 hours a day. The ambulance, stationed at Fire Headquarters in East Bridge street with Engine 3, is taken care of by two drivers, both members of the Fire Department. The drivers work in shifts, one on days, the other nights, so that some one is always available day or night to answer emergency calls. I believe in the past few years the ambulance has been answering around 2,000 calls a year. The present ambulance is in need of replacement, as it is about worn out. The city has no other ambulance and has called for help from the county using the sheriff’s emergency car many times in the last year.
The original ambulance service was started by Mrs. George B. Sloan who gave the first ambulance to the city with the understanding the city should house it and give service free to anyone who might need it. This program has been carried on for many years and be he rich or poor, the same care is given to each individual. The ambulance is equipped with a moveable stretcher and bed. Blankets are furnished by the hospital. It is also equipped with a first aid kit, and an electric fan for summer use.
Fire Department In War
As war clouds gathered for World War II and it became certain we were to go into the fray, maps were posted in the various Oswego Engine Houses. Everyone became interested and then came the service call! From Engine No. I’s House, two men, Tom Wells and Benjamin Davis, entered the armed forces. In the Truck Co., Theo McCarthy enlisted. From No. 3 station and the ambulance force went Bob Reed, John Murray, James Muldoon and Edward Ackerly, totalling nearly one shift of the department. These men were replaced by temporary appointees, the last vacancies by returning veterans. These appointments for the most part will continue until civil service examinations are held and permanent appointments made or until all of the boys return. At present, two firemen are still in Germany, Bob Reed and Jim Muldoon, but they are expected back soon. As we tell you of these boys, some of whom went into the Army and some into the Navy service, we will stop long enough in this story to pay tribute to one, the only member of the department who made the supreme sacrifice, Benjamin Davis. “Bennie” was one of the first to go, entering the Army in 1942 and after training, he went across to England, where he was stationed for some time; thence to France. While he was moving with troops by truck, the truck he was riding in figured in an accident and turned over, catching fire. Ben Davis was burned severely and after being hospitalized, he died. He died as he lived, in service for you and me. May he be long remembered as a good fire man and a good soldier!
Chemicals For Special Fires
As this paper closes we can look back over the years and see that great progress has been made in fire fighting. It is really a science now, for there are many extinguishing agents for use in combatting many different kinds of fires. There is the water fog, good for most any kind of fire; carbon tetrochloride for electric fires; carbon dioxide for oil and gas and electric fires, and many other agents. About the only thing used years ago was water and plenty of it. It is hoped that the Oswego Department can get some of the needed new equipment now that the war is over and the equipment is procurable.
Great Fires Of The Past
In closing I list a few fires that have brought a loss, a great loss to our city in by gone years. They are:
1. 1830 – Oswego’s first very destructive fire between First and Second streets and between Cayuga and Seneca.
2. 1837 – Gilbert Mills, Parker Machine Shop.
3. 1853 – East Oswego’s business section.
4. 1858 – Emmons and Ontario Flour Mills.
5. 1892 – Grain Elevators and Flour Mills on river, east side, from Bridge street north to Schuyler street.
6. 1904 – Kingsford Starch Factory.
7. 1904 – Lake Shore Hotel.
8. 1910 – Standard Oil Box Shop Lumber Piles.
9. 1912 – Neidlinger’s Malt House.
10. 1914 – Hennessey’s Drug Store (14 below zero).
11. 1914 – Schwill Malt House.
12. 1915 – Diamond Match Lumber yards (hot day).
13. 1918 – Chicken Feed Factory Fire.
14. 1918 – Hessler’s Foundry.
15. 1920 – Street Car Barn (20 below zero).
16. 1922 – Northwestern Grain Elevator.
17. 1936 – Guimares Block, June 1.
18. 1940 – State Normal School Auditorium Fire.
19. 1942 – Soy Products Corporation Fire, December 11, 1942.
20. 1943 – Building housing Burnside’s Drug and Alfred Bros.,Clothing stores at 211- 213 West First street, gutted.
21. 1943 – Checker Board Feed Plant.
22. 1945 – Neal O’Brien Lumber Yard
No one knows where fire will strike next. And so in closing we should all become somewhat fire conscious and do what we can for a better Fire Department.
