_10.jpg)
_12.jpg)
History of the Augusta Fire Department
The earliest reference to fire protection as an officially funded part of the city dates back to 1799. The minutes from the annual meeting note the first company of firemen was appointed by the selectmen.
They were:
Elias Craig, Theophilus Hamlen, Amos Bond, Lewis Hamlen, Daniel Hartford, Barnabas Lambard, Shubael Pitts, John Brooks James Child, Perez Hamlen, Charles Gill, Joseph North Jr., Samuel Page, and Church Williams.
Presented as originally appeared
An Engine was purchased for the purpose of extinguishing fires. To manage the selectman by authority of law appointed a number of “engine men” who were directed to choose such officers and make such regulations not repugnant to the constitution of the Commonwealth as should be necessary for their government.
Some years previous to 1799 it should be noted that there were private fire companies formed by insurance companies for the protection of its members. They had printed articles of association which required each member to keep ready for use two leathern fire buckets and a canvas bag for removal of goods at fires, and the members at fires were first to render assistance to those of their associates who might need it. The principal citizens were members of this association and provided themselves with the bag and two to four leathern fire buckets, which were numbered and marked with their owner’s names. They were oblong with leathern handles and were very durable and convenient to pass water.
At 11:00 P.M. the “Cry of Fire” was heard alarming the citizens of a fire on the bridge. The wooden bridge went up so quickly that the Toll Taker and his family barely escaped.
It was described as “Awful Grandeur”.
The fire spread from the bridge to the Kennebec Journal building several times located on the West End of the bridge. It appears that the efforts of the fire department saved the building. The bridge collapsed in less than 30 minutes after the fire was discovered. It is interesting to note that a new bridge was built and opened for business only 138 days after the fire and 74 days after the trees had been cut.
The affair thrilled with horror the entire State when the fire was discovered at 3:00 A.M. on that fateful morning. The hospital had just been built ten years before the fire and was crowded with patients. A new heating system had been installed the year before and was noted to be dangerous and defective.
The fire was discovered by an attendant in a flue pipe around the furnace. The attendant and Dr. Harlow attempted to extinguish the fire by pouring buckets of water on the fire but the flames spread rapidly in defiance of their efforts and they hastily ascended to the dormitories to arouse and rescue the patients who were threatened with suffocation by the dense smoke passing through the air flumes to all parts of the old wing.
The sleeping apartments were unlocked and the patients were aroused. Some were stupefied and bewildered, others were wild with excitement, and they were urged, driven, and dragged into the new South Wing. The patients because of their condition and the confusion ran back to their rooms two and three times only to be rescued again. Many perished because of their continued returns to their rooms. Patients appeared in their windows visibly trapped as flames and smoke took over the wings. Many daring rescues were performed by ladders from the outside.
Messengers were sent throughout the City and Hallowell for help. The Bells rang of the alarm and the first fire engine Uncle Sam arrived from the grounds of the arsenal. The engine first pumped water from the cistern in front of the new wing, which did not last long. An attempt to hook up a hose to another well failed when the hose broke and another attempt at 10,000 gallons in the basement of the burning wing was not accessible because of the amount of fire. The flames spread unchecked for some time.
The Deluge Engine at the time of the fire was not in working order and by the time the two engines from Hallowell arrived the flames were bursting out of the windows. The only recourse for water was the Kennebec and the engines were placed to provide a water relay was set up as the Tiger drafted from the river and pumped through 700’ of hose to the Lion also of Hallowell, which pumped through 600 feet of hose to the Uncle Sam. This was an unbelievable testament to the ability of these machines to pump 1300’ of hose at an incredible change in grade and still put a stream of water 100 feet high onto the roof of these buildings.
Appearing in the Kennebec Journal on March 10th, 1900
Chief Engineer C.W. Ricker reported that there were 35 alarms of fire in the previous year, with a combined estimate of $8,748 in losses.
Significant events of the year:
- March 12th 1899 at 18:15 hours. Box 63 struck for a stable fire on Sewall Street. Damage estimate of $941. Three horses were killed in the fire.
- April 7th 1899 at 14:05 hours. Box 37 struck for a fire in the dump….on Capitol Street.
- April 7th 1899 at 16:55 Hours. Box 51 struck for a fire in a block on Bridge Street. $475 estimated damages. Cause listed as ‘rats and matches’.
- April 20th 1899. Box 57 struck for a fire in the stables at the Augusta Driving Park. Damage estimated at $400. Cause listed as ‘tramps’.
- April 22nd 1899 at 21:25 hours. Box 48 is struck and found to be a false alarm. Two men were apprehended in pulling the alarm and both were fined $26.29.
- May 18th 1899 at 15:12 hours. Box 63 is struck for a fire in a residence on Capitol Street. Damage estimated at $454.80. Cause listed as ‘ boys smoking in the stable’.
- July 4th 1899 at 17:46. Fire in two houses on Court Street. Total damage estimated at $459.10. Cause listed as incendiary.
- August 31, 1899 at 23:00 Hours. Box 42 is struck for a fire at the Broom Handle Manufacturing Company. Damage estimated at $1,000. Cause listed as the boiler.
- October 17th, 1899 at 08:10 Hours. Box 35 is struck for a fire in the kitchen of the Hotel North on Water Street. Damage estimated at $440. Cause is a faulty range.
In 1900 The Augusta Fire Department Roster was: Chief Engineer C.W. Ricker, 1st Asst. Engineer E. Pedder, 2nd Asst. Engineer E.H. Gay, Steamer Engineer F.I.Clark.
- Hose Ladder Combination 1- 18 Men, Captain H.C. Thyng, Located on Bridge Street, pulled by the City Team of Horses.
- Hose #2- 14 Men, Captain E.A. Shaw. Located at Cony Street, Pulled by a team of horses owned by L.G. Haskell at a cost of $1,100 per year.
- Hose #3- (2 Wheel), 12 Men, Captain Albert Folger, Located at the corner of Capitol and State Streets.
- Hose #4- (2 Wheel), 10 Men, Captain Lindsey Ellis, Located at Pettingill Corner
- Hose #5- (2 Wheel), 12 Men, Captain W.J. Skehan, Located on Northern Avenue
The department held in reserve a ‘ladder truck no longer in use’ and the Cushnoc Steamer #1 at the Bridge Street Station.