Richard Schneider - Seattle Fire Department

Seattle Engine Company No. 1 came to life at a meeting of citizens on July 6, 1876. A constitution was written, officers elected, and money for equipment was obtained by subscription. A used Hunneman end-stroke hand-operated pumper was purchased from the Sacramento Fire Department, and a hose reel was borrowed from the Port Gamble Volunteers across Puget Sound. The apparatus was housed in a shed on the Hinckley property at the southwest corner of Second and Columbia Streets, and the volunteers were in business.

By 1878, sufficient funds were available to purchase a new steam pumper capable of delivering 550 gallons of water per minute. Bought for $3,500 from the Gould Company of Vermont, it arrived by ship on February 1, 1879, and the steamer was paraded through town. The parade was followed by a celebration that included a dinner hosted by the ladies of Seattle and a dance at Yeslers Hall.

On the evening of July 26, 1879, a major fire destroyed Yeslers Wharf at the foot of Mill Street (todays Yesler Way). The new steamer worked well drafting from the bay until a liner in the suction hose loosened and plugged the pumps intake. The old hand pumper was once again summoned and put to work.

In the 1880 Census, the population of Seattle was 3,553. A new fire station was built in 1883 for the Seattle Engine Company on Columbia Street between Front (now First Avenue) and Second Streets. In 1884, the city formally took control of the volunteer fire department through an ordinance passed on April 11. Gardner Kellogg, a druggist who had been active in the early Chicago Fire Department, was selected as the chief. He was replaced by Josiah Collins on May 13, 1888.

Other volunteer fire companies had joined the Seattle Engine Company over the years, including Hyak Hose Company No. 1, which shared the Columbia Street quarters with the Seattle Engine Company. By June 1889, the list of companies also included Washington Engine Company No. 2 and a hook-and-ladder company at the city hall, Union Engine Company No. 3 on the Western Mill property, Belltown Hose Company No. 4, and Deluge Hose Company No. 7 in the old North School. However, providence had plans for the city that month that would bring an end to the volunteer era.

The Hunneman hand-operated pumper, which was bought from the Sacramento Fire Department, served at several volunteer companies in Seattle before it was sold. It is pictured here at one of its hand-me-down fire brigades after 1910. (Courtesy of LRFD.)

Seattle Engine Company No. ls original quarters were in the shed with the tower, possibly a windmill, on the Hinckley property at the southwest corner of Second and Columbia Streets. Pictured here is the 1878-built Gould steam pumper, which was capable of delivering 550 gallons of water per minute. (Courtesy of SFD.)