Uniformed Fire Fighters history

By 1823 New Bedford was the largest whaling port in the United States.

In 1824 the first real improvement in the fire service took place.

In 1826 an engine house was built in Franklin Square.

A steam fire engine was built in London in 1829, but the volunteer fire companies of the day were very slow to accept it.

Some feel they were not in existence long enough to ever answer an alarm, however the book this information is based on states that , Washington No.4, "have been in existence prior to July 1834.

In 1847 the Washington Fire Company was organized and in the latter part of the following year the Young America Fire Company sprung into existence.

In May of 1850 the Savannah Fire Company adopted resolutions to allow colored firemen to wear uniforms.

1856 found Savannah protected by, Oglethorpe No 1, 35 members (white) Washington No 9, 52 members (white), Germania No.

In a book titled “The Fireman:” David D. Dana gives information about a number of fire departments in 1858.

For example, during the late 1860’s the city was ravished by a series of fires.

In 1866, Chief Fire Officer Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw introduced a new uniform consisting of a blue double-breasted serge tunic and trousers.

He joined the Fire Department on Nov.9, 1868, and was assigned to Steam Engine Co.No.4, the "Cornelius Howland." stationed at Bedford and Sixth St in the south central part of the city.

In the 1870’s, the city had two black companies, the Vigilant Fire Company and the Enterprise Fire Company.

Unknown artist's idea of Newark's first steam pumper, 1871.

The Milam Company on the other hand did not acquire a steam pumper until 1875.

3 fire station, built in 1882, was the first in Kansas and may have been the first in the United States to be manned entirely by Blacks.

The first letter must have appeared in the “Leader” on November 3, 1884 by Mr.

"The first All-Negro fire-fighting Company was organized in Nashville on January 15, 1885.

City records indicate that Companies No.3 and No.4 did not ask for funds until 1886 when Company No.3 requested assistance.

George W. Bright, hired October 2, 1897, was the first black member of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

In 1903 the city ended its contract with the volunteer fire departments and organized the first paid fire department.

He was a teamster prior to being hired by the LAFD. The City Fire Department Report of 1905 shows Lt.

He attained the rank of Captain before he retired on January 1, 1931.

5. Of these men, A. Green, J. Costen, W. Brown, V. Green W. Huckleby and J. Jones were promoted to Lieutenant, C. Alston and C. Johnson became Captains, w. Thus in the summer of 1935 a new era begun.

"Ben Christian, a member of Engine Company Eleven, while rolling hose on 12th Avenue, North between Jo Johnston and Gay, was struck by a hit and run driver of a truck on January 17, 1939.

A white firefighter named Sterling Ford who joined the department in 1946 recorded much of the history of the department and his comments about the black firefighters sums up the feeling in the community. "They were some of the best damn firefighters this city ever had."

In a photo taken in 1954 black firefighters were identified as Frank Stearns, Walter Agee, Cappell Curtis, Eli McClinton, Paul Orduna and auxiliary firefighter Dick Greer.

Alderson announced his intention to retire effective December 29, 1955.

Integration came to the department in 1963 and the station that had been a neighborhood focal point was closed when a new station was built to replace it.

On October 3, 1970 the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters (Keep The Fire Burning For Justice) was founded.

In 1974, under the combined efforts of Theodore Fuller, Roscoe Friend, Norville Marshall, James Duke Stewart III, Everette Jasper, Alvin Mosby and others, Black Brothers Combined Professional Firefighters of Richmond, Virginia Inc. was formed.

In 1975, the courts ruled in favor of he plaintiffs and thereafter, the City of Columbus developed a strong affirmative action program.

The District of Columbia Fire Department employs more than fifty Black female firefighters, and an even larger number in EMS. Beatrice Rudder, hired in the first group of women in 1977, later became a sergeant, the first woman to be promoted in the DCFD.

A judge ruled against the black firefighters and a federal judge upheld the decision in December, 1978, one month after the arrival of the bureau's first black chief, Ronald C. Lewis.

In June of 1979, Greenville, Mississippi hired the first Black woman firefighter in the state, Laverne Sing.

In April of 1980, Columbus’ first female firefighter entered the recruit training class.

Among the New York City Fire Department's first women firefighters hired in 1982 were a number of Black women, most of whom who are still on the job eighteen years later.

On 18 November 1987, the worst fire in the history of the London Underground claimed the lives of 31 people, including a senior ranked firefighter, and seriously injured many more at King's Cross station.

The first Nomex suit was introduced in 1989.

Gerald had a son name Jess Warren Robinson who joined the Hutchinson, Kansas Fire Department seven years before his father retired and served until his retirement in 1996 as a captain.

Then in July of 1998, Engine 255 pulled up to a fire where Jack Pritchard would perform the most famous heroics of his career.