From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:
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Remember This: The Early Days of the Volunteer Fire Brigade
As a community grows it soon becomes necessary to create a fire service.
The city’s first fire service began as a volunteer brigade around 1889 with very little in the way of equipment.
Initially their firefighting equipment consisted of water buckets and hand reels.
By September of 1889 they were considering the purchase of a steam engine.
J.D. Ronald of Brussels, Ontario attended a meeting of the town council and offered to sell the community a horse drawn steam engine and other firefighting apparatus including hose and reels for $6,200.
He even offered the town the option of paying for it on an installment plan.
On September 4, 1889, the town council agreed to follow through with the purchase but they wanted to see the steam engine in action first. It was an exciting time as the testing turned into a source of entertainment for the entire town.
The Mayor, (Edward Biggings), town council members and Col. T.H. Elliott plus a large number of citizens turned out to watch the testing of the steam engine.
The town leaders and the citizens were pleased with the results of the test and by September 6 they voted to purchase the steam engine along with 1,000 feet of hose and two reels.
The equipment was purchased on 20-year debentures at five percent. This purchase was a significant step towards the creation of an actual fire department.
It was decided that since Colonel Elliott already had the rank of colonel he would be put in charge of the brigade.
In addition, Mister Morgan and Mister Biggings became engineers.
The town council once again consulted with Mr. Ronald, who had sold them the equipment, for advice about what they should be paying the fireman.
He advised that engineers were paid $5 for each fire that they attended and $2 for each practice.
Of course, now that they had an actual horse-drawn steam engine, they needed a fire department so that they would have some place to store their new steam engine.
After much consideration, the council decided that a fire station would be built on “Londry’s lot” located on McDougall Street at a cost of $2,000.
However council members did not want a hose tower built so instructions were given to build shelves that were 3 inches wide circling about the first station gradually rising to a height of 50 feet.
These shelves were to be used to lay the hose on in order for it to dry after being used at fires.
By early 1891 the mass resignation of the original fire brigade required that a second brigade be formed in March 1891.
William H. Hearst was chosen as the first fire chief and at this time it was unanimously decided to make the Fire Brigade a volunteer brigade.
This early fire brigade faced many obstacles when trying to fight fires.
Rocks and posts obstructed the roadways preventing the fire brigade from getting to fires quickly.
They also had a chronic shortage of rubber coats and lanterns.
In 1893, the fireman began to receive a nominal payment for their services.
They were paid 50 cents for the first hour spent fighting a fire and 40 cents for each subsequent hour.
They were also paid 25 cents for each false alarm that they attended.
If no water was thrown, then it was considered to be a false alarm.
By 1894 the hose wagon was in such a damaged condition that the entire fire brigade threatened to withdraw its services.
However this early fire brigade was a dedicated group as they regularly attended fires, scheduled fire drills and practices even though they were not being paid the same rate of pay that other communities of equivalent size and population were receiving.
The fire brigade was funded by small grants from the town council, donations from grateful citizens who had experienced fires on their property and from proceeds from fund-raising activities such as picnics, balls, concerts and football games.
In 1901, it was recorded in the minutes of the Fire Brigade that they had a balance of $3.75 left in their treasury at the beginning of the year!
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