Excerpts from at the St Charles History Museum online:

The LaFayette Fire Company, the first organized fire department in St. Charles, was chartered in Kane County on March 18, 1842.  Fifty-six members signed the charter and paid a $25 subscription fee. This followed a fire in February 1842 that destroyed several three-story buildings, including that of the St. Charles Patriot newspaper, on the northeast corner of First and East Main Streets. 

From 1842 to 1852, the Fire Company operated with buckets and hand tools; it was a bucket brigade of volunteers that formed a line to pass buckets of water from the Fox River to fight fires. In 1852, they obtained a four-wheel pumping engine from Chicago, as well as a hand-pulled hose cart.

During the 1800’s, the Fire Company was unable to get the City to finance a fire station, so it rented various spaces to store its equipment and moved many times. In 1857, the City authorized the repair of a small barn next to Brett’s Cabinet Shop for storage of the Lafayette Fire Co.’s equipment and fire engine. The barn was utilized until 1870 when the City sold the building. Once again, the Fire Co. began renting spaces. The equipment began to fall into disrepair, and the hand pumper was sold for salvage.

click the link above to see the complete historical information

thanks Dan

Tags: St Charles Fire Department history, St Charles History Museum onlione