Posts Tagged Milwaukee Fire Department is turning 150 years old
Hello everybody. The MFD will host a 150th anniversary event at HENRY MAIER FESTIVAL GROUNDS. Should be a fun and interesting event.
thanks Crabby
Excerpts from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Milwaukee Fire Department turns 150 years old on Jan. 1. Its history spans from the days of “bucket brigades” to modern innovations in firefighting equipment and life-saving techniques.
The department’s roots date before 1875 to Milwaukee’s earliest days as a village in the 1830s. Local firefighter historians shared their insights on some of the most consequential moments over that time.
Milwaukee’s first organized firefighting crew was a volunteer effort that began in 1837, with equipment and firehouses funded by donors or the volunteers themselves, according to a historic preservation report.
“Grateful storekeepers and hotel managers would frequently feed the volunteers during bouts of fire fighting. Members were also expected to help quiet civil disturbances when called upon,” the report said.
Those first volunteers used an old wagon with buckets and ladders on it, said Jim Ley, a retired deputy fire chief who is curator of the Milwaukee Fire Department’s museum and historical society.
By 1861, a more formalized department was created where firefighters would hold regular daytime jobs but remain on standby for emergencies. That came around the same time as the onset of steam engines, which required trained staff to operate, Ley said.
Then, on Jan. 1, 1875, a full-time, paid fire department was created. The tools firefighters used over the years have evolved “leaps and bounds” since then, Rode said: from horses pulling steam engines to the first motorized vehicles in the 1910s. Today’s fire engines carry 500 gallons of water on the truck and can pump 1,500 gallons per minute.
Click HERE for an extensive historical photo gallery
