Florence Alabama Fire Department history

When the Florence Fire Department was first organized in 1828, there were no fire trucks, hydrants, or electric alarms. Fighting a fire meant gathering the townspeople, forming a line, and passing buckets of water from the nearest well.

The history of the Florence, Alabama Fire Department began on April 25, 1828, when the town established a volunteer fire company consisting of male residents between the ages of 18 and 50.

Florence’s First Firefighters: 1828

Every household was required to keep a ladder and a two-gallon leather bucket reserved exclusively for fighting fires. When a building caught fire, volunteers formed two lines to pass full buckets toward the flames and empty buckets back to the nearest well or cistern.

The town also introduced fire prevention regulations. Residents could not store more than 25 pounds of gunpowder within 100 feet of a house, and stables containing hay, fodder, or hemp were prohibited within the business district.

False alarms carried stiff penalties: $10 during the day and $20 at night. In 1828, those were substantial sums.

From Bucket Brigades to Horse-Drawn Equipment

By 1902, the Florence Fire Department had advanced to a hand-drawn, two-wheeled hose cart and a hook-and-ladder wagon. The wagon was pulled by horses rented from Jesse Patton’s livery stable, which stood at the later site of the Negley Hotel.

Although Florence had installed a municipal water system in 1890, its method of reporting fires had changed little since 1828. Someone still had to fire a gun or run into town to announce that a fire had broken out.

Florence’s First Motorized Fire Truck: 1915

In 1915, Fire Chief Donald White purchased the department’s first motorized fire apparatus, a Type 20 American LaFrance. The vehicle represented a major advancement over the horse-drawn equipment of earlier years.

A telephone was also installed at the fire station, allowing residents to report fires without relying entirely on shouted warnings or gunshots.

A Modern Fire Alarm System Arrives in 1918

In 1918, the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company installed a modern alarm system in Florence. The equipment included a five-circuit automatic repeater, a network of fire alarm boxes, and a six-circuit switchboard.

The system was designed to function even if the city’s electrical current was interrupted.

In just ninety years, firefighting in Florence had progressed from leather buckets and volunteer bucket brigades to motorized equipment and an automatic fire alarm network.

It was a remarkable transformation for a town whose earliest firefighters had little more than ladders, buckets, and each other.