USA > Connecticut > New London County > A modern history of New London County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 7
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Doubtless among the illustrious industrial achievements of Connecticut during all periods of her wonderful progression, no accomplishment is more notable than that of the establishment of the splendid insurance institutions for which her name is now famous. By the same token, no page in the history of the mercantile life of the state will be more brilliant than that on which is written the outstanding record of the chartering of her first Fire Insurance Companies, both stock and mutual, in the county of New London.
CORRENT No.1 Harwich, Come. 1769
ABOVE. FIRST FIRE ENGINE OWNED IN NORWICH; BUILT 1769, STILL IN EXIST- ENCE, BELOW, POTTER FIRE, FEBRUARY 4, 1904, MERCURY 5 BELOW ZERO, G A. M. ON MORNING OF 5TIL.
CHAPTER XVII
NORWICH FIRE DEPARTMENT
By HOWARD L. STANTON Chief of Fire Department
That Norwich had certain rough-and-ready provision against fire from its earliest date one can readily surmise, for the first settlers were men of judgment. Any provision made against fire prior to 1830 was mostly by buckets which every householder was required to keep ready and to respond in case of fire.
For the last fifty years Old Torrent Engine No. I, built by John Bliss in 1769, has been in the care of the Norwich Fire Department and at this time is stored at the Central Fire Station and kept as a relic. This old machine has neither suction connection nor outlets for hose (as neither was in existence in those days), but a copper pipe was screwed to the outlet, six feet long with a three-quarter inch hole at the end. This old pipe or nozzle is still with the engine. It is known that this old engine is the sixth oldest American-made in the country. There were five American-made engines built prior to the building of Old Torrent. They were built in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. There is no doubt about this old machine antedating the Revolution, as a crude figure of a crown and the letters M. S. on the tire of one of the wheels are still plainly traceable. The last time the old machine was used at a fire was at the blacksmith shop of Mr. Williams, on West Town street, about 1870. At that fire the machine was stationed near the blazing building, with a few men to work the wheezy old brake, while water was passed in buckets along a double row of citizens from a neighboring brook and poured into the diminutive tank. The stream of water it threw was not very effec- tive. Old Torrent engine has traveled much since it went out of service. It was at the Cincinnati Exposition, the Centennial Exposition, at Boston, Hartford, Kansas City, and in many parades. This old engine was the only fire apparatus in the town until the early part of 1804, when a company was formed at the Landing, as the present center of the city was called.
It is said that in 1773 Thomas Harland removed from England to this town and erected a shop in which he plied the watch and clock trade, and that he built in his shop a fire engine which was in service at Norwich Town. There is some uncertainty about the identity of this old Harland engine, and some infer that it was built prior to the Old Torrent. The subscription list showing the amount subscribed in pounds and shillings for the building of Old Torrent engine is in the possession of the Misses Bliss, descendants of John Bliss, who built the engine.
The first fire station was built on what is now Church street, near the site of the present Trinity Episcopal Church. The company was known as the Red Jackets, and comprised the most influential residents down town, from twenty-five to forty members. Its distinctive uniform was a red shirt, from which the members took the name of "Red Jackets." For about ten years the company had the down-town field entirely to itself. Its engine
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was almost a duplicate of Torrent engine, without suction, and at fires citi- zens were pressed into service to carry water buckets back and forth from the rivers and Franklin street brook, then uncovered its entire length.
About 1815 another engine company was organized and an engine house built for it on Church street, near the present site of the Central Baptist Church, and was known as Engine Company No. 2, and later known as Niagara Engine Company. In 1828 another engine was purchased by the city and located at the Falls section, in a building located on what is known as Yantic street, and which has since been altered into a tenement house and owned by the Falls Cotton Company. This company was known as No. 3, and later as Uncas Engine Co. No. 3. In addition to the protection afforded the residents and mill at the Falls, another engine was built and controlled by the Thames Company, now known as the Falls Cotton Company. This engine was known as No. 4. Both were suction engines. From 1828 until 1846 the Norwich fire apparatus was not increased. During that period Nos. I and 2 engines down town and Nos. 3 and 4 at the Falls and the Old Torrent at Norwich Town, composed the entire fire equipment of Norwich. In 1846 a hand engine was placed in service in the Greenville end of the town, and known as the Quinnebaug.
November 26, 1793, fifteen buildings were destroyed by fire in Chelsea, as the down-town section of the town was then called. The Congregational meeting house, four dwellings, six stores and shops and four barns were destroyed. This fire started in a store on Water street, nearly in the range of the present Merchants' Bank, continuing to the junction of Main street and thence to the river. Most of the buildings were old and of very small value ; a large portion of the goods were saved, but there was no insurance on any of the property. There was at this time a fire engine of small capacity in Norwich which was brought out for the occasion, but little could be done to arrest the flames. The loss was estimated at $8,000, a small sum compared with the extent of the flames.
In 1834 there was a fire of some magnitude on Cliff street, in Elijah Curtis's blacksmith shop and the barn and carpenter's shop of J. Q. and G. H. Cox. Only adjoining property was saved. From now onward the history of the Fire Department becomes very much clearer.
The next fire of consequence was the burning of the Hubbard paper mill at the Falls in the winter of 1836-37, at which the clumsy engines dem- onstrated their utter powerlessness to stay the fury of a conflagration. An- other fire at about the same date burned out Henry Allen's shop on Chestnut street, but the firemen succeeded in saving a portion of the building, which is now standing, and occupied by N. S. Gilbert & Sons as a repair and refinish- ing shop, in connection with their furniture business. In the winter of 1841-42 another large fire occurred in which two carriage shops, a tannery and small buildings were destroyed. In the summer of 1842 the Shetucket cotton mill at Greenville was burned. The fire had made such progress before the engines reached the scene that the factory was beyond the power of the fire department to save it.
Two disastrous conflagrations occurred in February, 1844. One swept
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NORWICH FIRE DEPARTMENT
everything clean on the south side of Franklin square from Rose Alley to Ferry street and to the site of the present Vaughn foundry. The other, one week later, cleaned up all the buildings, of wood, on the south side of Main street from Lec & Osgood's store to Shetucket street and thence to Little Water street. At this fire the department had a desperate struggle to save the business portion of the town from total destruction.
The two destructive fires in the winter of 1844 aroused the city authorities to the necessity of providing more modern and effective fire-fightng appa- ratus. June 23rd, 1846, at a meeting of the Court of Common Council, the chief engineer reported the condition of the Fire Department and the neces- sity of procuring three new engines and building cisterns for water. The following resolution was presented and the same adopted :
Resolved, That the Mayor and Chief Engineer be a committee with power to procure for the use of the city three new fire engines of the most approved construction, and that they be authorized and empowered to construct not exceeding eighteen cisterns for the supply of engines in times of fires, and to locate the same.
Resolved, That the sum of $3,000 be and the same is hereby appropriated to defray the expense of the above engines and cisterns.
Resolved, That it recommend to the first city meeting that a tax of four cents on the dollar be laid upon the city list last perfected, to meet the appropriations for the fire department.
At the meeting of the Court of Common Council on July 9, 1846, it was voted that the committee to whom was referred the subject of procuring three new engines for the Fire Department be and hereby are instructed to procure three of Waterman's best engines.
During the fall of 1846 a committee was appointed to purchase a lot, and contract for and build an engine house on the west side of the river, with full power to act in the premises. The lot was purchased of W. W. Coit, and the building erected on Thames street; cost of lot, $320. The two old engines Nos. I and 2 were disposed of in 1847 as per vote of the Court of Common Council, April 7, 1847. Neptune Engine Company No. 5 was organ- ized in 1846, and assigned the new station on Thames street, and given one of the so-called Waterman engines. The other two Waterman engines went to engine companies Nos. I and 2.
About this time the building on Main street now occupied by Chemical Company No. I was erected. The upper part of the building was used by the Court of Common Council until the erection of the City Hall. This station was first used by Engine Company No. I, with the Waterman engine that first went into service in the old building on Church street. Later, in March, 1861, the first steam fire engine was purchased and placed in service, and the name of the company changed to Wauregan Steam Fire Engine Company No. I. At the organization of Blackstone Hose Company No. 1 in 1868, they were assigned quarters in the same building with Wauregan Steam Fire Engine Company No. I.
Common Council records show that $470 was appropriated in 1849 for a lot on Union Street, for the purpose of erecting a building to house Engine
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No. 2. This company was later known as Niagara Engine Company No. 2, and always held No. 2 as its number until the company was disbanded in 1903 to make room for the part paid fire department then in its formative period. This No. 2 station was built in 1849 at a cost of $1,000, and at this date is a portion of the building owned by Mr. L. L. Chapman and enlarged into an office building at the junction of Broadway and Bath streets. Broad- way at this point was formerly Union street, and what is now Broadway was formerly Allen street.
Common Council records also show that the residents of the so-called Falls district to the number of 67 petitioned the Court of Common Council, July 3, 1850, for a new engine and hose, and at the meeting of the Court of Common Council October 2, 1850, the committee recommended an appro- priation of $1,000 for a new engine and hose, and a suitable house at a further cost of $Soo, including lot.
About this time Fire Engine Company No. 5 decided their station was not suitable, although it had only been built five years. Their petition was referred and a report was presented recommending that fifteen feet of land be purchased at the rear of this building on Thames street, and the building lengthened and the roof raised, with other improvements necessary to obviate the difficulties complained of. The expense of these improvements, including additional land, should be about $500. The petition of No. 3 from the Falls district for the new engine and house, and the petition from the West Side for changes to No. 5 station, were granted, and at a city meeting held in Octo- ber, 1850, $2,300 was appropriated to pay the cost of same.
After the disastrous fire on Central Wharf in 1851, in which there was a loss of $200,000, the city of Norwich enjoyed a notable immunity from serious fires for upwards of ten years, and in that period, too, the history of the department was devoid of striking events and few improvements were made in its equipment. The apparatus which was procured in 1846-47 was as good as the resources of the times afforded, and was satisfactory to the city up to the era of steam fire engines in the latter part of the 1850-60 decade.
At a meeting of the Court of Common Council, September 15, 1859, an appropriation of $1,300 was made for a lot and $1,400 for the erection of a station on Union street, adjoining Engine Company No. 2, for the use of Wauregan Hook and Ladder Company, recently organized, and who owned their own truck. The first ball of this company was given in Apollo Hall, February 22, 1850, and was considered the event of the season.
In March, 1859, Neptune Engine Company No. 5 petitioned the Court of Common Council for a new station. April 11, 1859, the Council voted $350 for a lot on West Main street, and $1,200 for the building. This building is still used as a fire station, and at this date is housing Chemical Company No. 2.
The first steam fire engine purchased by the city was an Amoskeag engine built at Manchester, New Hampshire, and was a wonder for those days. It was known as "the big steamer," or Wauregan Steam Fire Engine No. I. This engine weighed 9,600 pounds and had a capacity of about 700 gallons per minute, although in those days measurements as to capacity
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were not considered as at the present time. This engine went into service in March, 1861, and continued in service until 1905, when it was traded in at the time the new Metropolitan engine was purchased, three years after the part paid Fire Department organized. In 1866 two more steam fire engines were purchased. They were of small capacity, and at first were drawn by hand, but horses were provided later. One went to No. 3 at the Falls, and the other to No. 5 at the West Side. These two engines were built by William Jeffers, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and were single acting pumps of about 300 gallons capacity per minute. In 1867 the Greenville end of the town before it was annexed to the city, through its Fire Association purchased a Jeffers engine, which made four steam fire engines in the town. At the annexation of Greenville to the city, this engine became No. 7.
These steam fire engines displaced the hand apparatus entirely, and the one on the West Side, known as No. 5, was sold to Stonington, Connecticut. This was an end-stroke Hunneman machine, purchased in the early sixties, which superseded the Waterman engine purchased in 1846. The old Water- man was sold to Winslow Williams, at Yantic, to protect the mills at this end of the town, and is in existence in the station at Yantic at this date. No. 3 hand engine was sold to Bristol, Connecticut, and No. I hand engine to the Eagle Armory, on the Greenville road, near the present plant of the silk mill of Brainerd & Armstrong Company.
The next important improvement to the fire service was the building of the water works in the late sixties, the completion and celebration occurring in 1870. The completion of the water system with hydrants and water under pressure for fire service was perhaps the greatest stride ever made before or since for the quick control of fires.
January 20, 1869, occurred the fire at the Falls in the so-called braid mill or worsted manufactory. The building was owned by Charles A. Con- verse, and the mill was occupied by one James Townsend. This fire, result- ing in considerable damage, was of incendiary origin as reported to the Court of Common Council by the Fire Marshal, February 22, 1869. Feb- ruary 14, 1869, at 12:30 A. M., occurred the so-called Apollo Hall fire. This ' building stood on the site of the present Boston Store building, now occupied by the Reid & Hughes Company. The fire did not start in the Hall building, but in a frame building near where the present annex to the Shannon building stands. This was the largest fire in many years, or since the burning of the old court house on the night of the day that news reached Norwich of the fall of Richmond in 1865. The old court house stood on the site of the present Allen apartments on Court street.
After the completion of the water works, several hose companies were organized, among them being the Blackstone Hose Company No. I, Indepen- dence Hose Company No. 6, and later Norwich Hose Company No. 4. Black- stone Hose Company was quartered in Main street, in the building with Engine Company No. I, and a new station was erected in Thamesville for Independence Hose Company No. 6 in 1876. The station on Boswell avenue was erected in the late seventies to house Norwich Hose Company No. 4.
As previously stated, the water system was constructed in the late sixties,
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and the first public test of the fire hydrants was made January 8th, 1869, under the direction of William M. Williams, chief of the Fire Department. The reservoir gate was closed for filling the reservoir October 23rd, 1868, and the water began to overflow at the waste-way January 16, 1870. The time passed between the closing of the gate and the commencement of the overflow was 450 days.
From 1870 to 1900, or a period of about thirty years, the Fire Department was maintained as a first-class volunteer organization. Joseph B. Carrier was elected chief in 1869 and served two years, being succeeded by Daniel A. Delanoy, who served two years. Chief Carrier was again appointed in July, 1873, and served until his death in September, 1890. Chief Carrier was a typical chief of a volunteer fire department. In 1876 he was made a permanent chief, and his duties were increased by being appointed fire marshal and superin- tendent of the fire alarm system whch had been installed early in 1876.
During the time of Chief Carrier's connection with the department, the volunteer organization was at its height. In 1888 the Greenville Hook and Ladder Company was organized and given the old truck of Truck Company No. I, a new one having been purchased for No. I. Greenville Hook and Ladder Company No. 2 is still a volunteer company, but has a light city- size Seagrave truck. Under Chief Carrier, the best and finest fire parades took place annually, thousands flocking to the city to witness them. During the peak of volunteer days there were eleven volunteer organizations, includ- ing the fire police.
November 9, 1872, the great Boston fire occurred and assistance was requested from Norwich. James Lloyd Greene was mayor, and Daniel A. Delanoy chief of the department. Request for aid was received Sunday, November 10, and at 3 P. M. one passenger car and two freight cars started for Boston with steamers I and 5 with their hose carrages, also the hose carriage of Truck Company No. I known as Ghost Hose, which this company maintained in addition to their truck. Accompanying the firemen, who num- bered upwards of one hundred men from the several companies, were Mayor Greene and several prominent citizens who looked out for the welfare of the firemen. The Norwich contingent arrived in Boston early in the evening and unloaded their apparatus, but did not go into service until after 10 P. M., as the fire was considered under control. About that hour an explosion occurred and the Norwich firemen were assigned to the district at Washing- ton and Summer streets, the engines taking water from a cistern in front of the Boston Theater. The loss at this fire was upwards of eighty million dollars. The department arrived back in Norwich on Monday, November IIth. at midnight, completely tired out, but with the knowledge of their services being appreciated by the authorities of Boston.
The services of the department have been requested from many of the towns about Norwich in the past fifty years, and have always been regarded. At some of the fires to which they have responded they have saved consid- erable property. While there were several large fires in Norwich between 1870 and 1890, there were none of large proportions. In May, 1883, the
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Allen Spool and Printing Company building at the Falls was destroyed with a total loss.
At the death of Chief Carrier in September, 1890, First Assistant Chief Engineer Louis W. Greenberg was elected to the vacant position, and served until July 1, 1901, when he resigned. Chief Greenberg's administration was along the lines of Chief Carrier. No improvements were made except the erection of the new double station at Greenville to replace the small wooden building destroyed by fire. This building was erected in 1895 at a cost of about $15,000, and is at this date in good condition, housing the only two volunteer companies left in Norwich-Engine Company No. 2, and Truck Company No. 2.
The period from 1895 to 1901 was the beginning of the decline of the Volunteer Fire Department. Other cities of the State had already changed to a part paid department, and interest had commenced to decline among the members of the department. The annual fall fire parade of 1896 was the last of the old-time parades of any size. There have been parades of firemen with other organizations since that date, but of small proportions. During Chief Greenberg's administration there were several fair-sized fires, but the largest one occurred February 4th, 1900, at 6:05 A. M., in the Hopkins & Allen Arms Company on Franklin street, caused by an explosion. The Hopkins & Allen building was entirely destroyed, and considerable damage was done to surrounding property, the losses amounting, insured and uninsured, to up- wards of $175,000. This large fire demonstrated to the citizens that it was time to move for a part paid fire department and have horse-drawn apparatus, with a few men in stations at all times so as to respond at once. At a city meeting held in June, 1900, $8,000 was added to the regular appropriation for the purchase of modern fire apparatus.
What has already been written about the Norwich Fire Department will prove that when the citizens of Norwich saw the necessity of changing from one type of fire apparatus to another in order to modernize and progress along lines of other cities and to conform to the best practice, they invariably voted the necessary appropriations to make the change. The two pieces of horse- drawn apparatus ordered in the summer of 1900 arrived in May, 1901, and were placed in storage, as provision had not been made for their being put into service. One of the pieces was a 65-foot aerial ladder truck, and the other was a combination chemical and hose wagon, both up-to-date pieces of apparatus.
At a meeting of the Court of Common Councl, June 12, 1901, the resigna- tion of Louis W. Greenberg, Chief of the Fire Department, was presented and accepted to take effect July 1, 1901, after serving as chief nearly eleven years, from September, 1890, to July. 1901. At the same meeting Howard L. Stanton was elected chief engineer, fire marshal and superintendent of the Fire Alarm Telegraph, and he is holding the same positions at this date. At the time of the election of Chief Stanton he was not a member of the Fire Department, having resigned July 1, 1899, after a service of eighteen years as assistant chief, with a previous record in the department in the West Side Company known as Neptune No. 5, and also as Delanoy No. 5, starting N.L .- 1-31
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in Neptune Steam Fire Engine Company as a signal boy in 1870.
The following volunteer companies, eleven in number, were in commis- sion July 1, 1901 : Wauregan Steam Fire Engine Company No. 1 ; Wauregan Hook and Ladder Company No. 1; Blackstone Hose Company No. 1 ; Wil- liam M. Williams Hose Company No. 3; Shetucket Steam Fire Engine Com- pany No. 7; Greenville Hook and Ladder Company No. 2; Niagara Hose Company No. 2; Norwich Hose Company No. 4; Neptune Hose Company No. 5; Independence Hose Company No. 6; and the Norwich Fire Police.
October 7, 1901, the Court of Common Council, on the recommendation of the fire commissioners, decided to disband the fire police in the interest of economy, as the regular city police attended all fires. The amount appro- priated for the Fire Department in 1901-02 was $11,000, and little could be done toward a part paid department on that amount. The inventory of the Fire Department at this time was $76,355, including buildings, apparatus and supplies. There were 65 alarms of fire during the year, with a loss of $14,- 444. The appropriation was increased in 1902 and 1903 to $17,500, which enabled the department to get started toward a part paid department; also, an appropriation was made for the new Central Fire Station.
Under an ordinance of the city regulating the Fire Department, adopted September 22, 1902, the fire commissioners approved the purchase of a pair of horses, and stalls were fitted in the West Side station. The volunteer company was disbanded and three permanent men hired, with call men to fill six beds every night. The names of the first permanent men were Alvin D. Lewis, captain ; Edward F. Stinson, driver; and Patrick J. Caples, hoseman. The combination machine purchased in 1900 was finally placed in service on November 1, 1902, and was known as Chemical Company No. I. There were 79 alarms during the year, with a loss of $22,089. A new hose wagon arrived in April, 1903, and another pair of horses were purchased. This apparatus was placed in service temporarily in Niagara No. 2 station on Broadway, and was known as Hose Company No. 5. Niagara Hose Company No. 2 and Black- stone Hose Company No. I were disbanded July 1, 1903, as volunteer organ- izations to form the second part paid company. The men from the two dis- banded companies who desired positions in the new companies were retained.
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