FIRE DEPARTMENT

Dubuque's former Central Fire House

FIRE DEPARTMENT. In June 1970, the Dubuque Fire Department moved from its seventy-eight year-old headquarters into the new Central Fire Headquarters. The old Fire Headquarters, built in 1892, was demolished in 1970.

The first official company to answer fire alarms was established by the City Council on May 5, 1841. Cisterns were dug at various points throughout the city, and a crude engine nicknamed the "Coffee Mill" was purchased-the only apparatus owned by the department from 1841 to 1854. Given a fire alarm, the "Coffee Mill" was carted or carried to the scene where it was filled by a bucket brigade. By using cranks, the water from the "Mill" could be shot to the eaves of a three-story building. With no station house in which to keep it, the "Mill" was left outdoors until it rusted into uselessness. The new city charter in 1856 discontinued independent fire companies.

Before the use of motorized fire engines, Clydesdale horses were stabled at the old headquarters. When an alarm sounded, a lever was tripped which opened the stalls and the well-trained horses headed straight for their assigned engine. While some firemen hitched the horses, other fire fighters mounted the steamer, which was usually named for a MAYOR. The horses pulled the men and equipment at a gallop to the fire scene. In 1910 the $2,264.02 cost of feeding the department's twenty-six horses was only exceeded by the firemen's payroll. In 1911 the department replaced its condemned city service truck with a rubber-tired model, but one that was still horse-drawn.

The disastrous FIRES at the STANDARD LUMBER COMPANY were blamed in part by then Fire Chief Joseph Reinfried on poor equipment. In 1912 the department purchased its first motorized fire engine, and a car was purchased for the chief to replace his horse and buggy. By 1918 the entire department was motorized. (Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)