SAFD History

1880's:

In the beginning...the first fire department was nothing more than a bucket brigade, and if the building on fire was more than a block or so from the North Concho... it was tough luck!

By 1885 some of the town's more responsible citizens decided that more than a mere bucket brigade was needed to protect themselves from fire. On October 28, 1885 in the office of Oscar Ruffini, a local merchant, they organized San Angelo Hose Company Number 1. The twenty men in the first hose company housed their only piece of equipment - a hand pull hose reel and 150 feet of hose - in a brick-front building on Beauregard. Headquarters for the department, however, was in an old shack that wasn't large enough to hold their monthly meetings so they conveniently met in one of the local saloons. E.A. Nimitz was elected president of the organization and is termed the city's first fire chief. The company's motto was "Always Ready", and the volunteers took it seriously. If a man ever showed up at a fire slightly inebriated, he was fined $2.50. He would pick up another 25-cent fine for failing to report for a weekly department meeting. Hose companies Two and Three were formed in 1887 only to be disbanded ten years later when the city corporation was abolished. Hose company Number One continued to operate as best they could under the circumstances. In 1903 the city was re-incorporated and the fire department was reorganized.

1900's:

By 1904 the department had grown to two hose companies and a hook-and-ladder crew. Manpower was still unpaid volunteers. If there was a fire, the hat would be passed around town to pay the firemen. Ten percent of the collection would be placed in a capital improvement fund. The remainder of be divided among the firefighters. Fifty cents per man was considered good pay for fighting a fire.

In 1906 the city commission agreed to pay $2.00 per fire for soiled and ruined clothing. That same year Joe and Snyder became part of the fire department. Joe and Snyder were a pair of horses bought by the city to draw the first city-bought piece of fire equipment, a horse-drawn hose wagon

Snyder was soon disabled and they bought Dan to replace him. For many years, it was common sight to see kids of the city running after the two dapple grays as they raced to fires at a frantic pace.

SAFD History Part 2