The Steam Fire Engine and the Old-time Fire Bell

by Anonymous

The Carillon Park Engine

The steam fire engine on display at Carillon Park has been preserved through the efforts of the Sidney and Dayton Fire Departments. Originally the property of the Sidney Fire Department, it was donated to the Dayton Fire Department in 1953 for reconditioning and subsequent display. The refurbished engine, in like-new condition, was moved to Carillon Park concurrently with the opening of the park’s 1955 season. Educational and Musical Arts, Inc., the non-profit civic organization which operates Carillon Park, provided the structure which houses both the engine and the old-time fire bell which once hung in the fire station at Fifth and Brown Streets.

The fire engine is a single-pump Ahrens-Fox and originally cost $4,000. It was purchased by the City of Sidney in 1883 and remained in active service until 1916. From that time until 1928 it was kept in reserve. After 1928, the engine remained in storage until its restoration to original condition. The City of Dayton at one time employed a number of similar Ahrens engines, but of larger size. None of these machines could be located for restoration, however.

Named for Henry Young, the chief of the Sidney Fire Department at the time of its purchase, the engine was drawn by a team of pure black horses throughout much of its period of use. In addition to the steamer, the Sidney Fire Department had a ladder wagon, a hose wagon and a number of hose reels. Although this equipment seems scant as well as out-moded by present-day standards, Sidney in the latter 19th Century was listed as one of the better-equipped cities for fire-fighting in the United States in relation to its size.

Besides participating in many major fires at Sidney during its thirty-three years of active service and twelve years in reserve, the Henry Young was used several times to combat out-of-town blazes. At two of these fires, in Quincy and Piqua, the Henry Young was rushed by railroad flatcar to the scene after the fires had passed beyond control of the local departments.

The Carillon Park engine is shown above during its period of active service. Sidney firemen pose in the foreground.

During its long span of service, the Henry Young compiled an admirable record of dependability. In operation, the engine was first fired with wood which in turn ignited coal. Usually by the time the engine arrived at a blaze it had already developed a head of steam and was ready for use. As with most steamers, constant attention to the flues was required if the engine was to operate at peak efficiency.

The earliest aerial ladders were made of wood and mounted on horse-drawn trucks, with ladders being raised or lowered by hand-operated cranks. Today’s aerial ladder truck, as shown above, embodies tremendous improvements in safety and efficiency.

The modern pumper pictured above has an output of 1,500 gallons of water per minute, more than four times the pumping capacity of the Carillon Park steam fire engine. In addition, it carries 1,600 feet of hose.

A 275-horsepower motor provides instant and dependable power.

Another problem recalled by old-time residents of Sidney was the shower of sparks emitted when the engine was in use. Its operators were subjected to this fiery barrage at frequent intervals, with the result that coats and other items of clothing were often perforated by the red-hot cinders.

An anecdote which has survived along with the Henry Young concerns one hectic fire run during which the engine was almost wrecked. With the horses plunging ahead at full speed and the engine rounding a turn, one of its wheels hit a severe bump. For several long seconds, the engine careened wildly on two wheels. The thoroughly frightened driver sat paralyzed, even after the engine had righted, but the veteran fire horses headed unerringly toward the scene of the blaze. Proof that the horses really did find the fire, old-timers say, is that the driver was still immobilized at the end of the run, and had to be helped from his seat.

The Ahrens Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati, which built the Henry Young, was at one time the largest producer of steam fire engines in the Midwest. The ancestry of the Ahrens engines can be traced all the way back to Moses Latta, who accomplished what the world’s mechanical geniuses had hitherto failed to do by devising a boiler which not only generated a lot of steam but in addition produced the steam quickly. Once this milestone had been passed, the road to widespread and successful usage of steam fire engines broadened, and progress became correspondingly rapid.

The Ahrens firm had its start in 1868, having succeeded Lane & Bodley, the company that had bought Latta’s works. Ahrens was quick to make significant improvements. Whereas Lane & Bodley had built only seven or eight machines, depending on Latta’s patterns, Ahrens immediately introduced new designs which greatly increased the efficiency of the engines.

Ahrens engines were made in several sizes. The larger models had two cylinders and two pumps and were known as “double” engines. The smaller types had a single cylinder and a single pump. The Henry Young is a single-pump Ahrens, Size No. 2. Its steam cylinder has a diameter of nine inches and a stroke of nine inches; its pump cylinder has a five-and-a-half-inch bore and a nine-inch stroke. The engine weighs 5,800 pounds and can pump 350 gallons of water a minute.