“We Do Save” ... Through Steam
This view of the Dayton firehouse at Main and Monument shows a steamer and a ladder wagon, with their crews. The year is 1910.
The advent of steam in the age-old field of fire-fighting soon swept aside most of the old hand-operated engines. It also cleared away many of the impediments to fire-fighting efficiency inherent in the old volunteer system. Operating a steam fire engine required something more than sheer brute power and the ability to “knock in” sundry heads.
Thus it was not coincidence that saw most volunteer fire companies being replaced by professional fire fighters about the same time hand pumpers were succeeded by steamers. Cincinnati had pioneered the first successful steam fire engine, and it was Cincinnati that established the first paid fire department in 1853—the same year that marked the triumph of Moses Latta’s ponderous “Uncle Joe Ross.” The Queen City was also the first to have an all-steam fire department.
Dayton followed her neighbor’s example a decade later when three steamers were purchased following the burning of the old Dayton Journal by a mob incensed over Civil War issues. This famous blaze proved to be the last stand of the old volunteers and also the final time that hand pumpers were operated in Dayton without the assistance of steam fire engines.
Early in 1864 the Dayton City Council resolved that “an appropriation be made in favor of fire department for the sum of $300, payable to the chief of said department for the payment of employed men, purchase of feed, etc.” It was also decided that “compensation of engineers of steam fire engines shall be $50 per month and the firemen, drivers and pipemen shall be $36 per month until further ordered by Council.”
At the same time a paid fire department was established in Dayton, the Council summarily disbanded all the volunteer organizations as of March 1, 1864. The reputation of the volunteers at the time of disbandment must have been at an all-time low. Nowhere in its various resolutions did the Council extend a single word of thanks for the colorful vamps’ (volunteers’) four decades of service without pay. The rowdy behavior of the old-time volunteers is in sharp contrast to the efficient community service performed by today’s volunteer firemen.
Fire marks, which were usually metal plaques, first appeared in the 17th Century. They were issued by insurance companies which maintained their own fire brigades. If a burning house bore the fire mark of a company, that company’s fire-fighters would lend assistance. If not, they customarily refused to help. After fire-fighting became a community effort, however, fire marks were simply a form of advertising. Shown above are the fire marks of three Dayton insurance companies. The Cooper mark was issued in 1867.