Waterloo Fire Department History: From 1861-1915

by

Josh Carnelley

    The formation of the Waterloo Fire Department occurred on May 25, 1861, in Benights Hall. The first company was called the Waterloo Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. Forty men formed this first company and all were volunteers. Initially the department relied on voluntary subscriptions to pay for equipment and to meet other expenses. The company chose J. H. Leavitt as president and R. W. Chapman as foreman. Chapman was to be especially important to the future development of the department.

    In the early days men had to pass only a relatively simple tests before being accepted as a volunteer fire fighter. Each prospective member of the department had to run 200 yards while wearing boots. Those who passed the test and became a fireman received a uniform that consisted of a red shirt, a cap, black pants, and a belt.

    For the first three years of its existence, members of the department fought fires by means of a bucket brigade. Thanks to the influence of Chapman, the department acquired a $60 ladder cart which enabled it to fight fires somewhat more effectively. In 1867, the Waterloo Hook and Ladder Company changed hands. The new organization was called the German Hook and Ladder Company, and its new foreman was T. Wiley. Six years later, in an effort to upgrade its equipment, the company sold the original hook and ladder cart to Iowa Falls for $100 and bought a new one built by Hitt and Chapman for $250.

    In 1868, R. W. Chapman received $1,000 from private donations to buy the city’s first hand pump fire engine. Chapman traveled to Chicago and discovered an old, out-of-use engine stowed away in a lumberyard engine house, covered with dust and debris. It was called the Red Jacket and had been used by Chicago for a number of years before it became obsolete. Chapman bought it and shipped it back to Waterloo to be cleaned up and put into use. In 1869, Chapman then became foreman of the newly formed "Red Jacket Company." This was Waterloo’s first fire engine company, and the members added red jackets to their uniforms.

    The German Hook and Ladder Company and the Red Jacket Company were both put to the test during a fire that broke out in a warehouse on Mill Square in 1869. Both companies performed well and were effective in bringing the fire under control and preventing any further damage to the surrounding areas.

    It was proposed that since the East side of Waterloo was expanding, residents there would need a fire station since the other two stations were both on the West side. In 1871, another hand pump fire engine was purchased from Janesville, Wisconsin, for $800, and it became part of the equipment for a new company called Witch Engine and Hose Company 2. L. F. Walker was named foreman of this new company that was housed in the rear of Taylor and Garbrandts’ blacksmith shop. The first test of this newly formed fire company came in the spring of 1871 when they were called by the mayor of Cedar Falls to help fight a fire that had broken out at the Overman block building. The fire department took a train and within 45 minutes of the call they were spraying down the fire. This feat is quite remarkable considering the means of transportation at that time.

    Also in 1871, an 18-year-old named Clarence Hollister constructed a hand pump fire engine called the Water Lilly and formed a new fire company called the Hope Hose Company. This new company was run by 12 to 15 boys, whose average age was 12 years. This fire engine could spray water up to 100 feet in the air. These young fire fighters tended to be at the scene of a fire before regulars could get there, and they pushed their cart on foot. This company continued its fire-fighting efforts for a number of years and became a source of pride for Waterloo residents.

    The year 1879 saw two significant changes in the Waterloo Fire Department. The first was the formation of the L. F. Walker Hose Company. The second was the purchase of the first fire fighting steam engine, the Jeanie Jewell.

    The L. F. Walker Hose Company competed in state and national firemen contests. They brought great recognition to the Waterloo fire departments, and they became one of the fastest firemen running teams in the state. They won the state tournament three times, although they were almost denied their third victory. The rule was that if a team won the tournament three times, it was then allowed permanent possession of the trophy, and the state association that sponsored these competitions had to purchase another for the following year. When it appeared that Waterloo had won for a third time judges allegedly awarded the trophy to another competitor in order to avoid the expense of purchasing a new trophy. Refusing to be robbed of the trophy, which was a golden fire belt, one of the Waterloo team members stole the belt and hid it in Illinois for some time before bringing it back to Waterloo, where it remains to this day.

    The Jeanie Jewell was purchased in 1879 for $3,100, filling the need for a steam engine in Waterloo. Before it was purchased there was a competition between the Jeanie Jewell, the Silsby, and the Clapp and Jones steam engines in order to see which engine could throw water the farthest and for the longest periods of time. This event had great crowd appeal, and schools even let students out early so everyone in town could go and see the competition. The Jeanie Jewell won the contest as well as the hearts of the spectators and was subsequently purchased. The new engine was kept on the West side of the river and did an effective job of fighting fires for several years.

    Another big change for the fire department that helped in the process of fighting fires was that the city installed fire hydrants in 1885. Before 1885 all the water the department used to fight fires was either directly from the river or from cisterns constructed at various locations around town. These cisterns were in different places, but they still tended to be an inconvenience if not close enough to a fire. Then around 1885 or 1886 the city decided to install its first fire hydrant system. The city hydrant system was completed in the summer of 1886 and was comprised of 111 hydrants supplied from nine miles of pipe. If a fire was located close to the river, the steam engine could pump water from the river. If it was further away, a double connection was attached to a fire hydrant and used to raise pressure, and then the engine began pumping a pressurized stream of water into the fire.

    The volunteer Waterloo Fire Department did an excellent job for the city for many years. An article written on the volunteer department and its achievements sums it up best by saying:

In all the years of its existence the volunteer fire department did meritorious work in protecting the city against the destroying element which it had been organized to combat. The record of its achievements will never be fully told and have been but partially appreciated by the public they served.

    The volunteer fire department was honorably discharged in 1904 when the first fully paid fire department was organized.