An old tenement building, scheduled for demolition, was used for training purposes by the Tacoma Fire Department as a practice burn in April of 1961. Eleven small fires were set, then put out, before the building was allowed to burn down. Fifteen fire departments from King and Pierce Counties participated in the day-long training exercise. attracting crowds of curious onlookers. (TNT, 4/17/1961, p. 1) Trueblood #459

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Abandoned buildings--Tacoma; Building deterioration--Tacoma--1960-1970;

ca. 1906. Copy negative of an early Tacoma Fire Department fire truck, circa 1900.

Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma--1900-1910; Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma);

ca. 1890. Copy negative of a Tacoma Fire Department horse-drawn steam pumper, circa 1890.

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma--1890-1900;

In October of 1928, Tacoma Fire Station No. 15 at 3510 East 11th was nearing completion. The station was designed by M. J. Nicholson, architect, of brick, tile and stucco. It was one of three new stations built with funds provided by the passage of a March 1928 bond issue. Station #15 was located at East 11th and Taylor Way, on the east side of the Tideflats. The other two new stations were in Fernhill at South 74th and Park and in North Tacoma at North 41st and Gore. Construction costs of the stations totalled around $27,000 and 30 new fire fighters were added to the rolls to man the stations. Station #15 worked 5 men to a shift, including officers, and was under the command of Capt. Charley Mustoe and Lt. William R. Sherman.The three stations opened at the end of January and the beginning of February, 1929. Station #15 is on the City Registry of Historic Buildings and was added to the National Register on 5/2/1986.

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire Station No. 15 (Tacoma);

ca. 1927. Seventeen children sit or stand on a fire truck in front of a fire station believed to be Fire Station #1 located at 425 Tacoma Ave. So. in this circa 1927 photograph. The station was built in 1919. In the background are the Leroy Apartments, 415 Fawcett Ave. (Additional information provided by a reader)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fire stations--Tacoma--1920-1930; Children--Tacoma--1920-1930; Leroy Apartments (Tacoma);

ca. 1907. Engine & Truck Co. No. 2. This sepia photograph is dated approximately 1907. The men of Engine & Truck Co. No. 2 stand proudly with their new Continental steam fire engine, 2nd size, 700 gpm. 1907 also saw Truck Co. No. 2 obtain the 1889 Hayes 65' aerial formerly belonging to Truck Co. No. 1, who had purchased a 75' Seagrave aerial. The firefighting apparatus was still pulled by sturdy horses. Engine Co. No. 2 and Truck Co. No. 2 were in new quarters that year with a station built at 2701 Tacoma Avenue South. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 42)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1909. In 1909 Engine Co. No. 4 were still in their old quarters in the 400 block of E. 26th St. A new two-story brick building would be constructed at 220-24 E. 26th in 1911. Seven firemen are pictured in this sepia photograph; pump drivers at that time were M.E. Shaver and Dick Brown. In 1910 Engine Co. No. 4 would receive a 2nd class American LaFrance Metropolitan steam fire engine . The dog in the photograph is believed to be Jumbo, the station mascot. He was a combination Mastiff-Newfoundland and an integral part of the station. Jumbo dashed alongside the apparatus at the first tap of the alarm bell and used his powerful jaws to drag hose. Thick smoke and flames did not deter him; he worked side-by-side with his fellow firefighters. When he died at a ripe old age, taps was played at his funeral; two special honor taps were struck for him. Jumbo was buried in a secluded spot near the firehouse. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 20, 34-35)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Dogs--Tacoma;

ca. 1910. Sepia photograph of 1910 Seagrave Auto-chemical. This appears to be a combination hose and chemical wagon, possibly one of the 80 horsepower units. The wagon is elaborately decorated with painted designs. There is room for two men seated at front, one behind the wheel, and a running board for several others to climb aboard and hang on. This is believed to be a Tacoma Fire Department wagon; lettering on the side indicates " F T D Chemical Engine." No company number is listed.

Fire engines & equipment;

ca. 1907. Men and equipment of Fire Station No. 2, ca. 1907. The station was located at 2701 Tacoma Avenue So. and built in mid-1907. A 1889 Hayes 65' aerial was assigned to Truck Co. No. 2 along with a Continental 2nd size steam fire engine, 700 gpm, and a hose wagon No. 2, 1890 California apparatus. The fire station is still in use at the same location in 2004. It is on both the City and National Registries. Photograph from the collection of retired Tacoma Fire Department member, William Turner.

Tacoma Fire Department, Fire Station No. 2 (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma;

ca. 1899. Engine Co. No. 6 opened on 9th & A Street in 1891. The station also housed Chemical Engine Co. No. 1. The headquarters station cost approximately $24,400. Captain William J. Chisholm led his company of five men; he may have been one of the men standing next to the horse-drawn engines in this sepia photograph. View of flower bedecked wagons and engines outside the two-story brick station; this is probably the 4th of July celebratory parade. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 22)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1890-1900;

Harness gleaming and bedecked in garlands, the huge bays of Chemical Engine Co. No. 1 were ready to participate in the Tacoma Rose Carnival Parade on June 22,1905 . The parade was just one of the many activities in the three day festival which included band concerts, water pageants, a children's parade and a carnival ball. Chemical Co. No. 1, Engine Co. No. 1, and the hook and ladder Co. No. 1 from the Saint Helens station were chosen to represent the Tacoma Fire Department during the parade. Chief George McAlevy had wanted to furnish a larger display but reconsidered due to the city's need in case of fires. Chemical Engine Co. No. 1 was housed in the Fire Department headquarters at 9th & A Streets in downtown Tacoma. It would remain there until 1916 when it was put out of service. Photograph taken on June 22, 1905, by B. Waters. (Tacoma Daily News, 6-21-05, p. 3, Tacoma Daily News, 6-22-05, p. 1)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire fighters--Tacoma--1900-1910; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Horses--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1900-1910; Rose Carnival (Tacoma);

ca. 1910. Horses played an important role in early Tacoma firefighting as this turn-of-the-20th Century photograph illustrates. The firefighting team is in front of Engine House No. 5 which was built in 1890 at 1215 So. I Street. The horses were fed well on oats, bran and carrots; their medical needs were taken care of by a veterinarian and medicines. By the turn of the century, the department had 33 horses working side-by-side with firefighters. This team of horses pictured here in a 1910 sepia photograph may be pulling a 1910 Metropolitan 2nd Size 550 gpm double pump. Tacoma Fire Department Collection. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 33)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1910-1920; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1917. Although many stations still used horses, this American LaFrance 1000 gpm pumper was motorized. It was parked, driver on board, at Station No. 2. The age of the horse was nearly over for the Tacoma Fire Department; by 1919, the department was completely motorized. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washingtonp. 56-57, 59)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma;

ca. 1915. Signage decorate the motorized fleet of the Tacoma Fire Department parked outside Station No. 6. Residents are warned not to issue false alarms and to turn off electrical equipment when not used. Another helpful hint provided by the Fire Department was to clean the moss off roofs before dry weather. Regarding the hazards of smoking: thousands of dollars of damage was caused by a lighted cigarette thrown in a pile of oily rags. The vehicles may have been prepped for use in a parade as several flags are mounted on both front and rear fenders.

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Signs (Notices);

ca. 1911. June, 1911, saw Engine Co. No. 4 in new quarters at 224 E. 26th St., just a few blocks distant from their old location. They were now housed in a two-story brick building that was equipped with three bays. Sepia photograph shows the men and equipment of Station No. 4. In 1910 they received a 2nd class American LaFrance Metropolitan steam fire engine, possibly shown above. This brick building designed by Frederic Shaw is still standing and is on the city and national registry of historic buildings. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 49, 52)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1913. This photograph from July, 1913 shows the Engine Company No. 1 fire station at 209-211 Saint Helens Avenue. The bunting and other decorations on the station appear to be for the Montamara Festo which was held in Tacoma over the 4th of July holiday every year from 1912 to 1922. The highlight of the festival was a series of automobile races held at a race track close to the present Clover Park Vocational Center. The two fire trucks framed by the open station doors are a Seagrave combination hose and chemical wagon on the left, and a 1907 Seagrave, 75 foot aerial truck, Tacoma's first motorized fire truck, on the right. Above the doors can be seen a model Fiat racing car being driven by "Tige", the mascot of the Tacoma Tigers. "Tige" was created by cartoonist Edward "Tige" Reynolds when he worked as an editorial cartoonist for the Tacoma Daily Ledger.

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920; Murals--Tacoma;

ca. 1889. Tacoma's Fire Station No. 4 was located at 407 E. 26th Street from 1889-1911. In this photograph, a 1889 Silsby 2nd size (700 gpm) rotary pump drawn by three horses and a W.T.Y Schneck hose wagon with two horses are on display in front of the station. The "Our Boys 1887" lettering below the bell tower acknowledged the "Our Boys" volunteer organization. In 1889, H. L. Knoell was listed as Captain in charge of the six-man company; this photograph may have been taken somewhat later as there are now nine firemen present. Engineers made roughly $90 a month with hosemen being paid $70 and drivers $75. The Fire Department Chief was paid approximately $125 monthly. Engine Co. No. 4 was to remain at the 407 E. 26th St. location until June, 1911, when it moved into a new two-story brick station a few blocks away at 224 E. 26th. (100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 18, 20, 52). TPL-393

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1880-1890; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1911. Sepia photograph of Engine Co. No. 4's new quarters in the 200 block of E. 26th St. near "C." This large two-story brick structure had three apparatus doors. Three men are standing outside the facility, seemingly dwarfed by the massive building. Engine Co. No. 4 had moved from 505-507 E. 26th to 224 E. 26th in 1911 and remained there until 1972. It is on both the City and National Registry.

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920;

ca. 1911. Engine House No. 5 at 1215-17 South I Street. Engine House No. 5 received an 80-horsepower Seagrave combination hose and chemical wagon in 1911. The station was in service from 1890 to 1935. (Talbot & Decker, 100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny, Tacoma, Washington, p. 52, p. 18)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Tacoma Fire Department, Fire Station No. 5 (Tacoma);

Tacoma's Alert Hose Co. No. 2 volunteer firefighting company, in uniform, were photographed on August 8, 1885 as they prepared to join the funeral parade to be held that day for former President Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant's portrait is framed in black and placed aboard the company hose wagon. He had died on July 23, 1885, and the Territorial Governor of Washington had declared that the day of his funeral would be an official day of mourning. The firehouse was located at So. 13th & A Street, which was later the location of the Tacoma Railroad & Power substation. Alert Hose Co. No. 2 was probably one of four hose companies organized between March and August, 1885. The company's hose apparatus may have been built by the volunteers themselves. Adelbert Uriah Mills, center in black beard holding bouquet, was the captain and would later become the Commissioner of Public Safety. A partial list of firefighters' names appears in a Tacoma Daily Ledger article on March 9, 1913. (Talbot: 100 Years of Fire fighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 15, TDL 3-9-1913, p. 45) KING-013, TPL 2896.

On January 7, 1936, the City Fireboat and four Foss tugs were called in to fight the blaze at the old London Dock and the Waterside Milling Co. A passenger steamer, reported to be the Virginia V, was tied up at the adjacent Tacoma Municipal Dock. The Milling Co.'s wheat warehouse was gutted due to a spontaneous dust explosion. Flames shot 150 feet into the air and caused damages totaling $260,000. The fireboat and tugs kept the blaze under control with powerful streams of water, but the damage was too extensive and the structure could not be saved. (T. Times, 100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 94-95, T.Times 1-7-36, p. 1, TDL 1-8-36, p. 1) For additional images of this event, see series D638 images 1,4,8 & 9.

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Piers & wharves--Tacoma--1930-1940;

ca. 1911. In 1911, Truck Co. No. 1 received a Seagrave tractor for aerial; their old tractor was given to Truck Co. No. 2. View of Truck Co. No. 2 firefighters with No. I's truck, pulled by three horses, taken the same year. According to the Tacoma Times, this was Tacoma's first modern ladder truck. At the tiller is L.S. Finney with Harry White driving. Standing next to the driver's seat is Charles W. Nichols. Standing on the ground, left to right, are: S.F. Buck, William F. Bing, A.L. Hooten, Edward Evans. TPL-709. (Talbot: 100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 52; T. Times 6/18/1936, pg.1)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1890. Engine house # 9, Earl G. Jones pictured. Team of horses and other firemen included in this circa 1910 photograph. TPL-2759, TPL-8438 (Original print TPL-1082)

Jones, Earl G.; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1910-1920; Fire stations--Tacoma--1910-1920; Horses--Tacoma--1910-1920;

ca. 1950. Tacoma Fire Department Truck Co. #3. Four unidentified firemen handle cleaning duties with their 65' aerial in this circa 1950 photograph. Truck Co. #13 would move into Station No. 13 in 1959. TAC 086

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1950-1960; Fire stations--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The Tacoma Fire Department provided ladders and the Safeway stores supplied scaffolding when members of the Painters Union, local # 64 and members of the Tacoma Junior Chamber of Commerce took on the project of painting Tacoma's totem pole at South 9th & A Street in 1955. By official proclamation, Mayor Harold M. Tollefson had declared May 8-14, 1955 "Clean up, fix up, paint up" week in Tacoma. This annual event encouraged citizens to clean out their basements, attics and yards and dispose of excess items. The re-painting of the totem pole was the project chosen to kick off the campaign. Local # 64 had already painted the totem pole once before in April of 1948.

Totem poles--Tacoma; Painting--Tacoma; Community service--Tacoma--1950-1960; Laborers--Tacoma; Painters Union Local No. 64 (Tacoma); Labor unions--Tacoma; Urban beautification--Tacoma--1950-1960; Scaffolding--Tacoma; Fire engines & equipment;

Captain E.F. Leo (right) stands next to a newly rebuilt Tacoma Fire Department pumper truck in this photograph from November 1937. The truck had been almost completely destroyed by a collision with a streetcar on January 20, 1935. Working during his spare time over a two year period, George Perry, a maintenance man with the fire department, completely rebuilt the truck. Fireman L. C. Russell is at the wheel. (for photographs of the accident, see series 929, images 1 & 2) (T.Times, 11/04/37, p.5)

Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma--1930-1940; Trucks--Tacoma--1930-1940; Leo, E. F.;

Fire at Plywood Sales & Box Company. Two fire fighters carry hose up ladder to second floor window of old, wood-frame, burning building, To the left, railroad signal, no. 37, shows building's proximity to the railroad tracks. (T. Times, 3/27, p. 14)

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Plywood Sales & Box Co. (Tacoma); Fire fighters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Smoke--Tacoma; Railroad signals--Tacoma;

Fire at Plywood Sales & Box Company. Black smoke billows from an old two-story frame building. A huge crowd of spectators watch from the street, vacant lots and railroad tracks as fire fighters battle the blaze. (T. Times, 3/17/1939, p. 14).

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Plywood Sales & Box Co. (Tacoma); Fire fighters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Smoke--Tacoma; Crowds--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Fire at Plywood Sales & Box Company. Fire fighters spray water on an old two-story frame building. The two-alarm fire drew six fire engines and two hook and ladder trucks to fight the $5,000 blaze. (T. Times, 3/27/1939, p. 14)

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Plywood Sales & Box Co. (Tacoma); Fire fighters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Smoke--Tacoma;

Fire at Plywood Sales & Box Company. A huge crowd gathers on Alaska Street and across the railroad tracks to watch fire fighters douse the billow of black smoke rising from the old two-story frame building. (T. Times, 3/27/1939, p. 14).

Fires--Tacoma--1930-1940; Plywood Sales & Box Co. (Tacoma); Fire fighters--Tacoma--1930-1940; Fire fighting--Tacoma--1930-1940; Smoke--Tacoma; Crowds--Tacoma--1930-1940;