This month the LAFD celebrates 131 years of service and sacrifice to the people of Los Angeles. Countless numbers of lives and properties have been saved, some at the cost of a firefighter’s life. Active and retired members should be proud of our heritage. Our history is being preserved by the LAFD Historical Society for everyone and future generations to come. The following is the story of how the LAFD started.
In January of 1886 the City of Los Angeles was protected by volunteer fire companies with names like Thirty-Eights-No.1, Confidence Engine Company No.2 and Vigilance Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1.
On Monday, February 1, 1886 the Los Angeles Fire Department officially went into service with four stations, two steam powered 750 gpm pumpers (“steamers”), each housed with a two wheeled hose reel, a hook and ladder truck, a hose wagon and 11 horses. On that day the City began to pay 31 firemen, including a Chief Engineer and an Assistant Chief, for a service, which for 15 years, had been provided virtually without pay by 380 members of the Los Angeles Volunteer Fire Department. Most of the paid, or permanent men as they were officially designated, were former volunteers who took over the existing stations and equipment. Augmenting the permanent force were 24 reserve firemen. They were most likely former volunteers who were starting on February 1, to be paid a small honorarium. These callmen, apportioned among the fire companies, were required to answer all alarms in their station’s district, large fires anywhere in the City and drill with their respective outfits at least twice monthly.
It all started with a meeting of volunteers and prospective firemen in Billy Buffum’s Saloon in downtown L.A. to develop a plan to become a paid department. The first Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Volunteer Fire Department was Charles E. Miles. He was elected by the volunteers on June 20, 1876. Chief Miles’ two earliest priorities were to lobby the City Council for a better fire alarm system and to obtain a more suitable hook and ladder. He got the hook and ladder but would have to wait for the alarm system.
During the early part of 1885, the City Council considered the merits of a fully paid Department but decided that the installation of a fire alarm telegraph was a more appropriate priority. The proposed system, consisting of ten miles of line poles, alarm boxes, and gongs for the fire stations, had a projected cost of $7,000. With additional discussion, however, an ordinance was presented to the City Council calling instead for the establishment of a paid Fire Department. Under the Charter of 1850, and after 35 years of development from a small pueblo to a growing, flourishing City, the City Council moved to finance and control the first fully paid, official Los Angeles Fire Department in December, 1885.
Walter S. Moore was the first Chief Engineer of the newly created LAFD. Chief Moore’s monthly salary was $125. He too was a volunteer fireman and Chief of the Volunteer Fire Department and like many of our early volunteers came from San Francisco to join the LAFD. In January 1886 the Fire Commission came up with the first set of 32 Rules and Regulations. Among them were: Rule 18: Cautioned engine, hose and hook and ladder truck drivers not to drive out of a trot in going to or returning from fires and alarms and further, racing was strictly prohibited. Rule 23: Stipulated that destruction of property by water at fires was inefficient firemanship.
In 1886, Los Angeles’ 30 square miles roughly encompassed an area of structural density only as far north as Ord Street and south to 7th street. The easternmost area of building concentration did not extend much past Los Angeles Street and Olive Street on the west. Six years before the start of the LAFD, the city’s population was 11,183. Four years after the LAFD went into service, population soared to more than 50,000. The Old Plaza Fire Station 1, went from a volunteer station with eight members to one of the first LAFD stations. Los Angeles was growing rapidly in population and the number of new structures with a water supply and fire department that was not able to keep up and an antiquated alarm system. There were major fears of catastrophic fires that could devastate the city. Cognizant of the growth and escalating fire problems, the LAFD fortunately had strong friends in the City Council, notably Jacob Kuhrts who lobbied hard to prioritize fire protection improvements.
At the time the department became paid all the stations were rented. That situation was to continue for some time. Engine rosters for “Original 38’s” and “Confidence 2” were set at one engineer, one engine driver, one cart driver and four hosemen for each of the two steam fire engines. Hook & Ladder “Vigilance” Company No. 1 was to be manned by a driver, a tillerman, a foreman and four laddermen. Hose Company “Park Hose” No.1’s crew was held to a driver, a foreman and four hosemen. Prospective LAFD members had to apply to the Fire Commission for consideration of their qualifications. They had to be at least 21 years of age, a U.S citizen, a permanent resident of the city of L.A. and able to converse understandably in English.
To enable the Chief Engineer to get to fires faster, the commission on April 12, 1886, authorized the purchase of a horse and buggy to be kept at night in a barn behind Chief Moore’s house. Chief Moore lived on the outskirts of the city at Figueroa and Pico. The barn was outfitted with a swinging drop harness for the quick hitch of the horse by a callman who slept in the barn and drove Chief Moore to fires. It would become traditional to often name horses according to their temperament. Chief Moore’s horse, Cyclone, had a stormy disposition and was soon replaced by a more well-mannered animal.
Prior to 1886 when the LAFD became a fire department, the volunteer fire departments protecting the city had a few steam fire engines. On October 18, 1886, the LAFD ordered its first fire engine, an Amoskeag steam pumper which was named Jacob Kuhrts Engine Company No. 3. Kuhrts was a former volunteer fire chief and at this time a city councilman who pushed hard to improve fire protection in the growing city. Although the 700 gallon per minute pumper was similar to the earlier engines, it had the latest pumping and maneuverability features. The engine, which arrived in early 1887, stood nearly 8 1/2-feet tall, was 23 feet 7 inches in overall length, six feet wide and weighed 7,800 pounds. More than 1000 people including Mayor Workman, Kuhrts and other councilmen watched the acceptance tests at the Beaudry Water Works. Steam was raised in four minutes and 5 seconds. Drafting through 20 feet of suction hose, the engine delivered a vertical stream at least 300 feet through 150 feet of two and one half inch hose. The crowd cheered that feat as well as Driver Si Lyons’ demonstration of how the horses from a standing start, could turn the rig around completely in only 20 feet. The new engine was assigned to the Plaza Fire House and its Amoskeag was moved to a newly rented firehouse at 114 West 3rd Street.
The J. Kuhrts Engine remained in LAFD after it was retired from service and was restored and made to pump again by a volunteer group of LAFD members in 1986 for the LAFD’s Centennial celebration. The members included Tony Zar, Lane Kemper, Larry Horner and Mort Schuman. The LAFD Historical Society is very fortunate to have this treasure on display in the Hollywood Museum at Old 27s.
Soon after the LAFD officially started the Fire Commission voted to have inspections of all stations, personnel, equipment and horses. The first inspection was scheduled for July 5, 1886. Early inspection parties consisted of the Mayor, the Council President, a Councilmember, the Chief Engineer and Assistant Chief Engineer, newspaper reporters and interested citizens. The first stop was Engine 1’s Old Plaza Fire Station. After a thorough inspection of the station, Chief Moore ordered Foreman Henry Scherer to “hook up the horses.” Warning the inspection party to stand clear, he pulled the gong rope. The clang caused the engine horses Tom and Joe to bolt from their stalls and dash to their positions under the harnesses suspended from the ceiling. Ned, a large sorrel, similarly hurried to the front of the hose reel. The horses stood quietly waiting for the drivers to tug on the ropes that dropped their harnesses down. Other firemen quickly fastened the harnesses and the rigs were ready for response – all in under one minute. Foreman Scherer lightened the formality of the occasion by ordering Ned to show them a trick. The horse fetched a bucket and, with his teeth, turned on a spigot. When the bucket was filled, he drank. The inspection party commended the firemen for their efficiency and station maintenance and I’m sure they were impressed with Ned.
1886 was certainly a year of a new start, growth and a pride by the LAFD members that would endure through time.131 years of service to the people of Los Angeles with continuous improvements and progress to become a true “Class 1” Fire Department in the United States. From a small city of 30 square miles and a few thousand people to a metropolis of 470 square miles and over 4 million people and growing, the LAFD has served and sacrificed for generations. The LAFD motto of “Serving with Courage, Integrity and Pride” will continue for many years to come.
Submitted by Frank Borden