The Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) first formed asa volunteer organization in 1837, evolving into a full-time service by 1875.According to Wayne Mutza, author of MilwaukeeFire Department, one of the city’s first fire apparatus was a horse-drawnwagon from which wooden ladders and buckets hung. Volunteers would rein thehorses through the city’s dark streets, many of which were dirt, and signalwith trumpets, a precursor to sirens. Until uniforms were introduced in the1880s, volunteers often responded to fires wearing the same clothing they wentto work in.
The evolution of the Milwaukee Fire Department ismost obvious in the equipment it uses to battle blazes. In the beginning, firehorses were the department’s pride. They were needed to transport firefightersto the scene and to pull the department’s equipment, including hoses and heavysteamers that would pump water onto the fire by a double-acting onboard steamengine. Starting in the late-1880s, and for as long as horses were in service,some companies used sleighs to haul equipment through deep snow. Departmentveterinarians responded to all greater alarm fires, and the horses had theirown hospital next to Engine 13’s quarters at 19th Street and North Avenue. In 1912, the MFD had 250 ofthe gentle giants on their roster.
To keep pace with the city’s expansion, chief JamesFoley employed one of his firemen, an ex-mason with an expertise inarchitecture named Sebastian Brand, to design new firehouses in 1885. Branddesigned and oversaw the construction of more than 30 firehouses, most of whichincluded stately features that reflected the importance Milwaukee placed on its Fire Department.These buildings often sported massive towers used for spotting fires and forhanging hose to dry.
A number of monumental fires galvanized the MFD tomake improvements within the department and to establish tougher codes to makebuildings safer. The Milwaukeefire that took the most lives occurred in 1883, when 70 people perished withinthe Newhall House Hotel. The Third Ward Fire of October 1892 engulfed 16 cityblocks, destroying 443 buildings and 215 railroad cars. Three people, includinga firefighter, were killed and 1,900 people, mostly Irish immigrants, were lefthomeless. According to Mutza, who served as a firefighter with the MFD, grainelevators along Milwaukee’swaterways accounted for many of the city’s large fires and more major fireshave occurred along Water Streetthan any other in the city’s history.
The Milwaukee Fire Department currently employsapproximately 1,000 firefighters and consists of 36 fire stations, 37 engines,16 trucks, 12 paramedic units and one fireboat called The Trident. The department’s rich history and reputation for innovationcontinues to be made by the brave and honorable men and women who fill itsranks today.
414-286-8969/ 711 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233/www.milwaukee.gov
