Pleasant Grove’s First Fire Station

25 Thursday Jan 2018

Tags

Fire Stations, Firefighters, Historic Buildings, Pleasant Grove, utah, utah county

Pleasant Grove’s First Fire Station

Pleasant Grove’s Fire Department was first organized in 1906. A hand drawn hose cart with 300 feet of hose, and one nozzle was purchased from ZCMI for the price of $210.75. After unsuccessfully recruiting citizens to man the hose cart, the city council appointed Josiah “Si” Kemp on February 21, 1910 to oversee the Fire Department with Hans Williamson, Assistant Fire Chief, and Henry Jeppson, Chris Williamson, Anton Hecker, Clarence Christiansen and Ole Christiansen as charter firemen. In 1910, three chemical fire extinguishers, and an up-to-date nozzle were purchased and the original hose cart was reconstructed to carry these new items. In 1912 Chief Kemp recommended to the City Fathers that the hose cart be moved from a warehouse to a more convenient location. The City Council approved construction of the fire station in 1912, and directed that it be built near the city hall. Two years later the city purchased the Old Bell School from the Pleasant Grove School District. The south door of the building was enlarged so fire fighting apparatus could be stored in the old school. The school bell was rung to summon firemen. On October 19, 1914 the City declared the building surplus and sold it to Chris and Delilah Fugal. The Fugals moved this little fire station to their property and used it as a storage shed for the next 85 years. Mary Fugal Howes, daughter of Chris and Delilah Fugal, donated the little fire station to the Pleasant Grove Fire Department, and in 1999, members of the Pleasant Grove Fire Department transported it to their facility for restoration. Fireman Lyman Smith spent many hours restoring the original wood to exact historic specifications. After restoration, this little fire station was placed in Pioneer Park near it’s original site.

This marker was made possible by the Pleasant Grove Volunteer Fire Department and the Pleasant Grove Historic Preservation Commission.

This historic marker is located in Rose Garden Park/Pioneer Park at 107 South 100 East in Pleasant Grove, Utah

Provo’s First Fire Station

06 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Fire Stations, Firefighters, historic, Provo, utah, utah county

Provo’s First Fire Station was Opened Downtown in 1893.

After Provo suffered from devastating fores for more than forty years, the Provo Volunteer Fire Department was organized during the summer of 1890. The department started with two dozen men, two horses, five hundred feet of hose, a hose cart, and a steam-powered pumping machine referred to as a fire engine. But the Fire Department had no station.

In order to shelter the new fire engine, carpenters built a shed on the west side of the city jail, which was located near the middle of the block on which the historic county building now stands. Two firemen stayed in this shed each night on a rotating basis. Near the shed, men constructed a small stable for the department’s horses and a platform on which to dry fire hose.

When a large fire bell weighing 710 pounds arrived from New York, carpenters built a 20-foot-tall tower from which to hang it. Firemen were unpleasantly surprised when they tested the bell. its tones did not carry as far as they expected, and the bell’s clapper broke out. The bell was loud enough, however, to attract about 150 disappointed boys and young men who gathered to see where the nonexistent fire was burning.

Finally in 1892, the city council approved plans for a fire station and selected a site for it on the south side of Center Street between what is now University Avenue and 100 East. In November of that year, work began on a 56 x 30, two-story brick and stone structure with a 60 foot tall tower on its northeast corner. This tower served as a bell tower and a place to hang hoses to dry. The fire engine was housed in a main floor garage with a door opening out onto Center Street. A fireman’s room was located on the second floor.

The new fire station opened at the end of March, 1893, and for the first time in its 44-year history, Provo had a fire hall. Firemen used it for thirty years before workmen razed it after a new station had been complaeted in 1923 on the north side of 100 North between 100 and 200 West.

This is plaque #36 in the Series of Events from Provo’s History.

Provo’s First Volunteer Fire Department.

02 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Jacob Barlow in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Firefighters, Parks, Provo, utah, utah county

Provo’s First Volunteer Fire Department.

Provo went more than forty years before organizing its first volunteer fire department. It a fire got a good start on a building, the owner saved very little before the flames consumed the structure.

It was in 1879 (thirty years after the city’s founding) that the first serious campaign for a volunteer fire department got underway. That year the Timpanogos Flour Mill, which was located near Provo’s large woolen mills, burned down. Within a year and a half, three disastrous fires had resulted in some $13,000 in losses.

Provo’s newspaper called for the organization of a volunteer fire department and the purchase of a pump wagon, a pair of horses, and a few hundred feet of hose. The newspaper warned readers that very often the stable door was not locked until after the horse was stolen. City government took no serious action because of the expense involved.

Five years later in 1884, the Brigham Young Academy caught fire and was completely destroyed. The only effort to quench the flames was the formation of a bucket brigade leading to the mill race a block away.

The academy fore caused a flurry of action by the city council. The council formed the “Committee for a Fire Department.” After seeing the expense involved in creating a fire department, the city council again lost interest.

Finally, in 1890, city officials realized that merchants were reluctant to invest in a city without a water system and a fire department. The city council voted in favor of financing both. It authorized the purchase of a new horse drawn, steam powered pump.

The new pumper arrived that May and the fire department organized in June. Twenty-three men joined during the first meeting. The department fought their first fire in July. The Brereton barns, sheds, wagons, and animals in the southeast part of town went up in flames before the department arrived, but the men saved the homes of Mr. Brereton and his son.

Read about their first fire station here.

This plaque is part of this series and is located in Fort Utah Park in Provo.