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Read MoreEarly Growth for HFD
Seven volunteer fire stations were taken over by the city. One was the station owned by members of Hook & Ladder No. 1 at San Jacinto and Prairie (pictured). It became the Central Station. Chief Ravell assigned Steamer No. 1, Steamer No. 2, Chemical No. 4, and Hook and Ladder No. 1 to the fire station. The other six fire stations were: Hose Company No. 3, 408 Smith; North Star Hose Company No. 4,...
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Read MoreHFD Enters A New Era
On October 17, 1961, the sprawling Globe discount store at 3030 Woodridge was destroyed by fire. Two hundred customers and employees were able to escape from the 100,000-square-foot steel and concrete building. It took firefighters four hours to extinguish the five-alarm blaze. Loss was $5-million. At the beginning of 1963, a third shift was created and reduced the average work week of the firefighters...
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Read MoreProtection Fire Company No. 1
Augustus gathered together several businessmen at the Hedenberg & Vetteran Auction Mart on August 14, 1838 to discuss better fire protection for the town. He convinced the businessmen of a need for a bucket brigade, and they formed Protection Fire Company No. 1. Its motto was Semper Paratus (always prepared). The fire company bought a hand pumper in 1839, according to one reference; however another...
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Read MoreHFD History
The Houston Fire Department began as a bucket brigade in 1838, one year after the city incorporated. There is limited history telling of the expansion over the ensuing years to the modern fire department today. What is left of the history, however, is quite colorful, heroic, sometimes humorous, and interspersed with tragedy.
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History is a Valuable Resource
We believe that history is a valuable resource for understanding contemporary issues and the road towards the future. Historical perspectives can shed new light on what’s going on in our world today. In our programming, we aim to talk about the present and future as well as the past.
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Read MoreOur Mission
The Houston Fire Museum shares the history, experiences and stories of Houston’s storied fire service. We believe these stories are as vital to America’s history as the stories of presidents, industrialists, railroad men, wildcatters and oil industrialists, shipping magnates, politicians, or the scores of others whose histories are taught every day in schools across the nation. We salute our...
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Houston Fire Museum Annual Meeting
The Houston Fire Museum will be hosting its annual meeting on Thursday evening, May 16th, 2013. This is your chance to meet with board members, the executive director and other members of the Houston Fire Museum....
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