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Thomas H. Martin,
foreman of Mechanic No. 6, was elected fire chief in May
1890. Joseph J. Walker and John Roessler were the new
assistant chiefs. Shortly after being elected, Chief Martin
requested an increase in spending for the volunteer fire
department from the Board of Aldermen. The city had
recovered from the huge Reconstruction debt and had been
paying more of the expenses of the volunteer fire
department. The board voted to pay Chief Martin $100 per
month and to hire full-time housekeepers for the fire
stations.
Liberty No 2 disbanded
in 1890, after its worn out steamer was sold for junk.
On May 20, 1891, a
fire in Fifth Ward spread into a major conflagration. It
started in the shaving shed of the Phoenix Lumber Mill on
Providence Street and quickly spread through several lumber
yards. Blocks of small stores and cottages were set ablaze.
Again, Galveston Fire Department responded but could do
little to help. The water mains had become clogged with
sand, and fire streams could reach no farther than 12 feet.
(Houston had no steamers at the time.) Loss was placed at
$500,000.
In June, electric
streetcars were put in service, the first electric
streetcars anywhere (so the reference claimed). They were to
become involved in accidents with fire apparatus, taking the
lives of several firefighters over the years.
A Gamewell Alarm
system was completed in April, 1892, and installed in all
fire stations. The system came about because of the efforts
of former fire chief Ben Riesner. He was elected city
alderman after his two years as fire chief and became a
strong ally of the fire department. He pushed for and
succeeded in getting the Gamewell system after becoming
chairman of the Board of Aldermen's fire committee. This
earned him the distinction of "Father of the Gamewell
System."
It was around this
time that the city began to pay one driver on each fire
company. Paid drivers cared for the fire station and
responded to all fires. They worked 24-7 and were paid $100
a year.
The Kiam Clothiers
five-story building was completed in 1893 and was the first
building in Houston to have an elevator. It later was
occupied by Sakowitz.
In April, 1894, Thomas
F. Ravell was elected fire chief after a hard-fought
election. Chief Martin, the fire chief up for reelection,
was being supported by Mechanic 6, and Stonewall No. 3 was
backing Ravell, who had been Stonewall's foreman. (This was
one of the rare times that the roughnecks of Mechanic No. 6
lost a battle.)
 Washington
No. 8 began operations on August 4 at 1307 Crawford
with a Clapp and Jones steamer (pictured) and a
hose wagon. William W. Thomas is credited with
organizing Washington No. 8 and securing the
equipment.
Seibert No.
10 organized a couple weeks later. Seibert opened
with a hose wagon at 205 Chartres. A new steamer
was ordered to go along with the hose
wagon.
On September 27, 1894,
two boardinghouses and four homes were destroyed by fire.
The buildings were located in the block bounded by Texas,
Caroline, Capital, and Austin. Water pressure was so low
that hose streams could not reached the second floor of the
wooden structures. Firefighting efforts at the fire did
little to impress the businessmen and insurance companies
who were pressing city aldermen to switch to a fully paid
fire department. They felt the volunteer department was no
longer adequate fire protection.
A predawn fire the
following month (October 16) finally sparked the end of the
volunteer fire department. The fire originated in a boarding
house on San Jacinto. Firefighters were having trouble
because of bursting hose lines and low water pressure again.
The fire spread quickly to the buildings of the St. Joseph
Infirmary. Two nuns were killed and a third nun badly burned
helping to rescue dozens of patients. After the fire, the
clamor for a paid department swelled.
An alderman and
volunteer fire fighter, Si Packard, introduced a resolution
to the Board of Alderman inquiring as to the feasibility of
a fully paid fire department. Some opposition sprung up, but
not among the firefighters, according to Charles D. Green,
author of Fire Fighters of Houston, 1838-1915. He
said the firefighters were "only too glad to be relieved of
an onerous duty." An article in the Houston Daily
Post, however, said the volunteers expressed opposition
to inaugurating a paid department.
Mayor John T. Brown
gave his sanction for a paid department, after he learned
the city did not have to buy the fire stations of the
volunteers. The city only had to purchase the apparatus and
horses; fire stations could be leased. An ordinance was then
drafted by Packard, and the ordinance passed at the next
meeting of the Board of Aldermen.
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