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James Appleby became
the first commissioner of fire and police under the new city
government in 1905. The commissioner was the executive head
of the fire department and probably had a hand in picking
the fire chief. Tom O'Leary, who had served with the
volunteer fire department, was named fire chief .
A vote of the citizens
in 1906 approved the purchase of the private water system
serving the city. Complaints had been frequent for some
years about the poor water quality and poor water pressure.
The city bought the waterworks three months after the
vote.
A fire swept through
the Standard Milling Company in the Fifth Ward on September
2, 1907. It spread rapidly to houses along four blocks of
what today is Lyons Avenue. The fire reached a five-story
grain elevator which soon became fully involved.
Firefighters were able to prevent the raging fire from
spreading to an adjacent lumberyard. Loss was
$500,000.
Later on December 1,
another blaze consumed several office buildings on the block
bounded by Fannin, Congress, Main, and Preston. The Houston
Theatre and the offices of the United States Federal Court
were destroyed. All of the records in the court building
were lost. Damage from the fire topped $750,000.
An early morning fire
on May 6, 1908, injured several guests of the Houston Hotel
located on the corner of San Jacinto and Congress. One guest
was injured when he jumped and missed the fire escape. Two
dozen other guests narrowly escaped the raging fire. Crowds
of people on their way to work had stopped to watch the
firefighters battle the blaze. They praised the firefighters
for stopping the fire at an adjacent furniture
store.
Rumors had circulated
since Chief O'Leary took over the fire department that his
administration did not look favorably on labor unions. Many
members quit going to meetings for fear of losing their job.
Meetings soon lacked a quorum, and the firefighters' union
was unable to conduct business. In 1908, the union finally
folded.
 On November
22, 1908, Fire Chief O'Leary (pictured) was gravely
injured when a boxcar filled with fireworks
exploded. He was leading his men at the fire in a
railroad switchyard east of downtown. The burning
boxcar exploded, and Chief O'Leary took the brunt
of the blast. He never recovered and died the
following month on December 24. He was the first
fire chief to die in the line of duty.
Reginald
"Kid" Ollre became the fifth fire chief after the
death of Chief O'Leary. He was about 34 years old
with 17 years of service dating back to the
Volunteer Fire Department. W. J. Kohlhauff replaced
Appleby as fire commissioner.
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