Houston Fire Museum

Houston Fire Museum Annual Meeting

admin — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:45:13 +0000

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. We hope that you can make it!

Early Growth for HFD

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:46:28 +0000

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, Montgomery and Gano (another reference puts the location near North Main and Hogan);

Mechanic Hose Company No. 6, 1106 Washington; Washington No. 8, 1307 Crawford; Hose Company No. 9 at 910 Keene; and Hose Company No. 10, 205 Chartres.

The fire stations were leased by the city, and the fire apparatus and horses were purchased from the volunteers. The new Houston Fire Department began operations at one minute past midnight on Saturday, June 1, 1895.

In 1897, the city contracted with the Gamewell Company to expand the Gamewell fire alarm system.

HFD Enters A New Era

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:44:44 +0000

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 from 60 hours to 56 hours. Firefighters now worked three 10-hour days, three 14-hour nights, and then were off three full days. One hundred, two promotions were made to cover the extra shift.

A new mayor was elected in 1964, and Chief Bullock was out. The new mayor picked Deputy Chief Joe Lobue once again as fire chief. A dispute between the mayor and Chief Lobue grew near the end of the year, and Lobue resigned. Assistant Fire Chief W. O. Hunter was named fire chief after the resignation, and Lobue returned to deputy chief.

Protection Fire Company No. 1

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:43:30 +0000

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 reference said Protection No. 1 did not get a pumper until December, 1859. (A force pump on a wagon frame showed up in 1847 and was used as an auxiliary to the bucket brigade.) The city fathers were convinced to construct a fire house for Protection No.1, which was built at the corner of Fannin and Preston.

In 1848, the State of Texas granted a charter to Protection Fire Company No. 1, the first fire company chartered by Texas.

HFD History

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:40:36 +0000

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.

History is a Valuable Resource

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:38:00 +0000

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.

Our Mission

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 03:36:22 +0000

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 city and nation’s firefighters as historic and modern day heroes, who helped to transform the Houston we known today.