Firefighting in Batavia: From bucket brigades to ladder trucks
If you were a volunteer fireman in the early 1800s, you also had to own and bring your leather bucket to every fire. As a homeowner, you must have a bucket of water at your front door in case of a fire. A bucket brigade would be used to put out a fire. People would line up and hand a bucket down the line to the last person, who would throw the water on the fire.
A way to alert volunteers was to use a wooden ratchet. The homeowner whose house was on fire would bang the ratchet to sound the alarm. Each ratchet had a distinctive sound, so the location of the fire could easily be identified.
If we go back to 1837, we would have seen fire engines made of wood pulled by men. The volunteers would fill the tank at the nearest cistern. One man held the hose at the fire while the others pumped the water.
The first volunteer fire department in Batavia lasted until 1865. The clang would notify the volunteer of an alarm from a belfry. If you were a volunteer, you would leave your job, wear a red shirt, and run to the fire. The types of alarms used throughout our history were the iron triangle church bell, factory steam whistle, electrically operated siren, fire alarm box signals (one is on display at the entrance of our fire department on Evans Street), a telephone operator, and today, by calling 911.
In 1916, all six volunteer fire companies that served the village were disbanded.
As a result, in 1916, Batavia set up a semi-paid fire department with six men on full-time duty, each receiving $60 a month. Twelve men were on call for $.12 an hour, and William H. McBride, the Fire Chief, earned $1,000 yearly. The single company served the city for five years. In November 1921, the voters approved a proposal to increase the department to twelve full-time men plus a fire chief. The men were stationed in two firehouses on either side of the train tracks.
The first fire headquarters was on Court Street in a building previously owned by the Richmons and the Hooks. It served as Fire Headquarters until moving into a remodeled Municipal Building at 3 West Main Street in 1948. The second station was on Ellicott St in the Durham building at 305-307 Ellicott Street. This building was leased to the city as the second fire station. In 1946, the building was sold to the Wortzman family, who needed the space for their furniture business. A new building was constructed at 43 Ellicott Street and served as Fire Station 2.
In 1974, the City Council discussed building a new fire headquarters building. The new concrete structure, built by Louis Viele Construction Company, was on Evans Street. In 1978, the new fire department was opened. It had offices for the Chief, the Assistant Fire Chief, and the Duty Officers at the front of the building, with dormitory facilities, a kitchen, and a recreation area behind. The fire equipment was housed in the garage. Paramedic service began in May 1986.
In 2009, the city discontinued the fire department’s ambulance service.
Today, the City of Batavia Fire Department comprises 38 members, including 28 Firefighters, 4 Captains, 4 Lieutenants, a Chief, and a Senior Typist.
The early fire companies in Batavia, along with their volunteers, established the foundation for our well-equipped fire department. Today, our fire department and the nearby volunteer fire companies continue to dedicate themselves to keeping the citizens of Genesee County safe from the tragedies of fire.
The materials used for this article are from "The History of the City of Batavia" (1993) by Ruth M. McEvoy.
