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RG-01

STAMFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT

Registration Sheet April 1987

This record group has two ancillary groups:
RG-1.01: Miscellaneous Logs, Reports and Documents – 1901 to 1982 with extended history of the department through 1920
RG-1.02: Stamford Fire Department and Southend Fire Station, records pertaining particularly to the present Engine Company No. 2, 1969-1982

Introduction

From its founding in 1641 until almost midway into the 19th century, fire protection for Stamford consisted of citizens forming bucket brigades to supply water for fire suppression.

The fire service really began to organize on August 11, 1844, when at a meeting of the freemen, it was "resolved that the Borough will purchase two fire engines with hose, hooks, ladders, etc., as the necessity of the Borough may require." A tax of 10 mills on the dollar was levied to defray this expense, but only one engine was purchased.

In December 1844 the Rippowam Fire Engine Company No. 1 was formed with Sands Seeley as foreman. The engine purchased was put in his charge and an engine house was erected in the rear of the Town Hall. This became Rippowam's headquarters.

Fire Engine Company No. 2 was chartered in 1845. This company was housed on Gay Street. In later years Company No. 2 became the Gulf Stream Company No. 2 and was supplemented by No. 2 Hose Company.

Later, with the introduction of a piped water supply, these hand pumpers fell into disuse. Rippowam became the Atlantic Coast Company, housed on Advocate Place. The Relief Hook & Ladder Company, located on Broad Street, was part of the Volunteer Fire Department for two decades.

On September 19, 1882, the Borough freemen resolved to purchase a steam fire engine, after the disastrous Presbyterian Church fire on August 7, when they observed how well a steamer from Norwalk performed. Radical changes were begun in 1885 which gradually resulted in the abolition of the volunteer system. The number of men was reduced and the Fire Department was placed under control of the Board of Warden and Burgesses, and Richard Bolster was appointed Chief Engineer. The whole Department was housed on Advocate Place, with the exception of Pacific Hose Company which stayed in South Stamford.

The Stamford Fire Department was actually organized in 1885, from the several volunteer companies, to a part paid and part call force. By that time it was housed in the fire station on Luther Street. Between 1904 and 1909 there was a gradual elimination of the call fireman system.

The burning of the Town Hall in 1904, together with another serious fire later in the same year, revealed a lack of equipment and serious defects with the apparatus and system in use. Two more fire stations were built in 1909 and the introduction of motor apparatus came in 1910. A new Central Fire Station on Main Street was completed in 1915, and in this year the Department became fully motorized.

From these humble beginnings the Stamford Fire Department has grown and progressed to become the modern, efficient and up-to-date Department that serves the City of Stamford today.

As part of the record keeping system of most large paid fire departments, log books are kept and maintained at a watch desk located on the apparatus room floor or in a glass enclosed office just off the floor. These watch desks are manned 24 hours a day by a fireman who logs in various types of information.

The Stamford Historical Society is grateful to have acquired these items from the Stamford Fire Department in 1977.

Bibliography

Feinstein, Estelle F. and Joyce S. Pendery. Stamford: An Illustrated History. Woodland Hills, CA: Windsor Publications, Inc., 1984.

Feinstein, Estelle F. Stamford in the Guilded Age. Stamford Historical Society, 1973

Gillespie, E.T.W. Picturesque Stamford, 1641-1892. Stamford: Gillespie Brothers, 1892.

Gurley, Frank B. The Town Hall, Stamford Connecticut. Stamford: R.H. Cunningham Booklet Printery, 1904.

Huntington, Elijah Baldwin. History of Stamford, Connecticut, from its Settlement in 1641 to the Present Time. Stamford: by the author, 1868.

Lobozza, Carl. Changing Face of Stamford. Stamford: Greylock Publishers, 1978.

Lobozza, Carl. Journey Through Time. Stamford: Stamford Weekly Mail, 1971 Lobozza, Carl. Stamford: Pictures from the Past. Stamford: Stamford Weekly Mail, 1970.

Nemcheck, Edward, Jr. History of the Stamford Fire Department and How it Relates to Local Government: A Political Science Paper. Purchase, NY: Manhattanville College, 1985.

Sherwood, Herbert F. 1930. Story of Stamford. New York, NY: States History Company, 1930.

Stamford Advocate. Tercentenary Edition: Town of Stamford, Connecticut. Special edition, June 7, 1941.

Stamford Advocate. Marie Updegraff. It Happened Here. November 5, 1966 to June 10, 1967.

Stamford, City of. Annual Reports, 1893-1948.

Stamford, City of. Charter & Ordinances of City of Stamford. Stamford: Frank Weed Co., 1898.

Stamford, City of. Charter of the City of Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford: R.H. Cunningham, Printer, 1915.

Stamford, City of. Charter of the City of Stamford, Connecticut. n.p. 1927

Stamford, City of. Stamford Charter Consolidating the Town & City of Stamford. n.p., 1947.

Stamford, City of. Grand Ball of the Stamford Fire Department. 1924, 1926, 1929.

Stamford, City of. Rules & Regulations of the Stamford Fire Department. Stamford: Stamford Printing Company, 1910.

Stamford, City of. Rules & Regulations of the Stamford Fire Department. Stamford, Cunningham Press, 1917.

Stamford Water Company. 1868-1968: Stamford Water Company. n.p. 1968

List of Records

Box 1	#2 Engine Company – Association Records Minutes of Meetings June 1854 to April 1, 1859 Title page reads: "Regular Record of Stamford Engine Co., #2" 1 volume, 138 pages. Members History 1885-1921 Personnel records, when they were hired, promotions, transfers, salaries, uniform accounts 1 volume, 253 pages.
	Fire Department Annual Balls 25th-32nd, 1913-1920 Accounting for tickets sold, alphabetical list of names 1 volume, 200 pages.
	Officers Company Record Book, Dec. 4, 1926 to April 1, 1931 Indexed. Members discharged, suspended, resigned. Accidents and causes, fire inspections, burning brush, recharging extinguishers 1 volume, 296 pages.
Box 2	#1 Engine Company – Fire and Roll Call Records Contains Fire Dept. Ordinances and Rules and Regulations, personnel records, appointments and resignations, fires and descriptions. 2 volumes: May 1887 to April 1890, 240 pages May 1890 to April 1893, 94 pages
	Alarm and Roll Call Book 1900-1916 Fires, locations, property owners. Roll Book imprinted in gold on cover 1 volume, pages unnumbered. Inspection Records 1912-1921 Stores and businesses inspected are listed by name and street location. Violations and fire hazards are reported and are to be corrected. 1 volume, 476 pages.
Box 3	#1 Engine Company – Account of Fires, May 10, 1896 to December 1922 Gives the location, description, and name of property owner. 1 volume, 298 pages. House Watch – October 1919 to April 1922 1 volume, 95 pages.
	#3 Engine Company Fire Journal – March 4 1910 to April 28, 1932 Date and location of fires. Imprinted in gold on cover: "Stamford Fire Dept, Engine #3". 1 volume, 59 pages.
Box 4	#3 Engine Company – Company Journal – June 16, 1910 to May 31, 1912 Listing fires, supplies, etc. 2 volumes: 6/16/1910 to 5/31/1912, 153 pages 6/l/1912 to 9/10/1913, 100 pages
	#2 Engine Company – Company Journal 1915-1918 C. Speh, Captain; personnel records, supplies, repairs 1 volume, 202 pages.
	#2 Engine Company – Captain's Day book Personnel records, supplies, services 2 volumes: Sept. 11, 1913 to May 9, 1915 156 pages May 1, 1918 to April 10, 1921 300 pages
	#3 Engine Company – Captain's Watch Book 1931-1940 Fires, causes, locations, owners, Number of fires a year 1 volume, 300 pages.
Box 5	#3 Engine Company – Watch Desk Journal 1932-1939 Daily journal, recording of fires, personnel records 4 volumes.
Boxes 6, 7	#1 Engine Company – Company Journal 1931-1944 Day by day log, fires, causes, personnel records and assignments, inspection of equipment, etc. 5 volumes.
Box 8	Engine Company #1 Alarm and Roll Call Book, Dec. 1927 to Nov. 1938 Fires, descriptions, owners and locations 4 volumes.
Box 9	Engine Company #l – Captain's Books 1906-1911 Account Book: new equipment bought, repaired, horses bought, hose replaced, fire boxes treated, new orders issued 3 volumes. #1 Engine Company – Captain's Books 1931-1948 Records: Accidents and causes, sick leave, fire inspections, investigations, meter readings, personnel records, address and phone numbers of firemen, notices and orders read and posted 2 volumes.
Boxes 10, 11, 12	Operators Book 1930-1940 Yearly records of personnel, fires and "relief for" 11 volumes.
Boxes 13, 14, 15	#1 Station Company Journal Watch Desk, Feb. 3, 1932 to March 1, 1940 Record of men on watch duty and fires; location and description 9 volumes.
Box 16	Records and Accounts 1906-1923 Accounting of salaries paid, payments for supplies and services 1 volume, 304 pages. Records and Accounts 1910-1917 #1, #2, and #3 Engine Companies Salaries, expenses and payments 1 volume, 300 pages.
	Records and Accounts 1917-1923 #1, #2, and #3 Engine Companies Salaries, expenses and payments 1 volume, 300 pages.
	Records and Accounts 1920-1923 Payment of accounts for material bought, medical fees for applicants to the Fire Dept., use of water from "Shippan Water and Realty Co." 1 volume, 300 pages.
Box 17	#1, #2, and #3 Engine Companies – Account Books 1911-1923 Supplies, sundries, appropriations, repairs 6 volumes.
Box 18	Appropriations 1904-1910 and 1912 Salaries, feed and bedding, horse shoeing, lighting, uniforms, hose hydrants, sundries 1 volume, 572 pages. Appropriations 1913-1923 Feed, bedding, horse shoeing, new hydrants, auto for chief, gasoline and oil, etc. 1 volume, 572 pages.
Box 19	Fire Department Grand Balls, 3rd through 8th, 1925-1930 Accounting of donations and tickets sold; alphabetical list of names 1 volume, 300 pages.
Box 20	Check Stubs 1893-1908 10 volumes.
	Package 1 #2 Engine Company – Gulf Stream Company Roll Call Book, January 1866 to October 1885 Fire dates, locations, descriptions 1 volume, 90 pages.
	Package 2 Fire Journal 1905-1911 Fires, description, location 1 volume, 50 pages.
	Package 3 Fire Journal – 12/l/1910 to 2/28/1918 Street location, building owner, occupant, description of building and fire, its cause, cost of damage, insurance losses 1 volume, 50 pages.
	Package 4 Fire Journal – 2/2/1917 to 6/l/1923 Street location, building owner, occupant, description of building and fire, its cause, cost of damage, insurance coverage 1 volume, 50 pages.
	Package 5 #l Engine Company – Captains Alarm and Roll Call Book – June 1, 1938 to May 11, 1948 Fires, location, description, cause 1 volume, 300 pages.
	Package 6 #1, #2, and #3 Engine Companies Roll Call Journal – March 24, 1939 to December 25, 1952 Fires, location, cause 1 volume, 500 pages.

RG-1.01: Miscellaneous Logs, Reports and Documents – 1901 to 1982 with extended history of the department through 1920
RG-1.02: Stamford Fire Department and Southend Fire Station, records pertaining particularly to the present Engine Company No. 2, 1969-1982

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