PATERSON FIRE HISTORY
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  • OVERVIEW
    • FIRST CENTURY
    • EVENTS 1890-1894
    • EVENTS 1895-1899
    • EVENTS 1900-1910
    • EVENTS 1911-1919
    • EVENTS 1920-1939
    • EVENTS 1940-1959
    • EVENTS 1960-1979
    • EVENTS 1980-1999
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  • FIREFIGHTERS
  • CHIEF ENGINEERS
    • ASSISTANT CHIEFS
    • DEPUTY CHIEFS
    • BATTALION CHIEFS
    • CHIEF GIGS
  • THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
    • MEMORIAL SERVICE
  • OBITUARIES / DEATHS
    • 1889-1919 DEATHS
    • 1920-1939 DEATHS
    • 1940-1959 DEATHS
    • 1960-1969 DEATHS
    • 1970-1979 DEATHS
    • 1980-1999 DEATHS
    • 2000-2009 DEATHS
    • 2010 AND LATER
  • NOTABLE FIREFIGHTERS
    • CALAMITA FAMILY
    • CAPTAIN JOHN WEBER
    • CUSACK FAMILY
    • FLEMING FAMILY
    • GERARD DUGAN
    • HANCOCK FAMILY
    • HENRY OTIS HARRIS
    • ISAAC FELICIANO
    • JOHN GILMORE
    • JOSEPH DAYSPRING
    • KEARNEY-FAMILY
    • MARIANI FAMILY
    • McLAUGHLIN FAMILY
    • SALMANOWITZ BROTHERS
    • THE SIMONTONS
    • THE SWEENEYS
    • TICE FAMILY
  • NOTABLE FIRES/INCIDENTS
  • SPECIAL OP EVENTS
  • TAKING THE HEAT BOOK
  • HISTORICAL REVIEWS
  • 1907 GUARDIAN
  • 1936 HEARD & SEEN COLUMN
  • FIREHOUSE PHOTOS / FACTS
  • COMPANY & FH HISTORY
  • SPECIAL OPERATIONS
  • EMS
    • EMS ROSTER
  • COMMUNICATIONS / FA
    • FIRE BOX LISTS
    • FIRE BOXES & STANCHIONS
    • EVRS STATION LIST
  • FIRE VIDEOS 1991-2011
  • FIRE VIDEOS 2014-2022
  • DOCUDRAMAS
  • APPARATUS
  • APPARATUS VIDEOS
  • NOTABLE EVENTS INDEX
    • PFD STORIES
    • APPARATUS NOTABLES
    • APPTS & PROMOTIONS
    • AWARDS
    • 1960 CHIEF SELECTION
    • GRAND STREET RIOT 1917
    • GROUND ZERO
    • MILITARY
    • PARADES PAID DEPT
    • RED MASS
    • RESCUES
    • RETIREMENTS
    • SISTER LORETTA
    • SPORTS
    • THEATRE DETAIL
  • MEMORABILIA
  • PATCHES DECALS LOGOS SHIRTS
  • WALLPAPER
  • DEPARTMENT PETS
  • TRAINING
  • VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENT
    • 1821 - 1854 HISTORY
    • 1815-1890 VOLUNTEER HISTORY
    • 1888 HISTORICAL SUMMARY
    • LOOKING BACKWARDS
    • VOLUNTEER PARADES
    • ANNUAL REPORTS
    • VOLUNTEER CHIEFS >
      • CHIEF ELECTIONS
      • CHIEF BIOS
    • VOLUNTEER PROFILES
    • ANDREW MOSER
    • ENGINE CO APPARATUS LIST
    • OLD GOOSENECK
    • JEFFERS STEAMER
    • VOLUNTEER COMPANIES
  • AUXILIARY FIRE DEPARTMENT
  • EXEMPT ASSOCIATION
    • EXEMPT 1892 BALL
    • EXEMPT BY-LAWS 1902
  • EXEMPT HOME & RELICS
  • FMBA / PFA
    • FMBA BY-LAWS
    • FMBA 1949 FOLLIES
    • FMBA VIDEOS
  • BALLBOOKS
    • 1909 BALL BOOK
    • 1916 BALL BOOK
    • 1918 BALL BOOK
    • 1921 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1923 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1928 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1935 PFD BOOSTER
    • 1936 JANUARY PICTORIAL
    • 1936 DECEMBER PICTORIAL
    • 1937 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1938 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1939 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1941 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1942 ANNUAL BALL
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  • ANNUAL REPORTS
  • PFH CONTRIBUTORS
  • ORAL HISTORY
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  • CITY OF PATERSON

Electrification of Paterson Apparatus

Horses propelled all Fire department vehicles from its establishment in 1890 until 1910 when motorization began with gasoline power chief gigs and Engine Company 10. This was followed by several steamers receiving gasoline powered tractors from Nott or Christie Front Drive companies. Horses finally disappeared in 1920. Starting in 1915 the city and department under Chief Coyle initiated the transition to "electric" meaning battery powered apparatus. This also entailed installation of charging stations in each firehouse
November 18, 1915 - Fire and Water Engineering Magazine -  Commercial Truck Company of Philadelphia visits Paterson to conduct tests - apparatus below (hose cart and aerial) are prototypes and not those that ultimately, came to PFD
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1915 Fire and Water Engineering
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1916: 
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August 5, 1916 Morning Call courtesy Dennis Morrison
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Starting in 1917 the department under Chief Coyle starting receiving the "electric," powered apparatus. ​
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Engine Company 1 Hose Wagon 1917 - 115 Van Houten Street
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Engine 11 at 97 Grand Street - Note CT emblem in front - Courtesy Kevin Behnke
The following is an interesting discussion on this topic that is from the Edison Monthly in January 1921 (posted in 2008 at the Paterson Fire Journal blog site). ​
A COMPLETELY motorized fire department — the largest in the state and one of the first in the country — is the source of a great deal of pride on the part of the citizens of Paterson, New Jersey. Additional interest is due to the fact that the motorization was accomplished through the conversion of horse-drawn trucks to automobiles, and further, that the apparatus is electrically driven. As a result of the changes Paterson now has speedy and dependable fire equipment, economy of operation is assured, because electrics can be operated at a lower cost than any other type; and because it was possible to convert horse vehicle into motors, the city avoided the waste of scrapping apparatus which though old, was still good for many years of service.

The importance of adequate fire protection for a city of the industrial importance of this silk manufacturing centre, with its great mill districts, its large foreign population, its many hilly streets, and a residential district where the houses are, as a rule, of frame construction, need hardly be commented upon. The Paterson Fire Department consists of fifteen companies and the electric apparatus includes nine engines, ten combination wagons, and three ladder trucks.

Central Fire Station
These are stationed at strategic points throughout the city and the headquarters building is on Van Houten Street. The garage and repair shop of the department are on the ground floor of this building. Executive offices. dormitories, a social hall, and handball courts are on the upper floors. The headquarters building was erected after the installation of automobiles was decided upon and consequently was designed especially to provide garage facilities. The other buildings, however, were remodeled, the changes from stables to garages being made when the vehicles themselves were being rebuilt.

Use of Electricity
The work consisted principally of installing equipment for charging the storage batteries and such machine shop facilities as were needed for making the routine adjustments to the fire apparatus. The charging outlets were suspended from the ceiling in such a way that two batteries could be charged from the same plug. The electrification of the Department began in 1917 after an unsatisfactory experience with gasoline drive.

Five pieces of electrical apparatus were purchased from the Commercial Truck Company. 
These were Engine Number One and its Combination Wagon and Engine and Wagon Number Five and Truck Number Two. Standard fire fighting equipment was mounted on specially designed electric chassis and so satisfactory did they prove that complete electrification was decided upon.
June 30, 1917:  Paterson Evening News
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Courtesy Dennis Morrison
August 23, 1917  Press Guardian
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Courtesy Dennis Morrison
May 20, 1919:  3 apparatus (electric powered) ordered from Commercial Truck Company to replace 3 old Christie tractors. 
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Morning Call - Courtesy Dennis Morrison
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115 Van Houten Street - Engine 1 Hosewagon, Truck 2 and Engine 5 Hosewagon
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​November 3, 1919: Continued electrification of PFD apparatus continued
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Paterson News courtesy Dennis Morrison
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Truck 2 at Courthouse
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General Electric Review published in 1922
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Truck 2 in bay at 115 Van Houten Street Headquarters
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On Main Street near Ward: Captain John Weber and BC John Specht
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Dayspring Collection
May 20, 1919:  3 apparatus (electric powered) ordered from Commercial Truck Company to replace 3 old Christie tractor. Hose wagons also updated. 
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Edison Monthly Magazine
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​1921
 Electric World Magazine - information from manufacturer on preventing damage from broken apparatus battery jars and acid spills
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1921: Edison Monthly - Update on PFD apparatus
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Electric Drive
While the first pieces were built as electrics, the balance were converted by removing the gasoline drive then in use, and installing electric drive. Thus, much of the equipment, has undergone three revolutionary changes: as built originally it was drawn by horses; later gasoline tractors replaced the horses, and finally the electric motors and storage batteries were installed. The method of changing the apparatus was in itself interesting.

In the case of the familiar engine, all the running gear forward of the gooseneck was removed, and channel beams, long enough and heavy enough to carry the storage batteries, the chauffeur's seat, and the driving and steering apparatus, were riveted on. The rear wheels, the boiler, and the pumping apparatus were not touched.

Ladders
In changing the ladder trucks the frame was extended to provide place for the driving mechanism, the battery box was suspended under the frame and just forward of the rear wheels, and an entirely new set of wheels was mounted , each wheel having its individual motor. 
A similar lengthening and strengthening of the frame and the installation of motors for each of the rear wheels accomplished the same result for the combination wagons.

Visitors to the New York Electrical Show of 1919 will recall the combination wagon which was exhibited. This was one of the Paterson vehicles and was on its way from Philadelphia, where the Commercial Truck Company had made the changes, when the Paterson officials consented to its stopping over in New York. By 1919, sixteen of the twenty-five pieces of apparatus had been changed to electric, and by the end of 1920 only three gasoline vehicles remained.

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Engine Company 10 Combination Hose Wagon
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Engine Company 7 Hose Wagon
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Hose Wagon of Engine 5 in bay at 115 Van Houten Street

​January 23, 1923:
  Concerns over power for electric apparatus
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Morning Call - Courtesy Dennis Morrison
Speed of Vehicles

The speed of electric apparatus in reaching fires is strikingly shown in the annual report of 1919, the last year for which complete figures are available. During 1919, the department responded to 511 alarms and reached the fires so promptly that in only four cases did the blaze extend beyond the original building. The damage in the most disastrous fire of the year amounted to only $209,000. The average loss in the next four fires was less than $50,000 while the average loss in all fires, including the big ones was less than $900.

Trials designed to show the fitness of electric trucks for fire department work were conducted recently by Thomas Coyle, Chief of the Paterson Fire Department. One of the combination chemical trucks, weighing seven tons, was employed for the purpose, and heads of the fire departments of neighboring cities, including New York, as well as many of those interested in the electric vehicle industry, were present.

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Engine 1 battery driven Metropolitan steamer in bay at 115 Van Houten Street. Hosw wagin in front.
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Metropolitan Steamer of Engine 10 at 1928 Parade
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Engine 10 battery powered steamer
Negotiating Hills

Three hills were negotiated. 
​

The first, on Temple Street, had a grade of fourteen per cent and was long but the truck climbed the distance in one minute and fifteen seconds. The second grade was the Cliff Street incline of seventeen per cent which was achieved in the running time of sixty-two seconds. Not only did the electric climb from a standing start, but it stopped in the middle of the hill and started again without any kind of assistance. The third attempt was made over the Haledon Avenue course of nine blocks with an eight per cent grade and the climb was completed in the astonishingly short time of two minutes and two seconds. A speed of thirty-four miles per hour was maintained on the level and at no time was any difficulty or hindrance experienced.

In reply to a question regarding the ability of the electric trucks to proceed under adverse weather conditions Chief Coyle made the statement that "If electric trucks could not get through the winter snows nothing could" and that he and his associates believed that "the electric trucks are the most reliable, least expensive and best type of vehicle for fire department usage."

The Shops
Added to this testimony is that of Captain William H Ward who is in charge of the extensive workshop of the Central Fire Headquarters. Captain Ward said that the labors of his department had "decreased nearly seventy per cent since the introduction of electric trucks three years ago," and that "except when they smashed into trees, not one of the electrics has ever been out of service for as long as twenty-four hours." In fact there are now so few repairs called for, that Captain Ward has reduced his force of mechanics to one.

Under this arrangement the Captain does practically all of the repair work on apparatus while his "force" has kept busy during the fall and winter repairing the roofs of the engine houses.
January 8, 1931: Engine 10's electric-powered Steamer crashed into a pole at 4:45 PM at Park Avenue and east 26th Street. The accident happened when E10 driver Edward Haycock swerved to avoid a collision with a taxicab. The front of the apparatus was smashed and fireman Andrew Green was hurled from the rear of the steamer. Company was responding to Station 212 at East 18th and Lafayette Streets.
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January 9 Morning Call courtesy Dennis Morrison
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End of Electric Era

Despite all the hype above. Paterson bailed pretty quickly on using electric apparatus. As soon as 1923 they bought a gasoline powered First Size American LaFrance Combination Hose Chemical and Pumping Engine for Engine Company 12 and between 1926 and 1931 replaced every battery powered apparatus with an Ahrens Fox gasoline powered pumper or aerial: exception was Engine 11 which received a used (from Haledon, NJ) American LaFrance gasoline pumper in 1932. 
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One of the Paterson Steamers with electric tracctor
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  • HOME
  • OVERVIEW
    • FIRST CENTURY
    • EVENTS 1890-1894
    • EVENTS 1895-1899
    • EVENTS 1900-1910
    • EVENTS 1911-1919
    • EVENTS 1920-1939
    • EVENTS 1940-1959
    • EVENTS 1960-1979
    • EVENTS 1980-1999
    • EVENTS 2000-2019
    • EVENTS 2020-2023
  • FIREFIGHTERS
  • CHIEF ENGINEERS
    • ASSISTANT CHIEFS
    • DEPUTY CHIEFS
    • BATTALION CHIEFS
    • CHIEF GIGS
  • THE SUPREME SACRIFICE
    • MEMORIAL SERVICE
  • OBITUARIES / DEATHS
    • 1889-1919 DEATHS
    • 1920-1939 DEATHS
    • 1940-1959 DEATHS
    • 1960-1969 DEATHS
    • 1970-1979 DEATHS
    • 1980-1999 DEATHS
    • 2000-2009 DEATHS
    • 2010 AND LATER
  • NOTABLE FIREFIGHTERS
    • CALAMITA FAMILY
    • CAPTAIN JOHN WEBER
    • CUSACK FAMILY
    • FLEMING FAMILY
    • GERARD DUGAN
    • HANCOCK FAMILY
    • HENRY OTIS HARRIS
    • ISAAC FELICIANO
    • JOHN GILMORE
    • JOSEPH DAYSPRING
    • KEARNEY-FAMILY
    • MARIANI FAMILY
    • McLAUGHLIN FAMILY
    • SALMANOWITZ BROTHERS
    • THE SIMONTONS
    • THE SWEENEYS
    • TICE FAMILY
  • NOTABLE FIRES/INCIDENTS
  • SPECIAL OP EVENTS
  • TAKING THE HEAT BOOK
  • HISTORICAL REVIEWS
  • 1907 GUARDIAN
  • 1936 HEARD & SEEN COLUMN
  • FIREHOUSE PHOTOS / FACTS
  • COMPANY & FH HISTORY
  • SPECIAL OPERATIONS
  • EMS
    • EMS ROSTER
  • COMMUNICATIONS / FA
    • FIRE BOX LISTS
    • FIRE BOXES & STANCHIONS
    • EVRS STATION LIST
  • FIRE VIDEOS 1991-2011
  • FIRE VIDEOS 2014-2022
  • DOCUDRAMAS
  • APPARATUS
  • APPARATUS VIDEOS
  • NOTABLE EVENTS INDEX
    • PFD STORIES
    • APPARATUS NOTABLES
    • APPTS & PROMOTIONS
    • AWARDS
    • 1960 CHIEF SELECTION
    • GRAND STREET RIOT 1917
    • GROUND ZERO
    • MILITARY
    • PARADES PAID DEPT
    • RED MASS
    • RESCUES
    • RETIREMENTS
    • SISTER LORETTA
    • SPORTS
    • THEATRE DETAIL
  • MEMORABILIA
  • PATCHES DECALS LOGOS SHIRTS
  • WALLPAPER
  • DEPARTMENT PETS
  • TRAINING
  • VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENT
    • 1821 - 1854 HISTORY
    • 1815-1890 VOLUNTEER HISTORY
    • 1888 HISTORICAL SUMMARY
    • LOOKING BACKWARDS
    • VOLUNTEER PARADES
    • ANNUAL REPORTS
    • VOLUNTEER CHIEFS >
      • CHIEF ELECTIONS
      • CHIEF BIOS
    • VOLUNTEER PROFILES
    • ANDREW MOSER
    • ENGINE CO APPARATUS LIST
    • OLD GOOSENECK
    • JEFFERS STEAMER
    • VOLUNTEER COMPANIES
  • AUXILIARY FIRE DEPARTMENT
  • EXEMPT ASSOCIATION
    • EXEMPT 1892 BALL
    • EXEMPT BY-LAWS 1902
  • EXEMPT HOME & RELICS
  • FMBA / PFA
    • FMBA BY-LAWS
    • FMBA 1949 FOLLIES
    • FMBA VIDEOS
  • BALLBOOKS
    • 1909 BALL BOOK
    • 1916 BALL BOOK
    • 1918 BALL BOOK
    • 1921 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1923 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1928 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1935 PFD BOOSTER
    • 1936 JANUARY PICTORIAL
    • 1936 DECEMBER PICTORIAL
    • 1937 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1938 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1939 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1941 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1942 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1943 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1944 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1945 ANNUAL BALL
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    • 1965 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1966 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1967 ANNUAL BALL
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    • 1969 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1970 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1971 ANNUAL BALL
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    • 1973 ANNUAL BALL
    • 1975 ANNUAL BALL
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    • 2005 ANNUAL BALL
    • 2010 ANNUAL BALL
    • 2011 ANNUAL BALL
    • 2014 ANNUAL BALL
    • 2016 ANNUAL BALL
  • ANNUAL REPORTS
  • PFH CONTRIBUTORS
  • ORAL HISTORY
  • STATISTICS
  • CONTACT
  • CITY OF PATERSON