Editor in Chief - John McMahon Ret. Deputy Chief

The first in a Series of Fire Department Histories
History of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire


by Rebecca Richardson - Staff Writer

The history of the Pittsburgh Fire Department is rich, dating back to the days when Pittsburgh was just a village. It would be impossible to cover all of their history in one short article so I have endeavored to hit some of the most interesting points in their history.

Prior to 1869 Pittsburgh was protected by volunteer firefighters.

I use "volunteer" loosely because at one point in their history men were compelled to serve and fined if they did not!

The first organized company for which data can be found was the Eagle Fire Engine and Hose Company. This company was organized in the year 1794. They purchased an engine, a hand machine, through contributions from citizens. The only form of water supply was through bucket brigades and both men and women formed lines and passed buckets to fill the truck so water could be pumped.
After the formation of Eagle Company, other volunteer companies soon followed. It is said that there were great rivalries between the companies and many times they raced each other to the fires.

In 1845 Pittsburg, from 1890 through 1911 it was spelled with out the "h", suffered a major calamity. A fire was started by shavings under a wash kettle in the yard of a private dwelling. The fire rapidly spread throughout the city. Flaming pieces of wood were carried blocks away igniting buildings... burning down warehouses, dwellings, and destroying the original Monongahela River bridge. Over 1000 structures were lost in the blaze.

Firefighters from all companies worked feverishly to control the blaze. Fortunately only two lives were lost in this catastrophe.

The 1850s saw the introduction of dogs as mascots for the firemen. One very interesting and amusing story in Pittsburgh Fire Department history is that of Jack, the mascot of the Niagra Company. Many service men that perished in the Civil War came from the volunteer fire companies. Apparently they took Jack to war with them and he was captured. Jack was later returned in exchange for a confederate prisoner.

By 1869 Pittsburgh had grown into a busy city and people saw the need to establish a paid Fire Department. On March 23, 1870 Governor John W.Geary signed an "Act to Establish the Pittsburgh Fire Department" which gave the city council the power to establish and oversee a fire department for the city. They did so and on April 14, 1870 the fire department was born.
The Fire department merged into the Department of Public Safety in 1888. The Department of Public Safety had been created by Act of Assembly the previous year. I believe it was at this point that the department became known as the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

The early 1900s brought improvements in both technology and medicine and the department moved with the times. In December of 1915 Dr. D.E. Sable, the Police and Fire Surgeon, began teaching first aid to the fire fighters. Horses began to give way to motor cars and Engine Company #60 was the first company to be motorized in the City of Pittsburgh. In 1919 the city purchased two six-wheeled aerial trucks. By February of 1921, 75 percent of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire was motorized.

Early in 1903, firefighters felt the need to find a way to improve their working and living conditions with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire. Fireman’s Protective Association Local No. 1 was formed in May of that year. When the International Association of Firefighters was formed in 1918 they received the privilege (as a result of winning a coin toss against the Chicago Fire department) of becoming IAFF Local #1.

On August 24, 1918, at the hour of 12 noon, Pittsburgh firefighters went on strike for higher wages. The Mayor of Pittsburgh had anticipated this happening and called in soldiers from Camp Carnegie to man the fire stations. At 2:30 p.m. a fire broke out on Penn Avenue and the soldiers could not contain it. Word got to the firefighters who were at the Labor Temple and the union president, John "Knockers" Conley, told his men to respond as volunteers to the fire. Firefighters went, extinguished the blaze, and then returned to the Labor Temple. Later that day, the National War Labor Board agreed to grant the union a hearing if the firefighters would return to work immediately. They did so and on August 26 the two-day hearing began. The dispute was settled in favor of the firefighters.

Although there are many tragic fires in the city’s history one that stands out occurred on July 24, 1931. Spontaneous combustion caused a fire the home for the Aged of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The home had 231 residents, many who were blind or bedfast. Firefighters fought the blaze for four hours to get it under control. 47 of the residents lost their lives and the injured flooded the surrounding hospitals.

In August of 1932 the National Fire Protection Association credited Pittsburgh with having the lowest fire losses of cities with populations of over 500,000 from 1928 to 1931. Pittsburgh firefighters were pointed out to have been a large factor in setting that record.

During the war years of the 1940s many of Pittsburgh’s firefighters were called upon to serve their country. When firefighters returned home after the war they were reinstated to his position in the department. They suffered no loss of seniority, as all of America was proud of their soldiers.

In 1950, the day after Thanksgiving, Pittsburgh was hit by a blizzard. All firefighters were immediately called to report to their station houses; the men remained on duty for eight straight days. The deep snow made responding to emergencies difficult. It is said that one engine company responded to a call 2 1/2 blocks away from their station. It took them two hours to shovel their way back to quarters.

On November 19th, 1952 Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire undertook to de-segregate their department by transferring of personnel to different stations. Prior to that year two engine companies were staffed only by black firefighters.

In 1960 Local #1 had established "Fill The Boot" collection for Muscular Dystrophy in the city of Pittsburgh. Local #1 considers it their duty to this day to help charities and to educate the public.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire brought back the rank of Lieutenant, which had been absent for close to forty years, on January 12th, 1966. On that day the mayor swore in 106 officers, the largest single swearing in of officers in Pittsburgh to date.

In 1976, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire hired their first woman (who incidentally was also the first black female to be employed by the department) into the department. It would be eleven years before the next woman joined the ranks of the department.

Today the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire has a total of 865 personnel; with 22 of them being women. They have 35 engine companies and 11 truck companies in service.

I had the opportunity to speak on the telephone with the current Chief of the department, Chief Peter Micheli. Chief Micheli came on the department in 1964 as a line firefighter. He worked his way up through the ranks and in 1998 became acting Chief. In August of 1999 he was granted the permanent position as Chief of Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

I asked Chief Micheli what he thought the biggest changes or improvements were that he had seen in his time on the job. He felt that the biggest improvements had been made in PPE for firefighters. In 1964 when he came on, they were still using a canister with masks to breathe and he felt the introduction of SCBAs was probably the most outstanding improvement. He also stated that firefighters receive much better training then they used to and staffing is now adequate for the job they are expected to do. The department responds to approximately 31,000 calls a year with about 68 percent of them being first responder medical calls.

According to Chief Micheli the hilly terrain, tunnels, and bridges can make fighting fires much more labor intensive. While a dwelling may appear to be on level ground from the front, when you walk around to the back they often turn out to be on a steep hillside. There is a lot of ladder work involved and the truck companies are very aggressive. Many times they are throwing ladders on uneven terrain and/or in the ice and snow. The narrow streets make aerial placement more difficult and sometimes they are unable to maneuver the aerial close to the fire. This necessitates a more intensive use of hand ladders.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is one of the nation's oldest fire departments and enjoys a very interesting past. I would like to thank Donald Dorsey (IAFF Local #1) and Chief Micheli for providing me with the information to bring their history to life. Also thanks to Bill Ley from Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire for letting me use some of the pictures from his web page.

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