LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - OCTOBER 15, 2023 by Lynne Belluscio The question of the week: Why does Fire Prevention Week always take place on or about October 8? Well, it’s because it is the anniversary of the great Chicago Fire in 1871. The fire destroyed over threesquare miles of Chicago in three days. It is estimated that 300 people died and 17,000 buildings were destroyed. More than 100,000 people were left homeless. It had been a long hot dry summer, and many of the wood buildings were tinder dry. Once the fire started, there was little anyone could do to stop it. The winds drove the flames across the wide Chicago River and many of districts on both sides of the river were consumed. The exact cause was never determined but the story of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was always part of the history. It was said that Catherine O’Leary was milking her cow when the cow kicked over a lantern and the straw caught fire. Part of the story even included the name of her cow, Daisy... or Madeline...or Gwendolyn, depending on which story is told. Apparently, an official inquest was held, and Mrs. O’Leary said that she was in bed when the fire started and the official inquest concluded that there was no proof of her guilt. Many of the images of the Chicago fire show firemen trying to battle the flames with fire steamers. These huge machines were horse-pulled water pumps. An alarm would sound at the fire hall. The firemen would slide down the fire pole and start a fire in the firebox under the boiler of the steamer. In the meantime, the horses were brought around and put in front of the steamer and the harness would drop down from above. The harness was clicked together and a fireman would jump into the seat to hold the reins. More wood would be thrown into the firebox and the firemen would pull on their coats and boots and jump on the back of the steamer, and off they would go at a gallop to the fire, ringing the bell as loud as they could to get people out of the way. It was hoped that the pressure in the boiler would be high enough by the time they got to the fire, that they could pump water. Once they got to the fire, the horses would be unhitched and moved away. The men would hook the large suction (draft) hose to a fire hydrant (or into the river). Smaller hoses were attached to the pump and these hoses would direct the water through nozzles to the fire. Today, if a fire steamer is used for demonstrations, it first has to pass a boiler inspection. When I worked at Genesee Country Museum, we had a couple of fire steamers that would come for the Fire Muster. The boiler inspector would have to inspect them on Saturday because he didn’t work on Sunday. The last year that I was there, we had three working steamers. It was pretty exciting. The oldest was a harp-frame Amoskeg from Owego. There was one from Maryland and one from New Jersey. LeRoy had a steam pumper for a while. For several years, the Prentice Electric Company located in the old LeRoy Mill on Mill Street, had provided pumping services for the fire hydrants in the Village. Prentice charged $400 a year to be on call in case of a fire. Suddenly he decided to charge $1000. The Village fathers balked. Prentice agreed to reducing the fee if he could be guaranteed the franchise for installing light poles in the Village. A contract was signed between Prentice and the water commissioner and Orator Woodward, but it did not guarantee Prentice the franchise. Prentice said he would not provide water for fire protection after October 31. This had happened once before. In 1875, a water pipe was laid across the Main Street bridge to supply water to a hydrant on Trigon Park, so in case of fire, the east side would have water. The LeRoy Gazette reported, “The trial of the machinery a few days ago satisfied every beholder that the great squirt gun just finished can flood the highest building in the Village and at the same time drown every insurance agent in town and have four hydrants left to squirt every man who can, but won’t pay his debts.” The insurance agents were really upset when in 1896, Prentice threatened to shut off the water. The Village fathers met on November 4 and decided that they would lease a steam pumper from American Fire Company of Seneca Falls until the new pumping station would be readied. It would cost $20 a week to lease the steamer and it arrived on November 11. The next day they fired up the steamer and it reached steam in 18 minutes, but they couldn’t get water into the boiler. (Actually if you know anything about these steamers, you know that you need to have water in the boiler before you fire them up or the flues are destroyed.) They tried a few days later and discovered that the flues were defective. Someone from Seneca Falls arrived and “fixed” the machine. They fired it up again and brought it up to 110 lbs of pressure. But apparently there were still problems and another steamer was brought to town. LeRoy now had two hose carts, the Babcock chemical wagon, the hook and ladder wagon, the protectives wagon and the Silsby steamer. Prentice shut off the power to the water pumps at the mill, and the “public was earnestly requested to take every precaution and avert fires.” Almost a month later, the fire fighting equipment was put to the test when a fire broke out in the cooper shop. The Hooks arrived first and began to tear down the burning timbers. Next the Chemicals arrived and started to work on saving the building next door. (The Chemical wagon was like a giant fire extinguisher. It did not use water to put out a fire.) The steamer arrived, but apparently, they weren’t sure where to get water. Finally, they were able to get water from the Salt Company and the steamer worked efficiently with 70 pounds of pressure. By January 13, 1897, the new water works was in operation. I’m sure that as soon as the safety of the village was insured, the Silsby steamer was sent back to Seneca Falls. A month later the new water system was used for the first time when the Matthews Malting Company on Church Street went up in flames. Fire Prevention Week
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ2MjM=