Stockton Fire Department History

A selection of recorded fires from 1849 to 1887

• December 23, 1849: At that date the town could boast of but few wooden buildings, the in-habitants being housed in tents and within an hour after the first cry of fire rang out the entire business portion was in ashes. The burned portion was bounded by Main, El Dorado, Levee and Center streets and the loss in merchandise was estimated at $200,000.
• May 6, 1851: flames originating in the El Dorado Saloon and gambling hall, a tent 100 feet square, spread to neighboring tents with inconceivable rapidity and within a short time the town was once more in ashes.
• February, 1855: the east half of the block on El Dorado Street was entirely destroyed.
• July 30th, 1855: ten buildings went up in smoke and many more were damaged before the valiant Volunteers could gain control. Two lines of hose were burst by the exertions of the members who manned the brakes of the Eureka engine. The fire had its origin in “Uncle John’s” restaurant, an historic caravansary whose cuisine was estimated superior to that of the “Fairmount” of the present day by many of the early pioneers.
• August 4^th 1855: Thomas K. Hook’s barn “outside the city limits” was destroyed together with 240 tons of hay.
• August 15^th 1855:Volunteers were called out to extinguish a blaze in a wagon shop opposite Andrew Wolf’s stable on Main Street
• December 22, 1855: the bursting of a boiler in the City Mills of Sperry & Baldwin started a blaze which was extinguished with but a nominal loss.
• June 18, 1856, the unfinished residence of Mr. E. R. Stockwell “outside the city limits” was entirely consumed.
• September 14, 1857: The bursting of a boiler flue in the Franklin Mills, on Levee Street below Center.
• October 1^st, 1857: Several buildings on El Dorado Street were destroyed
• December 24^th 1857: the destruction of the brewery of Philip Neistrath situated on Weber’s Levee. Mr. Neistrath who was a prominent member of San Joaquin Engine Company, estimated his loss at $1,500.
• July 3, 1858: flames were discovered in the Massachusetts Bakery on El Dorado Street. Before the fire was brought under control the entire east side of the block was laid waste
• October 7^th, 1858: The Fandango House at the head of Main Street was consumed
• December 3^rd, 1858: the volunteers were called to the Boys’ school house on Main Street and ten days later they rolled to Dr. Norcom’s office on Center Street. But a nominal loss resulted in each instance.
• April 20, 1861, the services of the department were required to extinguish a fire in the hold of a schooner moored at the wharf.
• December 20, 1862, the office of the Daily News was considerably damaged by fire and water.
• February 12, 1863: we find the following transcribed in the record book by W. F. Freeman, secretary of the Eurekas: “Five-o’clock p.m. fire originated in a small stable in the rear of B. B. Parker’s Masonic Hall Building. Betwixt fire and water the hay was entirely destroyed. Dep’t all out. The Weber got steam up but the Eureka (hand engine) had extinguished the fire before she got to work.” The same gentleman, thirteen days later records “a blaze in the upper end of town between Channel and Miner’s Avenue; great excitement up-town which for once looked lively.” At that time the city extended to but a few blocks east of El Dorado street and all beyond that thoroughfare was known as “up-town.” The burying ground then occupied the district now bounded by Main, Ophir, Pilgrim, and Weber Avenue and “Old Jake,” an early day saloon man and restaurateur who was hanged for a murder committed by him in his saloon, was buried but a few feet from where the new engine house (No. 4) now stands.
• February, 1864: a blaze originating in a school room on the Peninsular consumed three buildings
• September 27^th, 1864: all the wooden buildings on Levee between Center and El Dorado streets were destroyed.
• October 8^th 1864: Four alarms came in in quick succession. In each instance evidence of incendiarism was plainly apparent and the citizens became greatly alarmed. Rumors that “fire bugs” had been imported from San Francisco by an element opposed to the enforcement of the laws, were circulated and the situation was considered such as to call for stringent action. Accordingly a meeting of the citizens of the Second Ward was called to consider ways and means to rid the city of the parties responsible. Moses Severy presided as chairman of the meeting and Sidney Newell acted as secretary. An armed patrol of twenty-five men were appointed to guard the Second Ward. On the following day, October 10th, the following notice appeared: To the Citizens of Stockton: Our city being to an alarming extent infested with incendiaries, you are hereby notified and required to meet at the Court House at 4 p.m., in order to devise, form and mature plans for the protection of the city. (Signed) George Gray, Mayor. V. M. Peyton officiated as secretary of the meeting and Mayor Gray presided. Fourteen men from each ward were appointed to patrol the city and the following order was issued by the Sheriff, Mayor, and Chief of Police: “If anyone is seen setting fire, shoot him on the spot.” Persons found on the street after 10 o’clock, unless identified, were taken to headquarters, and there searched and compelled to make known their business. During the reign of terror which lasted two weeks, the Volunteers responded to over twenty-five alarms.
• In 1866 the building in which housed the “Smith” hand engine, the “piano deck” and the small Van Syckle engines, together with all the uniforms of the “Hooks” was destroyed. This building stood on Hunter Street, opposite the present site of the home of Hook and Ladder Company No. 1.
• October 5, 1870, a number of buildings situated where the Independent building now stands were destroyed.
• 8 o’clock on the eve of Washington’s birthday, 1877, to fight a stubborn fire in the El Dorado brewery, then owned by D. Rothenbush.The Babcock, driven by M. McCann was the first engine on the ground and it added new laurels to its fame by the efficiency of its operation. Its efforts suppressed and held in check the flames until the other engines got to work, and many were of the opinion that the whole building would have been destroyed had it not been for the timely arrival of the Babcock. The Webers secured first water. The Eurekas arrived at the scene cold, the drive of a mile over the rough streets having been made with such rapidity that all the fuel was shaken through the grates. Steam was raised, however, and the company performed its full quota of the work.”
• 1881: A lively blaze in the property of Andrew Wolf, on Main between California and Sutter streets gave the department a hard fight. Strocter’s cigar store, Gilleran’s tonsorial parlor, Mayhew’s paint shop, the tailoring establishment of Sheridan & Anderson and M. McCormick’s shoe shop were gutted.
• May 28^th, 1881: The fire alarm telegraph was installed early in the above year. The first roll of the companies in response to an alarm over its wires. Anent the same we copy the following from the Herald of that date: “Just before 10 o’clock this morning a general alarm of fire was sounded by the ringing of the city hall bell. The different engine companies were given the alarm over the fire alarm telegraph a few seconds before the bell tapped. The fire was caused by the burning of a bath house at ‘Doc’ Davis’ place on Jefferson Street across Mormon channel. When discovered an alarm was turned in from box 6, at St. Agnes Academy. The Webers and Eurekas in their hurry to get out did not wait for the second alarm, and took the number to be 15 instead of 6. They rushed wildly out to the State Insane Asylum where box 15 is located. The Webers set on the cistern at the corner of Stanislaus and Oak Streets and stretched in 300 feet of hose. There was no fire and they played into the street. The Eurekas when they reached the asylum turned around and went home. The driver of the Babcock engine was the only one who understood the alarm. He went out California street and found the fire, which the Babcock alone extinguished. The damage was not more than $25. The drivers of the engines that went to the asylum did not feel very proud of their race when they heard that they were a mile away from the fire and that the Babcock had put it out.”
• July 4, 1881: Wm. Inglis suffered a loss of $1,500 by the burning of his residence on the corner of Lafayette and El Dorado streets
• August 13, 1881, flames were discovered in the grocery store of Musto & Co. The department arrived on the scene promptly and were working on the fire, when, without a moment’s warning, three terrific explosions followed each other in quick succession. The building was a wooden structure with but one story, and the force ascending found an easy outlet through the roof, which was almost entirely blown away. The explosions were caused by the ignition of a quantity of powder that was stored in the building and it was the concensus of opinion among the spectators that had it been in a building with a greater number of stories some of the Volunteers would have met with instant death. The flames having gained considerable headway before discovered, were given several hours of strenuous work before they were finally brought under control. The grocery firm estimated their loss at $5,500; insurance, $3,000.
• November 12^th, 1881: a blaze on a dredger in Mormon Slough occasioned a roll frought with many mishaps. While crossing “Lover’s Gulch” beyond Miller’s warehouse, the Eurekas’ hose cart was driven off the narrow roadway and turned turtle into the ditch. The Weber engine was following closely behind and before the driver, Henry Wolf, could check the horses it, too, landed in the ditch. The tide being at a low ebb the driver of the Eurekas’ engine mistook some mud on the edge of the slough for hard ground with the result that his horses were soon wallowing in the dobe and the engine, with a full head of steam on, stuck up to the hub and tilted to one side. The harness was quickly cut and one of the horses floundered to the bank. but it was found necessary to pull the other out of the sticky mud with ropes. Despite this chapter of accidents the Webers hauled their engine to the fire by hand and performed good service, saving the dredger from destruction.
• April 2, 1882. The fire had gained great headway before its discovery, and when the Volunteers reached the scene, corner Levee and Beaver Streets, it could be seen that with the apparatus at their command but little could be done. However, the men, assisted by about one hundred citizens, worked valiantly and succeeded in saving some of the expensive machinery with which the mills were equipped. In commenting on the fire in its issue of April 3d, the Evening Mail had the following: “The firemen found that they had not an incipient fire to wash out with a single stream of water, but a full-grown fire fanned by a fresh breeze from the northwest, and increased in violence by the drafts from the chutes in the mill. To fight against this they had but two engines and a Babcock with ‘a garden hose and a puny stream’ which was of no avail in a fire of such a size. The old relief engine ‘Betsy’ was stationed on the wharf and did good service, remaining on duty for twenty-four hours. The firemen excited the admiration of the spectators by their bravery in fighting the flames when the brick walls were swaying in the heat and threatening to fall every moment. Chief Engineer Rolf and Sheriff Cunningham were to be found in the thickest of the engagement, the latter holding the pipe and playing into the hottest of the fire, with as much zeal as if he were pursuing a gang of horse thieves. Chief Rolf did not leave the scene or change his wet clothes until after 5 o’clock the following morning. It was a ludicrous site to watch the little stream of soda water from the Babcock engine playing under the high brick wall with a number of really good firemen wasting their energies in managing the garden hose and the syringe. There can be no doubt that the chemical engine is a valuable auxilliary in an incipient fire, but when the flames get fairly started in a large building a heavy stream of water tearing its way through all obstacles, is the right thing in the right place.
• April 16^th 1882: Fourteen days after the Sperry fire the Continental Oil Company’s warehouse was consumed. In the building, situated at the corner of Lafayette and Sacramento Streets, was a huge tank containing 2000 gallons of petroleum, while 12,000 gallons more of the inflamable liquid was encased in cans. The bursting of the cans kept the firemen at such a distance that little effective work could be done and the building with its contents was a total loss.
• August 31^st, 1882: several frame buildings were destroyed on Levee between El Dorado and Center Streets.
• September 2, 1883, a general alarm was turned in for a fire in a hay shed in the rear of the house occupied by the Hook and Ladder Company. All the companies responded and within a few moments after their arrival a free-for-all fist fight was in progress. The row was accasioned by a member playing a stream upon a member of a rival company. No serious damage resulted, and, as usual, everything was adjusted amicably after the hose had been rolled up; somebody suggested a drink and the dove of peace resumed her customary place on the alarm bell.
• January 12, 1886, the old Weber residence, at Weber Point, narrowly escaped destruction. Eight days later a residence on Lafayette near Sutter Street was totally destroyed
• August 4, 1886, fire was discovered in P. A. Buell’s planing mill situated on Center between Sonora and Church Streets. In less than an hour all the buildings in that block and the buildings and lumber in the adjacent block westward, were enveloped in a sheet of flame.
• December 8, 1886: The department was called to Franklin School.
• January 28, 1887, W. G. Barr’s crockery store at No. 177 El Dorado street, suffered to the extent of $2,000, full insured.
• September 11, 1887, four months previous to the adoption of the paid department, the greater portion of Chinatown was wiped out.
• October 30, 1887, the Pacific Hotel on Washington near Sacramento street, was damaged to the extent pf $1,000.
• Volunteers were called out for the last time by an alarm turned in from box 24 by Tom Gilmore, a compositor on the Independent. Mr. Gilmore on his way home in the early morning, discovered smoke issuing from a paint shop adjoining the Internal Revenue building on Market Street. Hastening to the nearest box he sent in the alarm and despite the unseasonable hour and chilly night the “boys” responded with the celerity that had, for upwards of forty years past, gained for them the reputation of being the most active and best working volunteer fire department in the State. The flames were soon extinguished with but a nominal loss and the active participation of the Volunteers as an organized body of fire-fighters was ended.

(All information on this page provided from The History Of The Stockton Fire Department 1850 - 1908)