Table of Contents

The History of The Wallingford Fire Department

Early Years

The 1900's

1940-Today

History of EMS

Records show that primitive methods of fire extinguishment in the Town of Wallingford date back to 1672. Each householder was required to keep lead piggins and wooden buckets filled with water. If a fire occurred, a line formed and buckets were passed from hand to hand. This method prevailed until 1831 when Hiram Yale who called a meeting to enlist seventeen men who lived within a mile of the meetinghouse purchased the first crude fire engine. These men were exempt from military duty. The engine was a long wooden box on wheels into which water was poured from the water buckets. The water was churned into a short hose, which was directed against the fire by a man standing on the engine. In 1853, the worn-out apparatus made its last appearance at a fire on the plains and found its grave in the cellar of the ruined building. Shortly thereafter, the company disbanded. This occurrence, along with an issue of location, brought about the incorporation of the Borough. In the summer of 1854, the new Borough government appointed Israel Harrison, William M. Hall and Augustus Hall as a committee to purchase a new fire engine at a cost of $850. The machine purchased was a hand drawn engine called the 'Accanant".

The Accanant

In 1856, Samuel Simpson, the first Warden  of the Borough, Almer 1. Hall, George W Elton, and John Mansfield, the Town's first Fire Chief became incorporated as the Accanant Fire Engine Company under Title XIV by the Connecticut General Assembly.

Simpson

The engine was housed in a small building in the rear of Union Hall, but in the Great Fire of 1867, all the buildings in that locality were burned. in April 1871, Thomas Pickford, a druggist, petitioned the Borough to purchase a portable water tank and twenty or more fire buckets to be used at fires within the Borough. He also asked that some person be appointed to keep the fire engine and other apparatus in order. He also suggested that the Borough's fathers ascertain what was necessary for more perfect fire protection. At that time, a brick engine house was built on a lot that the Town had just purchased. The building was improved in 1880 and enlarged to house a new steam fire engine. A Button & Son Engine costing $2,265 was purchased and the old "Accanant" was traded in for $150.

Chief Luke Martin installed on January 8, 1895 and served until January 18, 1897.

 There were two hose carts with 1,550 feet of hose. Two destructive fires occurred in 1880, the Wallingford Wheel Shop on North Cherry Street and the Glass Factory on East Center Street. The Steamer was overhauled in 1888 and equipped for hoses and was to be used as an auxiliary to the hose which could be attached to any of the 70 fire hydrants of the Town water works. The other apparatus consisted of a four-wheel hose carriage, two, two-wheel hose carts and one hook and ladder truck. The hose supply stood at 2,500 feet.

In 1888, the Fire Department consisted The teamer is modified to be horse drawn in of the Wallingford Hose Company No. 1, the 1888. Wallace Hose Company No. 2 and the Simpson Hook and Ladder Company No. 1. There were three officers and 64 men. By 1895, 100 men were listed. At that time, Wallingford Hose Company No. 1 was named Hubbard Hose, in honor of Judge L. M. Hubbard and later named Tibbits Hose in honor of Charles H. Tibbits.

Tibbits Hose was located behind the former Town Hall site at 350 Center Street. In 1941, that building was raised and relocated to its present location at 95 No. Main Street. The Tibbits Steamer and the Wallingford Hose Company.

The Simpson Hook and Ladder Company honored Samuel Simpson, who was Borough Warden when the Department was born. The Hook and Ladder was housed in the Town Hall Building. The downtown Fire Company took the name of Wallace Hose in honor of Robert Wallace. The first fire house on the plains was a small wooden building erected just west of the railroad on the north side of Quinnipiac Street. This building was replaced by a brick assembled behind what is now 350 Center St. structure located at 9 South Cherry Street and was first occupied in February 1884.

The Fire Department occupied that site until 1974, when the current James D. McGaughey, 111, M.D. Central Fire Headquarters was built at 75 Masonic Avenue. Pictured top  left is Dr. McGaughey.