Burlington, Iowa Fire Department
History of the Burlington Fire Department

The formal inauguration of the Burlington Fire Department took place on January 5, 1841. The city council passed an ordinance creating a fire department consisting of a chief engineer and two assistant engineers. The chief engineer was to don a white flock or hunting coat, wear a leather cap with "Chief Engineer" painted on the front, and carry a white speaking trumpet. (They had a thing for white even back then.) The destines Company, Number 1 was created.

But, the department existed more on paper than in reality. Until this point, efforts at fire fighting fires were pretty futile. Lack of a pumper and equipment, sporadic drilling and fire wardens taking their duties less than seriously contributed to a generally weak effort. Volunteers and citizens with twelve quart leather buckets found it very difficult to do much extinguishing, unless the owners had knocked the fire down quickly before their arrival.

It took the effects of several disastrous and costly fires before serious efforts were made to protect the city situated on the Mississippi River. Only after the burning of a candle factory in 1851 did the council authorize the purchase of a fire engine. In April of 1853, the steamer Wisconsin, unloaded the new engine at the levee. Difficult to move about on Burlington's hills, the pumper was still better than bucket lines when it was close to a cistern or creek.

But in 1855, the Hesse carriage factory on Columbia St. was destroyed by a blaze and the Number 1 fire company did not arrive with their pumper. It was "out of fix". The entire organization fell apart. A new company was formed. They named themselves Eagle Fire Company No. 2. They fixed the engine, purchased uniforms and engaged in drill. Problems persisted until the purchase of a Sibley Fire Engine in 1866. However, the new Sibley (nick-name the "John Dickey"), was still hand drawn. In 1871 a chief and six full time fireman became the first paid department in Burlington. The council had not appropriated funds for horses. It was not until 1872, that horses were to pull a pumper up and down the streets of this growing frontier town.

According to Ripley's Believe It or Not, Burlington's Snake Alley is the "crookedest street in the world". Now a prominent city landmark, Snake Alley was designed as a shortcut to downtown from North Hill. This is where time trials were held, beginning in the 1890's to determine the strongest and fastest horses that were to be fire department steeds. The horses would race uphill from the bottom to the top of the alley, harnessed to the engine.

By 1900, the department consisted of 28 men and 20 horses. The existing Central fire station was built in 1907 at the corner of 5th and Valley. The boarded up  trap doors for the hay loft on the 2nd story are still visible. The parking lot behind Central station was a pasture for the horses in those days. They crossed through the hose tower in order to get out back to graze. In 1913 the first motorized fire engine was purchase.By 1926 the department was completely motorized.

Over the next few decades, the fire department experienced little change. Beginning in the 1950's, emergency services expanded and the fire prevention bureau was established. In the 1960's, we entered the EMS arena. In the 1980's Burlington was one of the first two fire department in Iowa to offer Paramedic service.

Currently, the 49 members of the fire department and a secretary perform a multitude of duties, including responding to over 3500 alarms annually. We are responsible for fire suppression, rescue, including confine space rescue within city limits. We provide advanced EMS for the city and two thirds of Des Moines County. EMS coverage includes emergency transfers to hospitals within a 150 mile radius. We provide full-time Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) coverage at the Southeast Iowa Regional Airport and have a recently formed Hazardous Materials team that responds regionally as needed.

The city is served by two fire stations. Central station, located downtown, and Summer St. station located at the airport on the south side of the city. Summer St. station is a dual use facility (CFR / city fire) that was opened August 1997. The city is divided into north and south districts with each station providing fire and EMS coverage in their respective territories.

Our newest vehicle is a 2001 HazMat truck with a 7000 watt light tower from Alexis. We operate two front-line pumpers, Engine One is a 1998 Saulsbury 1500 GPM pumper with a 55 foot Snorkel. Engine Two is a 1995 General 1500 GPM pumper with a 65 foot Telesquirt. We operate five modular ambulances. We also have a Suburban command vehicle, American LaFrance 100 foot ladder truck, Oshkosh CFR truck and two reserve pumpers. We have come a long way since leather buckets.