Birmingham Fire Station No. 1
Birmingham Fire Station No. 1 is a Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service fire station located at 1808 7th Avenue North, is the headquarters of the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service.
When the city's professional fire department was first established, Fire Station No. 1 was located in the Birmingham City Hall at 321 19th Street North. In 1896 the firemen repainted and whitewashed the station. A new Ahrens fire engine and 2,500 feet of hose were purchased for the station that year.
The City Hall building was rebuilt, on the same site, in 1902. The Fire Department maintained its own entrance on 19th Street, boasting a new telephone room and a host-drying shaft extending through all four stories of the building. The firemen's sleeping quarters and the chief's office were directly above the equipment bays. At that time, the station's equipment included a hook and ladder truck, the "Harry Jones" steamer and chemical engine, a reserve steamer, and a hose wagon. The 20-man company was commanded by Captain Will Walton. S. A. Middleton was foreman of the chemical enginer and Harry Muller foreman of the truck. C. C. Massey was the company's engineer.
A new building for the fire station, designed by David O. Whilldin and constructed for $100,000, opened in June 1921 on the site of the present Park Place Tower. The pull-through design had doors at 1915 7th Avenue North (now Park Place) and 1916 6th Avenue North. Each facade had three large arched openings on the ground floor; two with folding carriage doors for trucks, and one filled with a single swinging door with sidelights and semi-circular transom giving way to the station's offices. The upper floors had three groups of three arched windows divided with short columns and connected with a continuous stone sill. The windows were shaded by a deep cornice.
In 1960 the company's equipment roster included two 750-gallon pumper trucks, a 100-foot ladder truck, a 65-foot water-tower and ladder truck, a civil defense vehicle, a light truck and a car for the north district chief.
The present station was built in 1971. The roof of the building was designed as a helipad, but it is not currently in use.
Current Companies:
- Engine 1, 2014 Pierce Arrow XT 1250gpm/500gal Pumper
- Truck 1, 2014 Pierce Arrow XT 100ft Tiller
- Rescue 1, Wheeled Coach/Ford Ambulance
- Heavy Rescue 1, Pierce Arrow XT Walk Around Rescue
Gallery
1891 Sanborn map showing "Engine Ho. No. 1" in the City Hall building
1921 building for Fire Station No. 1
Equipment in front of the present station
References
- Shelby, Thomas Mark (2009) D. O. Whilldin: Alabama Architect. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society ISBN 0943994330
External links
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 1 at Birmingham Retired Firefighters of Local 117 website
- 3-D model of Birmingham Fire Station No. 1 by Jordan Herring