Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service
The Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was founded in 1872 as the Birmingham Fire Department under chief Ferdinand Neville.
Since 2014, the Department has been led by Fire Chief Charles Gordon.
Currently, the service is organized into four battalions with 648 firefighters, responding from 31 stations to over 55,000 calls per year. The Department's motto is "Excellence through Service".
History
The Birmingham Fire Department originally only served the downtown area. A system of alarm bells told firemen which ward the alarm originated from. The department's new steamer, nicknamed Bossie O'Brien, was paraded for Mardi Gras 1886.
Before the city organized the Fire Department under Chief Neville, the city was protected with Bossie O'Brien and other apparatus by various volunteer outfits that competed with each other.
In 1904 the city accepted a report from the Southeastern Tariff Association recommending numerous improvements to the city's fire prevention regulations and fire-fighting operations. In addition to advocating for revised building codes, explosives handling restrictions, trash removal and building and electrical inspections, the report detailed needed improvements to the telegraph fire alarm system and fire hydrants, called for increased staffing for existing hose companies, and proposed four new stations to serve Richmond Place, Highlands, Fountain Heights and North Birmingham.
Early on the morning of July 3, 1905 E. B. Huffman and Gip Spruiell became the city's first firefighters to give their lives in the line of duty.
Their deaths provided further incentive for the city to invest in the recommended improvements. By May 1909 Mayor George Ward was able to report the following acquisitions for the fire department:
- 1905 (baseline): 6 fire stations, 56 men, 31 horses, 5 engines, 6 hose wagons, 1 truck, 1 chemical unit, 1 chief's buggy, and 320 fire plugs
- 1906: 7 fire stations, 88 men, 40 horses, 5 engines, 7 hose wagons, 2 trucks, 1 chemical unit, 2 chief's buggies, and 365 fire plugs
- 1907: 9 fire stations, 107 men, 46 horses, 6 engines, 9 hose wagons, 2 trucks, 1 chemical unit, 2 chief's buggies, and 426 fire plugs
- 1908: The addition of 3 supply wagons and 34 new fire plugs.1.
By 1915 however, following an expansion of the service area and the assimilation of numerous suburban departments under the Greater Birmingham annexation in 1910, the city was forced to reduce staff in Chief Sidney Middleton's 20-station department.
Later the Chief and Mayor came to an impasse over the question of whether to purchase a new motorized fire pumper. A race between the old and new equipment was organized, with the first company to get from City Hall to present-day Five Points South along 20th Street winning the argument. The motorized pumper did win the race, and proved its worth later when a fire at Howard College broke out. The horses pulling the steam pumper couldn't make the hill. But the motorized pumper was there in a matter of minutes. The last fire service horses in Birmingham were retired in 1916 from Station 17 in Wylam.
On March 10, 1934 the department, headed by chief B. O. Hargrove fought a massive fire at the Loveman, Joseph & Loeb warehouse. Following the fire, a souvenir book describing the battle was published with proceeds going to the Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. The book listed the department's equipment at the time as follows:
- 1 65-foot Seagrave Water Tower
- 2 85-foot Seagrave Aerial Ladder Trucks
- 1 55-foot Seagrave Service Truck
- 1 55-fot American LaFrance Service Truck
- 2 1200-gallon Seagrave Pumpers
- 1 1000-gallon American LaFrance Pumper
- 2 750-gallon Seagrave Pumpers
- 1 600-gallon Seagrave Pumper
- 14 750-gallon American LaFrance Pumpers
- 3 600-gallon American LaFrance Pumpers
- 1 Seagrave Combination Chemical and Hose Wagon
- Various small trucks and sedans for personnel
- Approx. 70,000 feet of hose line
The department added a paramedic program to its services in 1973, modeling its system on one used by the U. S. Air Force. Chief Floyd Wilks made the first rescue run from Birmingham Fire Station No. 1 on November 22 of that year, responding to the shooting of a Phillips High School student at Linn Park. That unit made an average of 300 calls a month across the city. It was joined by two additional trucks in 1974. The equipment was replaced with larger trucks in 1977, and again in 1993, when the department began transporting critical patients to hospitals in its own rescue vehicles rather than calling for ambulance services. By 1999 it had added enough units to transport all patients and was participating in the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System to determine which emergency room was best equipped to handle the call.
The department currently operates with 648 firefighters staffing 31 stations in four battalions. The department has 27 pumpers, 3 quint trucks, 1 100 ft. Bronto articulating platform, 1 100 ft. tiller ladder truck and 19 ALS transport units. They also have two hazardous materials units, two heavy rescue units, two decontamination units, two brush-fire trucks, two foam units and one air unit. The department also keeps a small fleet of electric golf carts which can be used for operations during public events like the Magic City Classic.
Chiefs
- James Luckie, unofficial
- W. P. Brewer, 1882–1885
- F. A. Gafford, 1885–1886
- A. O. Pickard, 1886–1887
- Ferdinand Neville, 1887–1890 (first full-time chief)
- Thad Mullin, 1890–1905
- Will Walton, 1905–1906
- Armenius Bennett, 1906–1914
- Sidney Middleton, 1914–1922
- J. L. Akin, 1922–1934
- B. O. Hargrove, 1934–1937
- Alf Brown, 1937–1945
- J. R. Smith, 1945–1948
- Hoyt Ayers, 1948–1957
- R. B. Knox, 1957–1960
- John Swindle, 1960–1970s
- Oscar Brennan, 1993–1997
- Raymond Brooks, 1997–2002
- Dwayne Murray, 2002– January 2007
- Carl Harper, January-November 2007
- Ivor Brooks, November 14, 2007–May 28, 2014
- Charles Gordon, September 3, 2014-present
Stations
Current stations
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 1, 1808 7th Avenue North, rebuilt in 1971 (Downtown)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 2, 1900 4th Avenue South (Southside)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 3, 2210 Highland Avenue, (Highland), listed on the National Register
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 4, 110 Oslo Circle, Oxmoor
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 5, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 6, 1500 3rd Avenue North, (Downtown), listed on the National Register
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 7, 437 16th Avenue South (Green Springs)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 8, Currently closed, 4100 10th Avenue North (East Birmingham)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 9, 1220 27th Street North (Norwood)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 10/22, 4500 5th Avenue South (Avondale and Clairmont)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 11 (2005), 4601 Bessemer Super Highway (Roosevelt City)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 12, 6449 1st Avenue North (Woodlawn)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 13, 2229 30th Avenue North (North Birmingham)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 14, 210 Graymont Avenue West (Graymont)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 15, 1725 Jefferson Avenue (West End)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 16, 2001 Avenue I Ensley (Ensley)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 17, 700 Lexington Street(Wylam)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 18, 200 Dugan Ave (Pratt City)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 19, 7713 Division Avenue (East Lake) built 1928, listed on the National Register
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 20, 4825 Avenue W Ensley (Fairview/Five Points West)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 21, 109 2nd Avenue North (Elyton)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 23, 4121 40th Place North (Inglenook)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 24, 4316 Avenue Q (Central Park)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 25, 3015 Wilson Road (Powderly/Wenonah)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 26, 1700 Montclair Road (Crestline)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 27, 401 Huffman Road (Roebuck)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 28, 2501 Carson Road (Jefferson State Community College)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 29, 1048 Lawson Road (Airport Hills)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 30, 1512 Springville Road (Huffman)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 31, 2478 Alton Road (East Jefferson)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 32, 3995 U.S. Highway 280 South (Highway 280)
Retired stations
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 4, 214 24th Street North. Converted to private office building.
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 10, 4120 (2nd Avenue South) (Avondale) Retired 2009. Listed on the National Register. Vacant.
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 11, 1250 13th Street North (Fountain Heights), listed on the National Register. Demolished
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 12, 115 57th Street South (Woodlawn), listed on the National Register. Converted into the Dream Center
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 15, 1435 Steiner Avenue
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 16, 1623 Avenue G Ensley (Ensley)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 17, 720 Huron Street (Wylam)
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 21, 57 Center Street
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 23, 4100 40th Terrace North (Inglenook), converted to Inglenook Library.
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 22, 3114 Clairmont Avenue (Forest Park), listed on the National Register. Converted to Bogue's restaurant and Triple Platinum Salon
- Birmingham Fire Station No. 25, 3136 Jefferson Avenue
Notes
- (Ward-1909)
References
- "Recommendations for Birmingham" (December 1904) Insurance Engineering. Vol. 8, No. 6, p. 595-7
- Ward, George B. (May 1, 1909) "How Birmingham Has Grown in Past Four Years." Birmingham Ledger. Reprinted in "Geo. Ward Made a Business Mayor. Geo. Ward Will Make a Business Sheriff. Help Him Win" (1910) Birmingham. Roberts & Son, Printers. - accessed via the Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- "Changes in Birmingham" (August 11, 1915) Fire and Water Engineering. Vol. 58, No. 6, p. 88
- Kuhl, Earl D., editor (1934) "Illustrated Souvenir: Birmingham's $3,000,000 Fire, March 10, 1934." Birmingham: Birmingham Firemen's Relief Association. - accessed at Birmingham Public Library Archives Digital Collections, February 22, 2007
- Laughlin, Jerry W. (1972) "The Birmingham Fire Department: The First 100 Years 1872-1972". Birmingham Firefighters Local 117.
- Laughlin, Jerry W. (1974) Bama Burning: Fourteen Famous Fires in Alabama. self-published
- Bryant, Walter E. (February 24, 1997) "City's rescue services have grown since first began 23 years ago." Birmingham News
- Baumgardner, Randy W. Birmingham Fire & Rescue Service: Millennium Edition. (2002) Nashville, Tennessee: Turner Publishing Co. ISBN 1563117002
- "Mayor Bell names new fire chief for Birmingham" (September 3, 2014), WBRC Fox 6/MyFoxAL.com
External links
- Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service website
- International Association of Firefighters Birmingham Local 117 website
- Fire station map at Dave's Place (dave911.com)