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Welcome to the Interactive Timeline.
When you click on a date you can journey back in time to discover the
history of Toledo Fire Fighting and how it intersects with the history of the United States.
1837
In Toledo Fire History
1837- The Toledo Fire Department was first incorporated. It was made up of volunteers who brought
their own equipment along to fight fires. Each group of volunteers gave themselves a name. Some of
the names were, The Neptunes, and The Davy Crocketts.
The Neptune was also the name of Toledo's first fire pumper put into service in 1837.
In American History
Martin Van Buren is sworn in as president and the era of westward expansion known as
"Manifest Destiny" begins in our country.
1854-55
In Toledo Fire History
A man was kept in the tower of the first high school each night to ring the bell when a fire broke out.
The number of the ward and district were indicated by the ringing and sequence of the bells.
Cards were printed giving the numbers of the different locations in the city, and each fireman
carried one in his vest pocket. When the bell rang he would count the strokes and thus locate the
fire from his card. The bell went down when the high school burned on March 11, 1895.
In American History
Franklin Pierce is president. The country begins to divide on the slavery issue and the fugitive
slave act is passed in 1850 required the return of slaves to their owners. The Republican party
is organized following passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opens Kansas and Nebraska
territories to white settlement and repeals the Missouri Compromise line restricting slavery in the northern
part of the Louisiana Purchase.
1867
In Toledo Fire History
Toledo hired paid men and half the fire fighters were paid a wage. Some men lived in the firehouse
while others were summoned from their homes, as needed. When Toledo went to a full paid
department, the working conditions were not like they are today. They worked ten days on and
had only one day off. And those days on were 24 hour days.
In American History
After Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, Andrew Johnson assumes the presidents.
The era known as Reconstruction is in full swing and on March 30, 1867, Secretary of State
William H. Seward signed an agreement with Baron Edouard Stoeckl, the Russian Minister to
the United States widely referred to as "Seward's Folly" which ceded possession of the vast
territory of Alaska to the United States for the sum of $7.2 million.
1872
In Toledo Fire History
The first fireman in Toledo killed in the line of duty, James Welch died on December 15, 1872.
In American History
Ulysses S. Grant is president and the westward movement explodes as the Transcontinental
Railroad opens in 1869 in Promintory, Utah. Several new states are admitted to the union
following the Civil War and throughout the 1870s.
1930
In Toledo Fire History
Last Steamer Fire Engine went out of service ending an era in firefighting equipment that had
lasted nearly 60 years.
In American History
A few months earlier America the Stock Market Crash in October of 1929, plunges America into
the Great Depression. Millions of people are out of work. Herbert Hoover is president.
1941-1945
In Toledo Fire History
Fifty men of the Toledo Fire Divisions were drafted for Military Service and six of them were killed in the line of duty.
Many members of the Fire Division served with the Civilian Defense Corps as air raid wardens
and first aid instructors during the war. Two fire fighters were assigned to the chiefs
cars during the war years and were called commandos.
In American History
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, America enters World War II.
Americans were forced to ration everything from meat to rubber to help with the war
effort. On September 2, 1945 Japan surrenders and officially ends the war. Franklin Roosevelt
was president from 1933 until his death in 1945. Harry Truman succeeded him as president.
1961
In Toledo Fire History
June 10, the worst day in the history of the Toledo Fire Division was recorded at a gasoline
truck explosion the Anthony Wayne Trail killing four firemen, injuring six seriously, and 81 civilians were injured.
In American History
With John F. Kennedy is sworn in as our 35th president. This year 1,200 US-sponsored anti-Castro
exiles invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (April 17); the attackers are all killed or captured by
Cuban forces. In the years following, America becomes involved in the war in Vietnam and
the civil rights movement surges into the forefront.
1975
In Toledo Fire History
May 7, Tiedtke's Department Store, beloved downtown Toledo landmark, burned at Summit and Adams Streets.
In American History
Following the resignation of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford becomes our 40th president.
American forces have been pulled out of Vietnam .The nation braces for an energy crisis,
which precipitates an entire new line of energy efficient automobiles.
1984
In Toledo Fire History
The new Toledo Fire Museum opens in October during Fire Prevention Week by promoting
Northwest Ohio's prominence in the history of fire fighting.
In American History
Ronald Reagan is president and begins a new era in defense, the Strategic Defense Initiative
also known as "Star Wars" to protect our country from an incoming missile attack.
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