The Volunteer Fire Department’s Early Days

sanger-bros_fire-department_dmn_030836aPumping water from an underground cistern (click for larger image)

by Paula Bosse

Dallas was constantly catching on fire in its early days. According to this very informative advertisement, Alex Sanger was one of the Dallas businessmen responsible for organizing the city’s first volunteer fire department. Interestingly, the Sanger Bros. department store also had a volunteer fire department which not only protected the store, but also served as a special unit of the Dallas Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The drawing above and the text below are from a 1936 Sanger Bros. advertisement. (Click to see larger images.)

sanger-bros_fire-department_dmn_030836b1936

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Copyright © 2016 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.