The Thirty-Eights: First Firehouse Gang in the City

Inside the Plaza Firehouse across from Union Station is a colorful panorama of the equipment used to fight conflagrations in Los Angeles from the days of bucket brigades to the earliest motor-powered fire trucks. This is Firehouse No. 1, built in 1884 to house the city’s first paid Fire Department, and now a museum and part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park.

Helmets and photographs of the men who served here line the walls. In one, a company of volunteers poses proudly with an engine drawn by four white horses. The date was July 4, 1871, and it was the city’s first big civic parade. The company was called the Thirty-Eights, the figure representing the number of effectives they could muster in case of a blaze. The company organized in 1869, drawing up its articles of incorporation in one of the city’s more fashionable saloons. At first its only equipment was a hose cart, which the men pulled by hand, usually while running.

On a recent day at the firehouse, retired Los Angeles County firefighter Norman Brewer was polishing a horse-drawn chemical truck built in 1890. Brewer shares duties with another veteran firefighter, curator Jim Adams.

Adams removed a white leather helmet, which always remains on the seat of the fire truck. “This belonged to Jacob Kuhrt who served as volunteer chief from 1876 to 1885,” he said. “The trucks were horse-drawn then. The city purchased its first motorized version in 1910. By 1922, the department was completely motorized.”

What Happened to Horses?

Brewer paused to survey his work. The engine gleamed. “People always ask me what happened to the horses,” he said. “By 1921 there were only about seven left. They were retired to Griffith Park. Blackie was the last survivor. He lived to the age of 37.”

Visitors began filing through the open doors. Brewer pressed a button activating an alarm system. Bells began to ring. “Pretty modern stuff for its time,” he said. “This is the way the calls would come into a station in the early days. If the men were sleeping upstairs they’d come sliding down that brass pole. I never liked to use one. If you were half-asleep, it could be dangerous. There were accidents.”

Brewer led the way to an ornate red stand. “Once these were all over Los Angeles. You saw a fire, opened the glass door and pulled the alarm. They were phased out and stored in a warehouse. When the city decided to sell them, people were lined up outside waiting to make a purchase. They were considered collectibles.”

The late Assemblyman Seth J. Johnson was a veteran of more than 30 years with the Fire Department before he was elected to the Legislature. He was also a historian and a member of the group that restored the firehouse after it had fallen into decay.

Thirty years ago he talked about what it was like driving one of the horse-drawn steamer trucks: “I can still see myself now, sitting up behind three galloping horses, their hoofs clattering against the pavement, while a cloud of smoke billowed out behind the boiler. When we’d turn a corner, I’d just grit my teeth and hope I wouldn’t pile the rig through someone’s store window.”

Johnson had discovered many interesting facts about the Fire Department’s early days. Normally, when a building caught fire, the way to summon help was to fire a pistol. A fire bell was installed at the City Hall to supplant the pistol shot alarm system that caused such a din of gunfire that it was impossible to determine the location of the fire. The first time it was used, an excited citizen knocked the bell and stand to the ground.

A Rival Company

Others looked with envy upon the Thirty-Eights. A rival company was organized in 1874. It adopted the name of Confidence Engine Co. An intense rivalry developed when they acquired steam pumpers. When the alarm sounded, the men hitched their high-spirited horses to the steamer and dashed through the streets. Along the way, money changed hands as bystanders wagered on which company would be the first to arrive.

Often there would be a pitched battle as the two companies converged on the flaming building. Fire hydrants were few and there would be a scramble to see which group could gain possession of one first. Fists would fly and the Confidence Engine Co. and the Thirty-Eights would turn their hoses on one another. The city issued a regulation in 1886 forbidding racing and fights with hoses.

Firehouse No. 1 is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is on the south side of the Plaza adjacent to Olvera Street. Admission is free.