SiG
MT
63
Fire Rescue Department
A fire department, of sorts, has fought fires since before
Great Falls was incorporated in 1888.
Unlike the police, when Great Falls was incorporated, the
fire department had been voluntary and remained so. A. T.
Frame, a community member, organized the fire department
around a cart with basic equipment, such as a few buckets,
axes, hooks, and pikes. e cart was drawn by hand, and if a
team and wagon passed by, they were pressed into service.
ose early volunteers first organized a ball for New Year's
Eve in 1886 that brought in $141 as start-up money. By
spring they were able to put up a garage at Second Avenue
South between ird and Fourth Street where they housed
equipment and their first ladder cart. For a long time, when
the fire alarm was sounded, a team of horses was brought
from the livery stable and hitched to the fire wagon. Later
horses were purchased and stabled at the fire department.
e most famous dra horse in the department was Dewey.
An all-town celebration was held when Dewey retired in
1919 aer he had taken the fire wagon 18,712 miles to fire
department duties over the years.
Since the town's buildings were too far from the river to
form bucket brigades, the department initially hired a water
wagon company to follow the firemen to the fire. During
one period several water wagon companies competed to get
to the fire first because they would receive an extra $5.
City fathers display first Kelly air-cooled fire truck in 1910.
