Hook and Ladder

Saturday, December 18, 2010

An ever-present danger to all 19th century frontier towns was fire. Fargo was no exception. After a fire destroyed ten buildings in the winter of 1876, the city council passed its first fire ordinance and Fargo received its first hook and ladder rig. But it took several more years and another downtown fire for citizens, led by Sheriff John Haggart, to charter and organize Fargo’s first volunteer fire company; creating on this date in 1879, the Hook and Ladder Company Number One Hard. Although it only lasted five short years, it ushered in an era of volunteer fire companies that protected the people and property of Fargo until the creation of a professional force in 1903.

Dakota Datebook written by Christina Sunwall

Sources:

Fire Departments (Volunteers). Fargo, North Dakota: Its history and Images

http://www.fargo-history.com/government/fire-dept.htm

Early Fire Department History. City of Fargo: Fargo Fire Department

http://www.cityoffargo.com/CityInfo/Departments/Fire/AboutUs/History/

Engelhardt, Carroll L., Gateway to the Northern Plains: Railroads and the Birth of Fargo and Moorhead (University of Minnesota Press, 2007)