Charlotte Firefighting Apparatuses

The late 1700s and early 1800s witnessed significant improvements in firefighting techniques, including the introduction of more efficient equipment like hand-powered fire engines to propel water toward the flames. At first, only large cities could afford fire engines; Philadelphia and New York City got their first hand-powered engines in 1719 and 1731, respectively. Charlotte did not acquire its first fire engine until 1842. By May 1866, the city had two fire engines and was under contract to buy its third, a steam-powered pumper. The degree of coordination and the level of commitment required to operate fire engines led logically to the creation of volunteer fire companies. Charlotte was among the many towns that incorporated volunteer fire companies and supplied them with publicly-owned equipment, including fire engines. By September 1835, several volunteer fire companies operated in Charlotte. 

Before the Civil War there were no African American firefighters in Charlotte or elsewhere in the South, but in 1868, Black Charlotteans formed the Yellow Jacket Volunteer Fire Company (later renamed the Neptune Fire Company). The Charlotte Board of Aldermen purchased the Pawtucket, Rhode Island-manufactured William Jeffers & Company Pumper secondhand in 1875 for assignment to the Yellow Jacket Company. Designed to shoot water up to 200 feet, the engine was notoriously unreliable, thereby earning the nickname “Crazy Hannah.” Sold by the city in 1906, the Charlotte Fire Department tracked down and repurchased the pumper in 2012. It is the only extant fire apparatus that was operated by Charlotte’s Black volunteer firefighters. 

By the 1880s, Charlotte’s burgeoning population and manufacturing industries increased the risk of devastating fires. At the same time, the increasing sophistication and complexity of firefighting equipment required more time-consuming training than many part-time firefighters could undertake. Accordingly, the city hired professional firefighters to found the Charlotte Fire Department in 1887. The city also began investing substantial funds to upgrade its firefighting infrastructure, including the 1902 purchase of the American Fire Engine Company “Metropolitan” Pumper (nicknamed “Old Sue”) for $4,500 from its Seneca, New York, manufacturer. By 1911, the city began replacing such horse-drawn engines with motorized fire trucks. The American LaFrance & Foamite Company pumper was one of two fire trucks purchased in 1928 from the Summerville, South Carolina, manufacturer. The truck represented the latest technology – including a pump with a 1,000 gallon per minute water dispersion capacity – even though it originally lacked windshields and mechanical brakes. Although no longer in use, these three engines remain prized possessions of the Charlotte Fire Department.