|
The Eagle Hose
Parade Carriage
A Treasured Piece of History
Most Americans are quite familiar with
fire trucks. The chances are pretty good that you have
witnessed one of these vehicles as it responds to an
incident in your town. We, at Eagle Hose Company 6, have two
such pieces of apparatus assigned to us. They are:
Engine 6
1992 Pierce Engine
Truck 7
2006 Pierce Tower Ladder
These mammoth vehicles can carry hundreds of gallons of
water along with several hundred feet of hose in various
sizes. They host dozens of tools and various pieces of
equipment, which aid firemen in their duties. Our truck is
equipped with an extensive array of ladders, which will
allow firemen to perform various rescue and fire suppression
activities, which might be required at the scene. The
vehicles of today allow firefighters to respond to incidents
in a much more rapid and efficient manner than ever before.
However, long before the advent of the
motorized fire truck we are all familiar with today,
firefighters used various means to extinguish a blaze. The
earliest form of firefighting involved able-bodied citizens
participating in ‘bucket brigades’, where people would form
a double line and pass buckets of water to the scene of the
fire. The contents of the bucket were tossed on the burning
structure and then passed back down the line to be refilled.
The bucket brigades were replaced in the early 1700’s by the
invention of the hand-pumper.
In the 1800’s we graduated to steam
pumpers, hose wagons, and chemical pumpers. These pumpers
and wagons would be pulled to the fire scene via hand or
horse, with some firemen running alongside the vehicle. The
company pulling the pumper would connect to the water source
in order to provide themselves with a supply of water. The
company pulling the hose carriage would supply the
suppression, or attack line. The pumpers and hose wagons
worked together to extinguish the fire. While these methods
were an improvement over the bucket brigades of the previous
century, they still required a great deal of physical
exertion on the part of the firemen.
The early 1900’s ushered in the era of the
motorized fire truck, which allowed firefighters to ride on
a motor driven vehicle to the fire scene. This vehicle has
continuously been improved over the years, and remains as
the premiere vehicle of choice today.
Eagle Hose Obtains Carriage in 1871
You will not see these vehicles of
yesteryear in operation on your local streets today. In
fact, these older wagons are so rare; you would be fortunate
if you were able to view one in a museum. There are
literally only a handful of these pre-Civil War era vehicles
in existence today. We, at Eagle Hose, are proud to possess
one of these unique pieces of equipment. It is the original
piece of apparatus used by this Company when it was
established in 1871, and it has remained a part of our
history for over 135 years.
It was in 1871 when a group of prominent Ansonians, led
by Franklin Farrel, William Wallace and Daniel F. Hoadley,
were named to a committee tasked with finding suitable
apparatus for the newly formed fire company, Ansonia Fire
Company # 1. They located a four-wheel hose wagon with 50
feet of hose in Newark, N.J. Through research; we have been
able to determine that William Williams manufactured this
hose wagon in 1859. The wagon was originally built for the
Eagle Hose Company No. 1, which was located at 3 Pike Street
in New York, NY. The hose wagon was then sold to a New
Jersey company when Eagle Hose Co. 1 disbanded in 1865.
Several years later it arrived in Ansonia, CT.
When the carriage arrived here, it had
ornate carvings and it bore the inscriptions "Eagle Hose
Company No. 6" in several places. It was soon discovered it
would be difficult to remove these inscriptions, and, if
attempted, would destroy the beauty of the carriage.
Therefore, the membership voted to leave the inscriptions in
place, and instead, change the name of the new organization
to ‘Eagle Hose Company No. 6’.
The carriage is synonymous with the
history of Eagle Hose, and it has appeared in many parades
since the late 1800’s. Eagle Hose, and the carriage, were
well known in the New England area as they were awarded
numerous trophies throughout the region for the Best
Appearing and Best Drilling Company. The longest trip the
carriage ever made was to Alexandria, VA. in 1936, where the
Company took 2nd place in a national competition.
As we reflect upon the history of
firefighting, we see how it has evolved over time. The days
of fighting fires with a hose wagon are long gone. Our
firefighting forefathers would most likely be amazed at the
contemporary equipment available today, such as: Radios,
SCBA equipment, PASS Devices, modern ventilation tools,
large diameter hose, and – of course – the fire truck.
Technological advances have aided and allowed today’s
firefighters to carry out their duties in a more efficient
and safer manner. We’re certainly grateful for these
advances, but we’re also quite proud to possess a piece of
equipment, which is such an integral part of the history of
Ansonia, as well as being such a unique symbol of the
history of the fire service in America.
 |
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
