The Daily Alaska Empire

DEANS DISCUSS
FIRE FIGHTING
IN ELDER DAYS
Sixty-one Year Old Department to Stage 40th Firemen's Ball
(First of a Series on the Early History of the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department)

The Fortieth Annual Fireman's Ball, which will be held on February 9, brings back many memories to Juneau oldtimers who served on previous Volunteer Fire Departments in the community.

Although the present Juneau Fire Department dates back to 1911 when the volunteer group was reorganized upon an order of Mayor Emery Valentine, the history of a volunteer fire department in Juneau began in 1885; a year after Juneau was settled.

The deans of the oldtime Juneau firemen are Charles Goldstein, who was on the original volunteer organization in 1885, and Lockie MacKinnon, who first served with the local firemen in 1888. Other old-timers of this period whom they recall were: Jim Jorgensen, Harry Wert, Percy Pond, Lloyd Winter, William Goldstein, Ed Decker and B. M. Behrends, who was secretary of the group.

In 1885, states Goldstein, Juneau was a rambling, waterfront town with a population of only about 400. There was no water system at that time and a hand-drawn hose cart and hand pump and a bucket brigade were the only protection used to combat conflagrations, usually caused by overheated stoves and chimneys. When a fire occurred, a bell was rung and the entire population of the community turned out to fight the flames. There were no bad fires in the very early history of Juneau, says Goldstein, for the reason that buildings were scattered and oil was not used for fuel.

Mr. MacKinnon recalls that the greatest improvement in fire fighting in those early days was when Dick Lewis, Sr., built the first water system for Juneau, in about 1888. The source of the water was the spring on Star Hill which today still serves a number of Juneau residents.

The modern water system gave volunteer firemen sufficient hose pressure to battle a bad fire.

Mr. MacKinnon remembers the fire in the early 1890's which destroyed the old Federal Court House, which stood at the same location as the present building. Firemen ran with the hose up the hill to the court house, only to discover they had carried the wrong end of the hose and it was necessary to reverse the entire line. But at that, says Lockie, there were few bad fires, and the volunteer firemen were usually able to squelch the flames.

Mr. Goldstein and Mr. MacKinnon take considerable pride in their early association with the Juneau Volunteer Fire Department and vouch for the fact that a local volunteer fire-fighting organization has been in existence for over 61 years.