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The Jerome Clock Co. fire on Main Street in 1845 and three others that year, the Union Manufacturing Co. on the corner of South and Union streets, the Terry Clock Shop on the bank of the Pequabuck River near Pierce’s Bridge (King and Broad streets), and the Landon Brass Factory on the west side of town, brought serious thought to the formation a department.
The Jerome fire took out perhaps seven or eight buildings in the vicinity of Main Street and Riverside Avenue, known as a hotbed by firemen because of the many damaging blazes in the vicinity through the years. Those who fought the Jerome fire ran to the nearby Stockette Co. and grabbed the stockings it manufactured. The volunteers soaked them in water then laid them out on the top of nearby buildings in attempt to keep those roofs from catching fire.
"That was the way fires spread back then," Jandreau said. "The buildings were close together and usually had oil-soaked floors because of the manufacturing work done inside. Plus, brands -- hot chunks of wood -- would be carried off and land on the buildings in the area, thus further spreading the blaze."
"Today, that’s why we have asphalt roofs and more fire-retardant buildings. Back then, they even treated wood [used for building purposes] with oils," Jandreau said.
After the fire, Chauncey Jerome moved his company, known as one of the largest manufacturers of clocks in the country at the time, to New Haven. That city, it’s believed, either had or promised a fire department there for Jerome and that was the key for him to relocate there. He realized he needed to protect his interests better.
"That’s when there was a lot of talk about forming a department here, talk from local businessmen, but it later faded," Jandreau said. "Then, a few [eight] years later, the businessmen, after seeing that politicians were dragging their feet, took it upon themselves to do it.
"And, that was unusual, to have it funded by businessmen. They did it to protect their own businesses like Jerome had now done in New Haven. There was a lot of industry in Bristol at the time and that’s when Engine and Hose Co. 1 [on School St.] was formed," Jandreau said.
"Col. [E.L.] Dunbar, Mr. [Alanson S.] Platt, [Alphonso] Barnes, [J.R.] Mitchell and others [Bristol Manufacturing Co., Holmes and Tuttle Co., Atkins Saw Works, Henry W. Gridley and others] were the primary people who got it all going."
The businessmen raised funds to put up a firehouse and it was known as Bristol Engine Co. No. 1. They purchased a used hand engine, a hose cart and 500 feet of leather hose. Basically, the company -- with its charter for 60 men -- was responsible for the whole city. This was a time where most of Bristol’s industry and residents were centrally located in the Main Street area.
In time, two more companies were started, the first, again by the local businessmen and the next, by the town.
The second fire station in Bristol was organized in 1870 when residents in the section of town known as the North Village -- referred to as the North Side corner in more recent years -- realized they, too, needed better fire protection and organized the Uncas Engine and Hose Co. with a charter for 70 men. Longtime fire Commissioner Carlyle F. "Hap" Barnes once wrote the name of Uncas "came from the engine which was purchased from the City of Norwich. William W. Carter and Lester Goodenough were particularly instrumental in the development of this company."
Just two years later, in 1872, Bristol’s first ladder company was organized by the town and was called the Zealots Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, with a charter for 40 men. The company, with future department Chief James Hanna as the driving force, was originally housed with Engine Co. No. 1 on School Street before later moving to Meadow Street to be on its own. The origin of the name Zealots is unknown, but the dictionary, according to Jandreau, describes the word to mean, "something like a strong-willed person or something like that."
"There was a need to get to the second floors of buildings to rescue people, so the need for this company," Barnes said. "It also helped the firemen haul up the fire lines to the floors to better help fight the fires."
A decade later, businessmen in the section of town known as Forestville saw a company organized, called the Welch Steam Fire Engine and Hose Co. Among those responsible for this addition were businessman Elijah Welch, who donated property and covered most of the building costs, and Isaac Beach, an active member of the company for much of his entire life.
Bristol and its village to the southeast were now on their way.
Tomorrow: Some of the most memorable moments in the department’s history.
