Every
weekday, Newsday presents another
IT HAPPENED IN NEW YORK!
Photo: New York City Fire Museum
1816: NYC’s
First Permanent
Firehouse Opens
In
the early 1800s, volunteer companies began forming
throughout New York City to fight fires. While
the firefighters originally relied on storage
sheds stocked with buckets and ladders, in 1816,
the city’s first known permanent firehouse
was built at 71 Fulton Street in Manhattan,
serving as a headquarters for Engine Companies
13, 18, 21 and 24. According to Daniel Maye,
FDNY Fire Academy Librarian, “Firemen’s
Hall,” as it was called, accommodated
four fire “engines” that were pulled
through the streets by the firemen. But storing
so many engines downtown proved to be an inefficient
way of serving uptown neighborhoods. By February
1829, only one engine remained, and the building
was auctioned off on April 1 of that year. Today,
there are 51 New York City Fire Department firehouses
in Manhattan. The firehouse is shown at right
in an undated photo.
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