Trials by Fire

Trials by Fire. Frontier, flames and fortitude. , Our fire department: From buckets to pumpers , Ketchikan Fire Department started in 1900 with a bucket brigade. You were a member if you had a bucket and could carry it full of water. Such rudimentary protection was inadequate in a bustling town that put up two dozen wood buildings in one year 1902-1903. The volunteer fire squad built a station in 1903, when some businesses still caught rain in rooftop barrels to have gravity-fed water for firefighting. By 1906, firefighters had a hook-and-ladder wagon and an engine with 70 gallons of soda water, both human-drawn. The town bought a fireboat in 1906. Fourteen fire-alarm boxes laced downtown by 1910. Into the 1910s, the sharp sound of the station whistle mustered firemen to the scene: three blasts denoted a fire at Front and Market streets, seven a fire “at Beegle's residence,” 24 a fire at the end of the Newtown walk, etc. Devastating fires were common, but Ketchikan people persevered. Ryus Drug Store burned in 1906, the Pioneer Hotel in 1926; both rose again in months. There are many similar stories of frontier fortitude., The fire department commissioned its first truck in 1916: a Ford Model A. The 1920s brought a surge in equipment: two pumpers in 1925, a second fireboat in 1928. A fourth engine was added in 1952 and a new fireboat in 1954. Ketchikan's fireboats since the 1950s have been named in honor of Capt. Harry Newell, who died fighting a fire in 1955 , the only fatality in KFD's long history., Career firefighters took on ever-greater roles through the 1960s as KFD became a career outfit augmented by well-trained, dedicated volunteers. The last vestiges of olden days disappeared in the late 1970s, when KFD pulled the old alarm boxes and silenced the firehouse whistle., The torcher wore heels: The strange case of the firefighting firebug , Bill Mitchell probably didn't torch as many buildings and blocks as folks say. But he did plenty of damage, this pyromaniac who served as a Ketchikan Fire Department volunteer in the 1950s-1960s. Mitchell looked like a straight arrow. He ran the Ben Franklin store. He was married. He was apparently a dedicated fireman, and was even slightly injured fighting the May 1960 Kubley Building blaze at Mission and Front streets. But in March 1961, local police arrested Mitchell for arson fires in January 1960 at the Hunt Building and in January 1961 at the mortuary., People said later it was curious that Bill Mitchell appeared so early at the scenes of a rash of fires starting in 1956. Mitchell had deflected suspicion while fires gutted or damaged a number of Ketchikan homes and businesses. But after his March 1961 arrest, while he was out on bail in California, Ketchikan was fire-free. Then three blazes broke out in about an hour on July 3, 1961. Bill Mitchell was seen that day at the airport wearing a dress and heels, carrying a handbag and hurrying to California. Prosecutors hauled him back, found his stash of candles, and had plenty of evidence to snuff Bill Mitchell's mania. He was finally charged with five arsons and went to jail. Luckily, no one was severely injured in the cross-dressing fireman's series of arsons., Founder of fire department helped build a frontier city , Daniel Smith Harris floated into Ketchikan in 1900 on the mining boom. He stayed and became a real city father. He was already 57 when he landed here, a veteran of the Eureka and Comstock mining ventures in Nevada; he had also spent years in California and Seattle. Harris founded the volunteer fire department in 1900 and served as the first fire warden. He was also the town clerk and town marshal in 1901. Harris kept books for Schoenbar Mining Co. and took a break from public service until 1913-1915, when he was elected a councilman and then mayor. Harris was instrumental in fraternal societies, organizing Pioneers of Alaska Igloo No. 16 and taking leadership roles with the Eagles and Red Men., Captions (clockwise from top right) , . Revilla Hotel: born 1906, burned 1924 Fires redrew Ketchikan's skyline many times. This stylish Victorian hotel was replaced at Front and Mission streets by the Ingersoll Hotel: plainer, but built with concrete. , . Man-drawn carts and rooftop water supplies: volunteer firefighters ca. 1903. Tongass Historical Society , . Chronicle of a 1924 conflagration. Others: 1906/Ryus Drug . 1919/Stedman Hotel . 1924/Steam laundry . 1926/Pioneer Hotel . 1941/Ketchikan Wharf Co. . 1945/Cold storage . 1956/Coliseum theater . 1958/Ryus block . 1960/Hunt Building . 1960/Cold storage . 1960/Red Men's Hall . 1960/Kubley Building . 1961/Ketchikan Mortuary , . D. Smith Harris , . Insurance sellers reminded townsfolk of the risks in this 1921 newspaper ad. But many fire victims carried little or no coverage. , . Fought by land and sea: Ketchikan Cold Storage fire in 1945. Tongass Historical Society , . Undoing of downtown: the Ryus block arson in January 1958 removed a block forever. The photo looks southward from Front and Dock streets. Tongass Historical Society , . The hero before the fall.