Fire and Rescue

Fire and Rescue. . Watertown's first city hall provided ground-floor space for the fire department and large, arched doors for its "trucks," which included a horse-drawn wagon with a thousand feet of hose and two hand-drawn ladder wagons., Fire protection, rather than clean drinking water, was the primary reason for the establishment of the waterworks plant, which had a capacity of 1.5 million gallons a day, supplying five miles of mains and eighty fire hydrants., It was not until 1909 that the department was organized as a paid entity with a chief and two drivers; the rest were still volunteers. William McLaughlin served as the first paid fire chief, having served as a volunteer since 1888. By 1920, the department's equipment had been replaced with motorized fire engines., A fire station was built on First Avenue Northwest in 1960, and an airport station was completed in 1976. The city assumed all responsibility for ambulance calls within the city and surrounding area, and by 1990, the fire department ambulance service was staffed with paramedics., 1. Watertown volunteer fire department c. 1895. , 2. A. P. Foley served as the first volunteer fire chief from 1885 to 1888 and again from 1890 to 1891. , 3. Twelve firemen and a dog on a horse-drawn wagon. , 4. Firemen William McLaughlin, R.J., and Frank Addler ready to hitch the wagon to the team.