State

They Learned The Hard Way After a century of Incredible apatliy and devastation, a notable fire-fight” »i»g tradition develops in New Bern. By CHARLES L. PRICK No town in North Carolina has a finer tradition of fire fighting than New Bern, Two of the eurrent fire com¬ panies have histories going back over 100 years. A visit to the Firemen’s Museum in New Bern reveals the many accomplishments and numerous awards won by this distinguished fire depart¬ ment. Such quality is not something that can be attained overnight. This noble tradition of fire fighting was won by much hard work and many years of bitter experience, as will be revealed by an examination of the evolution of fire fighting in New Bern in the period before 1860. Fire hazards grow as a town grows. In a pioneer town with relatively few families and widely separated lots, houses burned but seldom the whole town. As population increased, houses were crowded into a relatively eompacl area, and the danger from fire grew ac¬ cordingly. Although New Bern had reached the latter stage by the decade of the I760’s, the town was fortunate enough to escape major devastation from fires during the eolonial and Revolutionary eras. Apathy and ne¬ glect of fire fighting preparation was a by-product of New Bern’s good for¬ tune. The Town Watch The first major fire catastrophe struek the complacent town in 1791 when a fire destroyed an estimated 64 homes and wiped out approximately one-third of the town. Catastrophe struck again three years later on Oc¬ tober 25, 1794, when a fire in the heart of the town destroyed nine build¬ ings on Craven Street, while another building was blown up to stop the spread of the fire. The very next month, on November 17, 1794, fire again swept over the town, this time destroying 24 buildings. Burned in this fire was the famous New Bern Academy. This series of fires shocked the town commissioners out of their apathy, and a town watch was organized as a sort of combination poliee and fire wateh. This watch patrolled the streets after 9 p.m., acting as firemen when fire threatened. The watchmen were re¬ sponsible for spreading the alarm and for getting out the fire engine. After this promising beginning, the absence of major fires again resulted in New Bern lapsing into apathy and negleet. In the years that followed, the night watch was discontinued while the fire hazard increased as the town grew larger. Tlic danger from fire was, of course, not limited solely to the town of New Bern, but extended to all towns in North Carolina. As a eonsequence, there was a growing concern among the state legislators because of the uni¬ versal lack of adequate preparation for dealing with the fire danger. To en¬ courage the towms of the state to meet this need the legislature in 1820 passed legislation authorizing towms to organ¬ ize volunteer fire companies. As an incentive to join, firemen were ex¬ empted from militia service. New Bern was slow' to act under this authorization. It took another minor eatastrophe to get action. In early May, 1821, a steam mill in New Bern burned, with the total loss being esti- Places to Visit: NEW BERN FIREMEN’S MUSEUM An unusual anil worthwhile attraction recommended for visitors to New Rein is the firemen's museum. Dedicated in 1957, the New Bern Firemen’s Museum preserves the rich history of the city’s fire department, chartered in 1845 as the At¬ lantic Company. It is believed to he ttie oddest eoiitiiinously-nctive volunteer fire department in the nation. Around the turn of the century, when fire fighting was a serious competitive sport in most sizable communities, the volunteer companies of New Hern reached я peak of excellence not equalled anywhere else. The Buttons, formed in • 8ft5, generally vied with the Atlantics in speed and performance, and both teams won world’s records, some of which still stand. Featured at tile Firemen's Museum are the Atlantic Steamer, purchased in 1879 and Button Steamer, dating from 1884. Two hose wagons holding all-time records are also on exhibit, in addition to helmets, badges, horns, nuzzles, etc. There is also a collection of Civil War items. mated at $25,000. This fire led to re¬ newed demands for the formation of a fire company. A mass meeting of the citizens was called to convene at the court house to consider further action, and at this gathering the decision was made to proeeed with the formation of a fire company. Those who volunteered to join this company met on June 6, 1821, to elect officers. Saved By Luck This new fire company received a very early test. On July 9, 1821, at 2 a.m. a brick building on Craven Street was discovered on fire. The fire had made good progress before the alarm was sounded. This building was surrounded by a number of wooden structures, and it looked for a time as though the fire might spread and de¬ stroy the w'hole town. Yet for over thirty minutes after the fire was dis¬ covered, nothing was done to arrest it. The fire engines took an almost in¬ conceivably long time in getting into position, and then there was difficulty in the formation of a bucket line to supply them with water. There was utter confusion and consequently much inactivity in the midst of such a threat¬ ening catastrophe. When a line was formed, they found they had an inade¬ quate supply of buekets, and those available were described as “so mueh out of order as to be useless.” In spite of this fiasco hy New Bern's new fire company, the town slill was not de- a THE STATE. NOVEMBER 1, 1972