The oldest lire engine in North Carolina and in all probability the first
hand-operated piece of fire-fighting equipment in the United States.
(From an old sketch in Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper,
October 15. 1887.)
First Fire Engine
ll u as 21 mule contraption lhal
sufktMl in air an«l squirted out a
rather fcchlc stream of water, hut it
savcMl many of the quaint old build¬
ings in Salem from destruction by
fire.
By i:\ICL IHvW
Quaint old salem. first
settled in 1766 by the
Moravians, is rich in points
of historic interest, not the least of
which is the first fire engine — the
oldest piece of fire-fighting equip¬
ment in North Carolina and one of
the first hand-operated fire extin¬
guishers in the United States.
One of the two curious old fire
engines that were in use in Salem
163 years ago is now in the
Wachovia Historical Soviet v's
museum in Winston-Salem, and
the story of the first fire engine and
the first fire-fighters in North Caro¬
lina. as told in the old records of
the Moravian Church, is an inter¬
esting one indeed.
In the carefully-kept records the
Moravians maintained from the
time they first arrived in North
Carolina, there arc many refer¬
ences to fires and fire inspection.
Chimneys were swept regularly in
a
the early days but many frequently
caught fire, and in the fall of 1780
the residents of Salem felt they
were being “protected only by the
Holy Angels, especially as many
brush fires were being built around
the old houses."
No serious fires were reported in
Salem until October 5. 1775. when
the Salem Tavern, built three
years earlier, had a narrow escape
from destruction when a live spark
rolled out of the fireplace in the
living room and burned a large hole
in the floor . One of the brothers,
who was sleeping there, dreamed
of fire that night and woke up in
time to save the building from
destruction.
Fire inspectors made regular
rounds of Old Salem in 1780, re¬
porting the number of houses
provided with ladders and fire
buckets and it was their duty to
warn brother and sister Moravians
"to be careful in regard to fire, and
walking about with candles, . . .
thereby to prevent harm to them¬
selves and to the whole village."
One brother had charge of all
the ladders in town in January.
1773. and he "hung them on certain
houses where they could not be
moved, without permission, except
in case of emergency."
On February 23, 1773, at the
suggestion of the fire inspectors,
leather buckets were ordered from
Pennsylvania where they could be
purchased for $1 each. But the wish
was often expressed in Congrc-
ational Records that they had a
re engine and better protection
against fire.
What really clinched the matter
was the first big fire in Old Salem
at 3 a.m. on New Year's Eve in
1784. when the old Salem Tavern
burned to the ground. Four days
after the big blaze there was much
discussion in the Congregational
Council about fire engines and con¬
sequently two were ordered from
Germany "where they could be
purchased for 100 Thaler." At
the same time the Council author¬
ized a free-will subscription drive
to pay for the new fire-fighting
equipment.
May 9, 1785. was a red letter
day in Old Salem. Several wagons
arrived on the overland route
from Charleston laden with goods
for the settlers and, most impor¬
tant. the two new fire engines.
Finishing touches were put on
them by the village blacksmith
and cabinetmaker, and they were
tried out for the first time the
latter part of the month.
An entry in the Congregational
Records dated May 25. 1785, was
made by the official scribe of Old
Salem in which he noted: "Our
new fire engines were tried out
this afternoon for the first time and
it gave us great pleasure for we
have never seen anything like it
before, and without a doubt these
are the first which have been
brought to North Carolina. They
have turned out entirely to our
satisfaction. . . . they are reason¬
ably easy to pump, and throw a
stream of water over the highest
roof."
A fire-master and three assist¬
ants were appointed, along with
twelve men to pump the large
engine and four men for the
smaller one. Single Sisters and as
many of the boys who could be
spared from other things formed
the first bucket-brigade: two
brothers were named to fill the
buckets with water and one to
( Continued on page 18)
THE STATE, December 25. 1948
