The 200-year progression of firefighting technology in Canandaigua reached one of many milestones in June 1931 when the city's first motorized pumper was delivered, tested and placed in service with great public fanfare.
The City purchased the first motor vehicle for the Fire Department in 1913 to carry hose and small chemical fire extinguishing systems — but from 1870 to 1931, water for firefighting in Canandaigua had been pumped by steam-powered apparatus pulled by horses or by hand. The 1931 American LaFrance pumper was the city’s first fire apparatus to use an internal combustion engine to power both the vehicle and the pump.
Seventy-five years later, there have been minimal changes to the basic design of a fire pumper.
The series of Fire Department history this week in the Messenger Post features the arrival of the American LaFrance, pumper. Also, this week, we pass along information gathered from Don Ford regarding Ruel Davis of Engine Company No. 1, who was injured in 1857; and John B. Hogan, a paid Fire Driver and a member of the Erina Hose Company, who died in the Niagara Street firehouse after returning from a fire in 1918.
The story of Firefighter Davis’ being seriously injured while returning from a fire in 1857 was reprinted in the May 14 installment of this series – and that it was unknown whether he died from his injuries. During the past week, Don found that Firefighter Davis recovered from his injuries and lived until Sept. 24, 1870. While in search of information on Firefighter Davis, Don came across newspaper accounts of Fire Driver Hogan’s death, which had faded into history until Don’s research.