|
MECHANIC
No. 6 organized October 20, 1873 with 45 men, many
of whom worked for the railroads. A requirement for
membership was experience as a mechanic or be an
apprentice of some trade. The members bought
Stonewall No. 3's old hand pumper for $150 and set
up at the corner of Washington and Preston. Its
motto was "Rough and Ready." The company was
sponsored by Colonel A. B. Brown, a wealthy resident
in the neighborhood.
Mechanic 6 joined with the volunteer fire department
immediately after organizing. Three of the members
became fire chief of the volunteer fire department
over the ensuing years: Ben Riesner, Henry Ross, and
Thomas Martin.
The
old hand engine was sold to Rescue No. 7, a newly
organized junior company, and Mechanic No. 6
acquired a new side-bar Bolton engine in 1878.
'Wild and
Woolly'
|
Firefighters of Mechanic No. 6 soon earned
the reputation of a "wild and woolly" bunch.
They expected everybody and everything to
"give them the road." There were accounts
where the men fought another fire company
that had beat them to a cistern. Mechanic
No. 6 usually won and took over the cistern.
When another company resisted too much, the
wild bunch was known to overturn its rig
during the battle for a cistern. |
|
|
In
1878, Mechanic No. 6 set a record at the State Fair
Grounds in a 250-yard run. For a 250-yard run, a
team was timed to see how fast it could get water
flowing through a nozzle after racing the pumper 250
yards and connecting two lengths of hose and a
nozzle. Fire departments from across Texas took part
in the competition. It took the 21-man Mechanic team
forty-six seconds to complete the race. The time set
a record that was never topped.
By
1880, Mechanic No. 6 had 52 members. Ben Riesner was
president. Foreman of the company was George
Underwood and his assistants were John R. Riordan
and John Anderson.
New Station |
|
A new
fire station (right) was built at 1106 Washington
Avenue in 1892. The crew of Mechanic No. 6 ran out
of the station until the city took over the fire
station when the fire department went fully paid.
William P. Seibert was the last foreman of Mechanic
No. 6 in 1894 and William A. Moroney was the
president.
When
the paid department took over in 1895, Mechanic 6
became know as Mechanic Hose Company No. 6. It had a
four-wheel hose reel pulled by two horses. One
thousand feet of triple-jacketed, rubber-lined
two-and-a-half-inch hose wound onto the reel.
F.
C. Fourney was named captain, and Otto Lutz drove
(Lutz was driver of the rig in the final year of the
volunteers). Otto Herzog, C. A. Doherty and Edward
Bland were assigned to the hose reel as pipemen.
|
|
|
Another
No. 6 fire station (pictured) was constructed in
1903 at 1702 Washington and Ash Place. Thomas H.
Martin, fire chief of the volunteer fire department
from 1890 until 1894, was captain of Station 6, and
C. A. Dortic was lieutenant. John Donnelly was
engineer, and J. C. Minster drove the steamer. Otto
Lutz drove Hose Company No. 6, and the pipemen were
Patrick Daly and Henry Wooley in 1903.
A 1904
fire department publication reported No. 6 had a new
fire station "finished in oil, has hot and cold
baths and other conveniences, of which the old-time
firemen never so much as dreamed."
|
|
A
fourth size LaFrance Metropolitan steamer was
assigned to Mechanic 6 in the new station. (Three
new steamers had just been purchased.) The steamer
was assigned the number 16. Hose Co. No. 6 and
Steamer No. 16 now ran out of Station No. 6. The
steamer was rated at 500 gpm and had a cylinder
seven inches in diameter with a seven-inch stroke. |
|
Automobile Pumper
An auto
combination pumper replaced the steamer in 1914. No
information could be found on the new pumper, and
the manufacture could not be determined from the
picture (right) of No. 6. Gasoline pumpers were
replacing the horse-drawn apparatus during the
decade.
|
|
|
The
company was called Auto Pumper No. 6 in a 1915
reference, still located at 1702 Washington. Charles
Fisher was captain of the auto pumper and Ed Pittman
was the lieutenant and engineer. A future fire
chief, Charley Middlekauf, was chauffeur of the auto
pumper, and the pipeman were R. Dietz, Gus Rose, L.
T. Bourden and C. M. Harper.
The
1915 reference listed C. A. Dortic as captain of
"Old Reel" at Station 6. Combination pumpers took
the place of hose wagons, because a pumper carried
its own hose. A reason Station 6 still kept the hose
reel could be that not all steamers in the
department had been replaced. G. W. Pratt drove the
reel and C. W. Schoelkopf was the lone pipeman. J.
W. Miller was watchman of Station 6.
|
|
In
1922, the auto pumper was replaced by a 750 gpm
American LaFrance pumper with a rotary pump (right).
The bed of the pumper carried 1,250-feet of
two-and-a-half-inch hose.
The
hose reel was replaced two years later with a
motorized hose wagon, according to another
reference. It carried 1,600 feet of
two-and-a-half-inch hose and 1350 feet of three-inch
hose. Nothing could be found on a motorized hose
wagon.
|
|
|
In
1931, a new quarters for Engine No. 6 (left) was
built at 901 Henderson at Decatur. It was hailed as
the most modern fire station in the South. The
station had hardwood floors, ceiling fans, showers,
and running ice water.
Particularly nice for the firefighters were the
screened walls surrounding the sliding pole. The
screen kept mosquitos and flies from getting into
the dormitory.
|
|
The
pumper was replaced in 1948 with a 1000 gpm Seagrave
pumper. Again a new pumper was assigned in 1963. The
new pumper was one of the five new 1000 gpm Hahn
pumpers the department had purchased.
Another move into new quarters in 1987 put Engine 6
back on Washington Avenue at 3402 Washington and
Larkin.
Engine 6, Ladder 6, District 6, and Ambulance 6 are
assigned to the new fire station today.
http://www.old6ward.org/index.htm-
It
is the oldest intact neighborhood in the city of
Houston, Check out their web site.
Post Era
|
Two of the old fire stations are still
around in 2005. Station 6 built in 1903 was
sold to a salvage company after it closed.
Sometime in 2004 an attorney bought the
building for his office. The inside of the
building was completely renovated in 2005
(left).
Fire Station 6 on Henderson was closed after
the next fire station was built back on
Washington, and remains boarded up in 2005
(right). It has deteriorated badly over the
years. |
 |
|
|
