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Companies:
 
San Francisco Fire Department
Volunteer Companies
1849-1866

On December 24, 1849 the Town Council held a special called meeting and passed a
resolution to organize a fire department.
DECEMBER 24, 1849 IS THE DATE THAT THE SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS ORGANIZED.
Three engines companies, named the Empire, the Protection and the San Francisco,
were loosely formed around the three hand engines that extinguished the City's first major fire on the morning of December 24, 1849.
The items listed below are listed alphabetically.  Click here for a chronological listing.

Volunteer Companies:

Independent Companies: Governed by the Chief Engineer, but not voted into the Department.

They bought their own houses and apparatus and paid all their own expenses without aid from the city.  They were never admitted to the regular department (except the Eureka Hose Company) although subject to orders of the Chief Engineer at fires.

Supporting Documents:

Source: San Francisco Fire Department records
San Francisco Municipal Report 186o - 1866
Published by Order of the Board of Supervisors, Eastman and Godfrey, Printers, 415 Washington Street, San Francisco
Frank Soulé, John H. Gihon, M.D., and James Nisbet. The Annals of San Francisco. 1855: San Francisco.

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