The Great Quake: 1906-2006 / Fighting fires the old way

Article By Carl Nolte ~ SFGate ~ Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Click on the first image to start the slide show.

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FIREFIGHTERS this is an 1892 horse drawn steam engine. Pushing a firetruck onto the back of a tow truck are from left retired firefighter, Bill Koenig, in background is Donna Huggins. Huggins is in costume. She has been playing Lily Hitchcock Coit for 30 yrs. Firefighter Larry Mcdonnell, in center, at rt is the tow truck driver, Paul Barry. SF Firefighters are rolling out old equipment to move to pier 48 where there will be the largest fire expo ever.
Penni Gladstone/The San Francisco Chronicle Photo taken on 4/11/06, in San Francisco, CA.

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FIREFIGHTERS Firefighter Larry Mcdonnell stands waiting to push this this 1892 horse drawn steam engine towards tow truck SF Firefighters are rolling out old equipment to move to pier 48 where there will be the largest fire expo ever.
Penni Gladstone/The San Francisco Chronicle Photo taken on 4/11/06, in San Francisco, CA.

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Retired firefighter, Bill Koenig and George Kouremetis (background)
Penni Gladstone/The San Francisco Chronicle Photo taken on 4/11/06, in San Francisco, CA.

Crews prepare antique equipment for a 3-day show.

Two ancient pieces of San Francisco's past were hauled out of a museum Monday and trucked off to the city's waterfront to be centerpieces in the greatest display of firefighting equipment since the city burned down a century ago.

The two -- a 114-year-old, horse-drawn steam fire engine that fought the Great Fire that followed the 1906 earthquake, the other a 1913 hose tender motor truck -- will be among the stars of a free three-day expo and fire muster that begins Saturday at Pier 48 near AT&T Park.

A fire muster is a sort of firefighter Olympics, and fire engines, trucks and visiting firefighters will be on hand from all over the West, competing against each other on Saturday and Sunday.

Among the events will be a bucket brigade competition, hose cart races, contests involving antique hand-pumping fire engines and a motorized pumping contest. Both of San Francisco's fireboats, the Phoenix and the Guardian, will be tied up at McCovey Cove near the ballpark and available for public tours.

The expo will feature nine antique steam fire pumper engines and 25 fire horses, plus a 75-foot-tall portable water tower that was the latest thing for fighting fires in tall buildings when it made its debut 104 years ago.

Some of the antique steam engines will be fired up and will pump water at targets. San Francisco has two steam fire engines; the others are coming from Eureka, Los Angeles, Virginia City, Nev., and other points. Other departments are sending other equipment.

On Monday, there will be a static display of equipment and a safety fair.

"It will be the largest gathering of antique apparatus seen on the West Coast in years," said retired firefighter Bill Koenig, who is a volunteer with the San Francisco Fire Department Historical Society.

Koenig was on hand Monday to help move steam engine No. 22 and the hose tender out of the San Francisco fire museum on Presidio Avenue.

The old engine has been restored to its 1906 appearance. It looks like an old firefighter's dream -- all deep red paint, gold trim and nickel plate -- and it gleamed in the sun as it was loaded aboard a trailer for a trip downtown.

The engine was stationed on 10th Avenue in the Inner Sunset District at the time of the 1906 disaster, and responded to the fires that burned downtown. Fifty-two fires broke out all at once and there was no water to fight them. The fire crews were forced to retreat slowly through the downtown area and helped at the last stand against the inferno at Van Ness Avenue. The firefighters worked until they dropped -- 72 straight hours without a break, said firefighter Paul Barry, president of the firefighters Historical Society.

Horse-drawn fire engines were first used in San Francisco in the last part of the 19th century. Before that, fire equipment was hauled around by human power, and fire companies competed for the biggest, strongest and fastest firefighters.

That era was revisited briefly Monday when Koenig, Barry and a couple of other firefighters pushed and shoved the antique fire vehicles on trailers.

The 93-year-old hose tender has a motor, but the modern firefighters couldn't get it started. So that one, too, had to be manhandled out of the museum.

Even though the '06 fire, which destroyed most of the city, was a defeat for the firefighters of the day, the San Francisco Fire Department has always honored the members of the department who stood and fought, loyal to their duty.

The 1906 earthquake and fire "is a historical, monumental point in time," said Barry. "You have to mark this."

Fire expo and ball

The fire expo will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday on Pier 48 near AT&T Park. All events are free. There will also be a firefighters ball Saturday night. Tickets are $50 and available at www.1906expo.com.

Source: SFGate online webpage at http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/The-Great-Quake-1906-2006-Fighting-fires-the-2499865.php#photo-2667845

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